Marble Falls boys basketball beats Austin Eastside
CAPTION: Junior forward Marc Barrios is turning in some solid performances as he’s learning to take on a bigger role for the Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team beat Austin Eastside Early College 46-39 Dec. 19 to extend the winning streak to three.
“We played defense really well,” head coach John Berkman said. “That’s our calling card. Our guys stayed after it, and I thought we rebounded well as a whole. Offensively, we had some spurts that were really good and we had some stale spots. But overall defensively, we just played really well and controlled the game.”
The Mustangs were led in scoring by junior forward Marc Barrios, who scored 11.
“His hustle and his rebounding effort was really up there, high energy for us,” Berkman said. “Marc got his hands on a lot of balls. He’s long and he’s rangy, which is good for us, but he has a knack of being around the ball, and I can’t really explain exactly how he does that. But he’s got a knack for being at the right place at the right time. He moves well down the floor. Every player has some things that they have to work on or things that could be could be improved. But for Marc, we’re finding that he’s really an untapped talent that we’re still, I would say, mining things out of him; we’re digging deep and trying to find something new all the time with him. He’s made a couple of 3-pointers in several games here lately for us, which then begins to change how people have to guard him. He definitely can get to the rack well and finish well, because of his length and his athleticism, so I think that makes a big difference. He rebounds really well. (Against Eastside) he got up and got some rebounds for us that were crucial.”
The coach also was pleased with junior guard Beckett Berkman’s efforts on the other side of the court.
“Beckett stood out defensively,” his dad said. “I don’t know what the stats say, but he had a ton of deflections and steals. (Eastside) had a really hard time getting past him up top, and so I thought that was important for us.”
The Mustangs and the Panthers played the night cap. Marble Falls had an early release from school, so several hours had passed between the time the team finished its day of classes to boarding a bus and going to Austin to take the court.
“That’s always hard at that time when everybody’s thinking about other things – the holidays, all that stuff,” Berkman said. “We talk a lot about every game is the most important game of the year because it’s the one that’s in front of us. We talked about how important going out on a good note is when you’re coming up to the holidays. You don’t want to give something away or not play well. We were able to talk through that well, which was good.”
The Mustangs will spend time with their families during the Christmas holiday before hitting the road to go to San Antonio to face Uvalde at noon Monday, Dec. 29, at the Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, home of the Spurs. Then they’ll stay that night to watch the Spurs take on the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m.
They welcome Liberty Hill Legacy Ranch Tuesday, Dec. 30, with the subvarsities playing at 10:30 a.m. and the varsity at noon.
The week ends with the Burnet Bulldogs visiting the Mustangs in the District 24-4A opener Friday, Jan. 2 with the subvarsities playing at 11 a.m. and the varsity at 12:30 p.m.
“We’ve watched a couple films, we’ve seen them play in person,” Berkman said. “They shoot the ball from the outside a lot, and they want to press and push the tempo. And so we’re going have to do a really good job of taking care of the basketball and then defending, but definitely not giving them any extra shots by giving them offensive rebounds. We’re going to have to continue to rebound well and keep them off the glass.”
CAPTION: Since he returned to the basketball court, senior guard Gregory Lemon has been a force. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
