Marble Falls girls basketball beats Burnet

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore guard Addy Wood is on her way to the basket to score two of her game-high 14 points against Burnet. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team defeated Burnet 46-28 in the District 24-4A opener Jan. 9.

The Lady Mustangs (10-14, 1-0) made a line-up change, starting freshman post Emma Martin and moving sophomore Addy Wood to shooting guard. Marble Falls also rotated who was at high post. Sometimes it was Wood or Martin or senior center Leslie Reynoso.

In doing that head coach Adley Canales went back to a scheme that made former Lady Mustang Lexie Edwards a complete player. Back then she lined up at high post, caught the ball, turned and made a decision on what to do next based on how the opponent was defending. If a defender came close, she drove to the basket or passed the ball out to set up a longer jumper. If no one was there, she shot from the foul line and made the defense pay.

Wood, Martin and Reynoso had the same effect against the Lady Dawgs.

“We felt like we would be able to create a mismatch, having three out there,” head coach Adley Canales said. “Their best players are (senior Wrigley Mulhollan and sophomore Emma Hashbarger, who are both posts). It’s no secret they can only guard two though. So we’re gonna have a size advantage. We wanted to exploit that. So we went with three, hopefully creating a mismatch, and we did, and we were able to get it done.” 

But the game didn’t start that way.

Hashbarger made a free throw to get the scoring going. Then Martin answered by converting an offensive rebound. Burnet senior guard Sarah Cullison hit a 3-pointer from the left side only to have Reynoso answer with a drive to the basket to tied the game at a 4-4. Hashbarger answered with a putback and Reynoso did the same for her team.

Cullison got a quick bucket off the Lady Dawgs press breaker then found Hashbarger on the low block for a 10-6 Burnet advantage with 3 minutes let in the opening stanza.

But the Lady Mustangs ended the quarter with a 3-pointer from senior guard Rayleigh Crim and a fast break bucket by Wood on an assist from sophomore guard Mikaela Valdez for an 11-10 lead.

Reynoso made a free throw and Martin scored on an assist from sophomore forward Ally Moran for a 14-10 advantage 62 seconds into the second period.

Then Marble Falls played complementary basketball. Reynoso blocked a shot that was picked up by Valdez, who thew to Wood for a fast break. And though Burnet senior guard Peyton Allen assisted sophomore shooting guard Maycee Floyd on a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 16-13, the Lady Mustangs responded with a 7-0 run to close out the half for a 23-13 lead.

“The first quarter was tight,” Canales said. “You expect that to get the nerves out and then we settled in. I think our defense took over. We looked a lot more patient on offense, we were able to get what we wanted. The girls played well.” 

Allen began the second-half scoring with a bucket. But Marble Falls went on an 8-0 run thanks to three Martin baskets and a drop-step bucket by Reynoso for a 31-15 advantage.

But the Lady Dawgs closed the quarter with back-to-back buckets by Hashbarger with assists from Mulhollan to trim the deficit to 31-19.

Burnet freshman guard Marisa Porter scored on a drive to the bucket to cut into the lead 31-21 to begin the final stanza. The Lady Mustangs, however, kept a solid lead throughout the final eight minutes. Each team virtually answered one another with the same shots. Burnet senior guard Lezlee Rhoder hit a 3-pointer answered by Marble Falls junior forward Alexis Sprott. Hashbarger and Wood each scored on foul shots and Mulhollan and Crim and Martin scored buckets. The Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Dawgs 15-9.

Wood led all scorers with 14 points thanks to converting on five 2-point field goals and connecting on 4 of her 6 foul shots. Martin scored 10, Reynoso added 7 and Valdez, Sprott and Crim each had 5.

Wood, Valdez, Sprott and Crim also had several steals in the press breaker as well as in their half-court sets. Canales said the goal in the press is to force opponents to play at the speed Marble Falls wants.

“In our press, we just wanted to be active. It’s not always about getting steals,” he said. “So we can live with not getting steals as long as they’re coming down at our pace, not the pace they want to come at. When we did get steals, you have to exploit that. And we always say we want to reward ourselves for playing good defense, whether it’s in the half court or the press. And that means going to finish it. It may mean going to get a lay-up. It may mean taking care of the basketball, finishing it with a bucket after running an offense. 

Hashbarger led the Lady Dawgs with 11 followed by Cullison with 5, Mulhollan added 4, Rhoder and Floyd each contributed 3, and Porter scored 2.

“I thought we came out strong,” Burnet head coach Kim Payten said. “We had a game plan and we just didn’t stick to it. We’re not going to win many games with that many turnovers. We’re not going to win any games if we don’t have multiple people scoring.”

Marble Falls made it a point to get in passing lanes, challenge shots by trying to block them, and doing many things that lead to victories that may not show up in the scorebook. Burnet did much of the same, it’s just that Marble Falls made several more plays.

“So we pride ourselves on that, we talk to the girls about it all the time,” Canales said. “Just because you’re not in the scorebook doesn’t mean you didn’t have a good game. So we chart all that stuff that doesn’t show up; we chart deflections, we chart our 3-point defense, rebounding percentage, not necessarily the number. Because some games are different. Are we able to get defensive rebounds and finish out a defensive possession? Are we able to give ourselves second chances by getting offensive rebounds? And then are we able to limit ourselves in turnovers and things that don’t show up? Did you get a good box out even if your girl didn’t get the ball? Did you make sure she wasn’t going to get it and things like that that don’t show up? We really stress that to the girls because it takes a whole team and that’s what we want them to play like and they did a great job.”

Payten said much of what happened to the Lady Dawgs was self-destructive.

“Our own selves were keeping us that way,” she said. “It’s mistakes. We’ve done better. It’s heart breaking. My kids are tough. I think in the fourth quarter, we were gassed, and that’s an easy fix. The team came together and said the practices have to be tougher. We have to run more, we have to get in shape, and we can do it.”

Canales said the Lady Mustangs’ defensive goal is to hold opponents to no more than 10 points a quarter. He noted that during the intermission between the first and second quarters, he challenged his players to do better.

“Defense is our bread-and-butter,” he said. “That’s what we hang our hat on. Our goal is three single-digit quarters. We feel pretty confident that we’ll be able to win if we can do that. In the first quarter, we give up 10, and it was only one point off. But to us, that’s not good enough to meet our goal. So we talked after the end of the first quarter to just be ourselves, do what we do, lean on our strength, which we believe is our defense. That second quarter to only give up three – same thing, really good defense. In the fourth quarter, we gave up nine, but it still met our goal. When we do that, we feel really good.”

Marble Falls travels to play at Lampasas (15-8, 1-0) Tuesday, Jan. 13, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow. The Lady Badgers defeated Taylor 52-40 Jan. 9.

Burnet is at Salado Tuesday, Jan. 13, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m., the varsity at 6:30 p.m. and the freshmen at 8 p.m.

CAPTION: Burnet sophomore post Emma Hashbarger scored two of her 11 points thanks to making a living near the basket against Marble Falls. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography