Marble Falls boys basketball crushes Taylor
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior center Cameron Plumlee’s play in the paint was huge for the Mustangs during the Taylor win. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team stomped Taylor 43-28 Jan. 20 to earn its first District 24-4A victory of the season.
The Ducks led 4-2 at the end of the opening stanza and then the Mustangs got on a roll. By halftime they led 20-15.
“We weren’t exactly lighting it up per se,” head coach John Berkman said. “But then we outscored them 18-11 in the second quarter. I felt like our defense really helped us to get going. We struggled to shoot the ball early in the game. But our defense was holding tough and finally, we got some breakout plays from guys. We were able to come alive in the second quarter.”
In the third period, Marble Falls continued to play its high-level defense and kept the Ducks scoreless while increasing its lead to 28-15.
“Anytime you can hold an opponent to zero points in a quarter – that’s always big,” the coach said. “We had a 13-point lead going into the fourth quarter and then were able to outscore them 14-12.”
Berkman pointed out the Mustangs haven’t done anything differently on offense in terms of preparation.
“The lid finally came off a little bit,” he said. “We got some scoring from a lot of guys – six different guys scored and that’s big for us. And we had a lot of good shots, too. We were a lot more patient within our offense and took the right shots. Even the ones we missed were the right shots. So for us, that was a big deal.”
The coach explained the Mustangs’ definition of the ‘right shots.’
“The right shot is a lot of different shots, but the right shot is being patient within the offense and not just a one-pass shot just because you want to shoot it,” he said. “A lot of times recently we’ve struggled to just let the offense develop and take what they give us. Sometimes it is off of one pass if they give us that, and sometimes it’s different guys scoring. And everybody has to be ready to do their part to score or to make the play for us to be able to get a score. Sometimes that’s a pass, sometimes that’s them being the one who shoots the basketball. But I don’t necessarily have a philosophy of only these guys can score, only these guys are allowed to shoot. However, everybody’s got to understand when it’s appropriate for them to shoot, and some guys weren’t. We know we need them to, we need a few other guys to score more — it helps us when more guys score — and so some of that’s just guys being ready to score.”
Junior guard Beckett Berkman led with 14 points followed by junior forward Marc Barrios with eight, junior guard Cypress Neve added six, senior center Cameron Plumlee and junior center Vance Levert each scored five, and senior post Kaleb Bielfeldt finished with four.
The coach indicated he was especially pleased with the scoring from Bielfeldt, Levert and Plumlee, who are in the lane trying to convert on high-percentage shots and offensive rebounds.
“We need to get points from them because that can create some advantages for us,” he said. “And it definitely helps our shooters on the outside if the guys inside are scoring.”
Berkman noted he played “almost everybody” but emphasized those decisions are made as the game plays out.
“At this point in the year it’s about winning games and you play the people that give you the best chance to win,” he said. “And everybody has to be bought in as a team and understanding what their role is. We’re in the part of the season where it’s no longer trying things out or trying to figure out who can play or not. We have to know that already.”
Marble Falls hosts Jarrell Friday, Jan. 23, in a doubleheader. Officials are bracing for bad weather and moved the tipoffs of the varsities up. The Lady Mustangs play first at 4 p.m. and the Mustangs follow at 5:30 p.m.
The Mustangs have a bye Tuesday, Jan. 27, before starting the second round of district play.
CAPTION: Marble Falls junior point guard Cypress Neve’s main responsibility might be to get the offense going, but he also performs many other tasks crucial to the Mustangs’ success. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
