Marble Falls girls basketball beats Lampasas
CAPTION: Sophomore guard Ally Moran hit two crucial free throws to seal the win against Lampasas. Photo by Christopher A. Miles/Christopher A. Miles Photography
The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team defeated Lampasas 42-39 to move to 2-0 in District 24-4A play.
With about a minute left, junior forward Addy Wood nailed a free throw and sophomore guard Ally Moran hit two more to help the Lady Mustangs (11-14) escape with the win.
“That’s where we hang our hat is on defense and the girls, no matter if a shot got hit or they got an easy bucket, it didn’t change our mindset,” head coach Adley Canales said. “They just (went to the) next possession and then just reset like if nothing happened. And we’re just focused on that one possession. And it kept us in the game. It just shows the growth of the girls, the growth of the team. They’re buying in. The willingness to just do what we’re good at – it’s paying off and all the credit goes to them.”
Marble Falls led 3-2 after the opening stanza and 12-10 at the half.
Both teams committed to not allowing the opponent to do what they do best offensively. The Lady Badgers put massive pressure on the Marble Falls guards in refusing to let them pass to the forwards. Marble Falls guarded the 3-point line and refused to let the Lady Badgers’ long-range shooters get going.
“We were just disciplined and executed, and girls bought into the game plan and did exactly what they’re coached to do,” Canales said. “We rebounded really well, we rebounded really well in big moments. Our defense was really good.”
The Lady Mustangs led by as many as nine points in the third quarter before the Lady Badgers trimmed it to 23-19 going into the fourth period.
Lampasas outscored Marble Falls 20-19 in the final eight minutes. Six of the Lady Badgers’ 20 points came late in the fourth quarter.
“The fourth quarter was big for both schools, and we scored a lot of points,” the coach said. “But in (quarters) one through three, we held them to single digits. And I’ve said it before – we feel pretty confident that if we can do that, we’ll be able to win.”
Freshman forward Emma Martin led all scorers with 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. followed by Wood with nine. Seven Lady Mustangs contributed to the scoring. Senior center Leslie Reynoso had 16 rebounds.
Many of Marble Falls’ points came from the foul line where the Lady Mustangs connected on 25 of 36 attempts for 69.4 percent.
“We got to the line a bunch and got them in foul trouble,” Canales said. “They had multiple girls foul out. But putting them in foul trouble just allowed us to use our forwards.”
Marble Falls welcomes Salado in a varsity-only contest that begins at 5:30 p.m. Friday, Jan. 16. Salado (19-7, 2-0) is ranked No. 21 in the latest Class 4A poll of the Texas Girls Coaches Association and beat Burnet 57-21 Jan. 13 and Jarrell 50-42 Jan. 9.
CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore forward Addy Wood connected on a free throw to give the Lady Mustangs the lead. Photo by Christopher A. Miles/Christopher A. Miles Photography
