SAN MARCOS — A 17-6 run to end the third quarter pushed a one-point lead to 12, and San Marcos High School hung on for a 66-49 Palomar League victory over Mission Hills Friday night at San Marcos.
The win puts San Marcos (16-5, 4-0), ranked No. 7 in the county and No. 64 in the state, in sole possession of first place in the league. Mission Hills falls to 12-10, 3-1.
“Coach told us at halftime to concentrate on defense,” said San Marcos point guard Nico Mott. “Defense led to that run. Defense leads to offense.”
Mott finished with 16 points — eight in the fourth quarter — and had six rebounds. Jalen Williams of the Knights led all scorers with 24 points, seven in the second quarter, nine in the third.
“My job is to score,” Williams said. “Honestly, it’s whatever helps the team.”
San Marcos, which swept two games from Mission Hills last season, had now won seven games in a row and 12 of its last 13.
“This was a new team from last season, and early on, we were struggling to find our roles,” Mott said. “But we’ve come together. We had talks with and without the coaches. Talked about roles and goals. I watched film to see where I could go with the ball. Now we’ve got it going pretty good.”
Leading the league is great, Williams said. But there is a certain pressure to perform.
“We’re where we want to be, but we also have a target on our backs now,” Williams said. “Other teams know we’re playing well, know we’re the team to beat. We’re going to get everyone’ s best game from here on out.”
Chris Crowell added 10 points for San Marcos and blocked three shots.
Big man Mike Brown had eight points and nine rebounds and gave coach Dante Carey a scare when he went down under the basket with 55 seconds to play. It was only a cramp, however.
Logen Vergenz led Mission Hills (12-10, 3-1) with 15 points.
“Mission Hills is always tough,” Carrey said. “They play so hard, always scrappy.”
San Marcos led by eight at the end of the first quarter and stretched that to 12 with 6:15 to play in the half.
But a 14-3 Mission Hills cut the deficit to a point with 2:01 to play.
San Marcos got the lead back to six before Mission Hills again cut it to one with 20 seconds to go. Mykah Simmons’ buzzer-beater had the Knights on top 30-27 at the break.
Mission Hills girls win big
Mission Hills 111, San Marcos 30: Mission Hills scored a season-high 111 points in the Palomar League victory. It was the ninth straight win in this intracity rivalry for Mission Hills.
Bay Cordova led Mission Hills (13-7, 4-0), ranked No. 2 in San Diego and No. 40 in the state, with 30 points and six rebounds. Izzy Medina added 20 points and six rebounds. Kalea Bacho and Kendall Nguyen both finished with 11 points.
The Grizzlies made 17 3-point shots and outrebounded San Marcos 29-18. San Marcos fell to 6-13, 0-3.
Christiana Samuel led San Marcos, which has lost 10 in a row, with 12 points and five rebounds.
The Knights were called for just two fouls in the game, the first coming with 1:58 to play in the third quarter.
Mission Hills led 69-19 at the half and 93-26 after three quarters. The fourth quarter was played with a running clock.
Mission Hills plays Saturday at 4:30 p.m. against Ontario Christian (24-1), ranked No. 1 in the state and No. 2 in the nation.
The game is part of the Public vs. Private Showcase at Rancho Christian.