Marble Falls girls basketball beat McCallum

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior forward Leslie Reynoso is back for one more year to help the Lady Mustangs make another playoff run. Photo by Martelle Ludecke/Luedecke Photography

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team defeated Austin McCallum 41-37 Nov. 11 to end a two-game losing skid.

Freshman Emma Martin hit a shot and sophomore forward Addy Wood nailed two free throws to to secure the win.

The Lady Mustangs (1-2) and the Lady Knights played to an 11-11 tie after the first period. Then Marble Falls outscored McCallum 15-8 in the second stanza for a 26-19 advantage before the Lady Knights came back to close to 30-28 going into the final stanza.

Marble Falls then outscored McCallum 11-9 for the victory.

This contest showcased the work the Lady Mustangs have done for months to prepare for the upcoming season. Head coach Adley Canales said the athletes played for the Austin Magic Basketball Club during the spring, which allowed the Lady Mustangs to get extra court time and follow a University Interscholastic League rule that prohibits players from playing for their high school coaches when they are not in season.

In addition the Lady Mustangs also played in a summer league with Dripping Springs, Fischer Canyon Lake, Faith Academy of Marble Falls, Johnson City and San Antonio Davenport.

“They worked hard over the offseason,” Canales said. “They played a lot of basketball and you can see their skills improved. Just playing basketball continuously helped them a bunch. A lot of times the only way you can prepare for stuff is by playing. You can rep as much as you want in practice, but that doesn’t compare to playing in a game.”

Marble Falls has two senior lettermen – guard Rayleigh Crim and forward Leslie Reynoso. Other returners are junior Kenley Virdell and sophomores Ally Moran, Mikaela Valdez and Wood, who was named second team all-District 24-4A last year.

The newcomers are junior Alexis Sprott, sophomore Siyah MacIntosh and freshmen Addie Martin and Emma Martin.

“I think it’ll help us just experience wise,” Canales said. “They’ve been through it, they know what it takes to be competitive at the varsity level and everything that entails, so having a majority of returners is great. On the other end of that, we only have two seniors, so we have four sophomores and two freshmen on the varsity. So yes, we have returning lettermen, but we’re still extremely young.” 

And coaches know that this team will require teaching and patience though it doesn’t lack talent or ability, he added.

“We know with a young group we’re going to have some learning moments, some growing pains per se,” he said. “You’re going up against a bunch of juniors and seniors, but that’s not anything that they’re shying away from and all the sophomores and even the freshmen showed in practices, in scrimmages, in everything that they’re ready and prepared for it.” 

The Lady Mustangs began the season with losses to Lago Vista 51-21 Nov. 8 and Austin Crockett 55-51 Nov. 7.

“(The contest against Crockett) was a good game of back and forth the whole time,” Canales said. “It was the first game of the year, so we did a lot of really good things. And then, of course we saw some things we need to work on that comes with playing. You only realize that in games. (Against Lago Vista) defensively, we started out well, and then you could just see the legs go. That’s part of being early in the season. You just have to get in shape, and that’ll come in time.” 

Despite the losses, Canales was encouraged, particularly against Crockett. He noted the Lady Mustangs had 16 steals and 17 deflections.

“Our intensity was up, we’re putting a lot of ball pressure,” he said. “We we were being active on defense. So we had a bunch of steals and deflections. Which tells me defensively, we’re in passing lanes, we’re being active, even though we were extremely undersized. The girls still competed and did what they were supposed to do.” 

CAPTION: Marble Falls sophomore forward Adalynn Wood, who was voted to the all-District 24-4A second team, is one of several returning lettermen. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography