Marble Falls boys basketball advances to consolation championship of San Antonio ISD tourney
CAPTION: Marble Falls junior guard Davis Dreisbach was named to the San Antonio Independent School District all-tournament team. File photo
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team performed well at the San Antonio Independent School District tournament Dec. 8-10.
The Mustangs (5-10) beat Pearsall 43-38 and Eagle Pass Winn 57-56 Dec. 9 for their best one-day play of hoops this season and propelled them to the consolation championship game where they lost to Converse Judson 79-30 Dec. 10. Those Marble Falls victories ended a seven-game losing streak that dated back to their own Subway Classic where the team lost four in a row and to Fredericksburg (10-2) 52-46 Dec. 6.
Head coach Travis Crain pointed out that Judson had scored 101 points during the win against San Antonio Young Men’s Leadership Academy Dec. 9.
“We held them to 79 points,” he said. “We left some points. We didn’t take some shots we should have. Our guys competed in some hard-working, intense, tough games.”
Junior guard Davis Dreisbach was named to the all-tournament team.
Against Pearsall, Crain got the start he wanted.
“We came out hot,” he said. “We were on an 8-0 run by the end of the first quarter.”
Pearsall, however, didn’t go away and battled back to tie the contest at 17-17 at the half thanks to scoring a bucket with four seconds left in the second period.
Marble Falls wouldn’t be denied and fought for a double-digit lead in the third quarter.
“In the fourth quarter, we got wobbly,” Crain said. “We’re a young team. We kept them at bay.”
The Mustangs continued their solid play against Winn, beginning the contest on a 12-5 run.
“We came out hot on offense and defense,” the coach said. “We were up by 13 points at the half. They had some really talented players. At halftime (I told my players), ‘You did it for 16 minutes. Now you have to do it for another 16.'”
The game was safely put in the win column thanks to a Mustangs lay-up with about three seconds left in the contest.
Though the Mustangs didn’t win two games at their own tournament, Crain noted the losses to Cedar Park High 45-37, to Copperas Cove 59-46 and to San Antonio Edison 53-43 were closer than the scores indicated. The Mustangs were within five points of Cedar Park and Edison, he added.
“We felt like we were right there,” he said. “We were tied at half of the Cove game. We got wobbly. (Sophomore captain) Tidus Willie doesn’t play with us at all. There was a loose ball at mid court (that he went after) and took a couple of stitches. We had the lead in the third quarter. We felt like we were right there. We’re sophomores and juniors trying to figure it out. There’s some valuable lessons we can put into play.”
Marble Falls will welcome Comal Davenport at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at Max Copeland Gym.
Watch videos on Highland Lakes sports by going to Fierro’s YouTube channel and searching for The Broad Podcaster. Please like, subscribe and share.
