Marble Falls boys basketball has several goals for Llano league

CAPTION: Rising senior Gregory Lemon’s tough defense illustrates one of the fundamental beliefs of head coach John Berkman. Athletes who want playing time must commit to being stingy on the defensive side. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School boys basketball program is sending three teams to the Llano League.

The league plays on Tuesdays beginning at 4:15 p.m. at the Llano High School and junior high gymnasiums. It ends June 10.

The Mustangs have a varsity team, a junior varsity squad and a team playing in the junior high division.

Opponents include Burnet, Faith Academy of Marble Falls, Junction and Llano.

Head coach John Berkman, who was in attendance but didn’t coach, noted the importance of getting quality work in during the league.

“Every year every team is a little bit different because kids graduate or move on to other things,” he said. “For three years, we’ve had players like Tidus Willie and Garen Jones. We have to figure out how do we fill those shoes? We don’t have a Tidus or Garen, so we have to fill those points, rebounds and steals.”

Those two provided plenty on the perimeter, while power forward Noah Lyon was a force in the paint. Any time the Mustangs needed a big play — whether it was a steal for a quick lay-up, a rebound or a 3-pointer, typically those veterans got it done. All three are graduating.

Now it’s up to a new crew of Mustangs to continue the work the three and their classmates have done. Three years ago, the Mustangs won the district championship for the first time in two decades. The following year, Marble Falls didn’t make the playoffs.

The three along with Berkman, who was named the head in May 2024, got the program back into the playoffs last season in a realignment year.

The Mustangs were in a district with some familiar rivals — Burnet, Georgetown Gateway and Lampasas — and had two new members in Salado and Taylor.

Toward the end of the 2023-24 school year, the University Interscholastic League approved creating split divisions for the playoffs once district play wrapped up for the 2024-25 school year. That meant the top four teams still made the postseason. But instead of all four going into one playoff bracket, the two programs whose schools had the largest enrollments went into the Division I bracket, while the two remaining schools went into the Division II bracket.

The two brackets also means having two champions in each classification.

Needless to say, with Marble Falls having the largest enrollment in the district at 1,167.5, the Mustangs will always play in the Division I tournament. After finishing third in the standings Marble Falls lost to Waco La Vega in the first round.

That’s another reason why the coach views the next several weeks as important for the 2025-26 season.

“We need somebody to step up in leadership,” he said. “And it may be some bodies that together, they fill that role of Tidus or Garen.”

Berkman wants to see the players’ self-confidence rise along with knowing what to do with the basketball that results in positive plays.

“What’s their decision-making process?” he said. “What kind of decisions are you making? The goals for me this summer are learning our plays well, making good decisions and increasing our confidence.”

He pointed out other programs are also saying good-bye to some of their “pivotal” players with Lampasas maybe losing fewer than the rest.

“Every team lost some pieces,” the coach said. “But I do think the district is wide open. When looking at last year’s top five teams, there weren’t a lot of blowouts. The top two teams won games, but they didn’t win them by 30. So for us (this summer) is pivotal for sure. We need our younger guys to grow up and our guys returning to varsity to lead.”

CAPTION: Rising junior Marc Barrios is unafraid to drive inside and attack the basket. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro