Marble Falls boys basketball loses to Lake Belton

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior center Cameron Plumlee is displaying the traits of a returning lettermen for the Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team lost to Lake Belton 67-44 Nov. 18.

“Lake Belton’s a bigger school,” Marble Falls head coach John Berkman said. “They have a lot of kids that are playing basketball. A lot of talented kids, too. They made a lot of shots. They kind of jumped on us early. We got off to a slower start again.”

But instead of folding, he said, the Mustangs (0-3) regrouped at halftime.

The result was being outscored by two points in the second half. Berkman believes that momentum started in the final four minutes of the first half.

“About halfway through the second quarter, we finally settled down a little bit and were able to get it under control,” the coach said. “The whole second half we played really well. I was really proud of our guys responding to some things at halftime and making some adjustments we did. We did a good job there.”

Junior guard Beckett Berkman led with 17 points followed by junior forward Marc Barrios with 12 points, and senior center Cameron Plumlee added six points and “just showed some maturity, and being able to have two full games where he was really engaged for us, and I thought that was a big positive for us.” 

The coach noted that senior Gregory Lemon “really sparked us in the half with some defensive play that he had and then on the other end, turning it into some offensive threats.”

John Berkman said that Barrios’ scoring “is something we’re looking for. We’re looking for Marc to be a scorer, to get into double digits regularly and to be able to help us there.”

Another contributor was junior forward Cooper Gray thanks to his toughness and grit.

While no one is hitting the panic button three games into the season regarding the starts to each contest, Berkman said he and his coaches are looking at why the Mustangs are having those stretches and, most importantly, what they can do to help the players.

“We’ve got to figure out the start for sure,” he said. “We can’t have the turnovers that we’re having at the start, and we have to be a little more proactive on the defensive end in order to prevent that from these other teams. I think it’s a fair question. We have to be better in that area.”

He noted he “would tell you, I’m not concerned about the offense itself,” pointing out the scoring production in the second half is what the Mustangs want.

“We put up 12 points in the third quarter, and then we put up 20 in the fourth,” he said. “So we can score. We just have to be a little more mentally prepared when we start the game. We’re not shell-shocked at the beginning, and that’s on us as coaches to continue to work with our athletes to get them to that point.” 

He emphasized the staff is examining everything, adding it’s not a question of effort from the players.

“There are some things we can do in practice in order to get us to be ready a little sooner,” Berkman said. “Maybe change some of the ways we call the beginning of the game. It’s on us coaches to get those guys ready. We can’t do it for them, of course, but we can’t make the excuse that, ‘Well, they’ve got to do it’ because ultimately that’s our job is to prepare them to be ready when they step on that court. So we have to find some creative ways in order to work with this group, because every group is a little different. What worked for last year’s group to be ready isn’t going to work for this year’s group to be ready, just because they are a different team and different makeup. Even though there’s some similar players, they’ve all got different personalities. And they all have different things that really motivate them and get them ready to play. And we just got to put our thumb on those things.” 

Marble Falls is at the Florence Tournament Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 20-22. The Mustangs play Lucas Christian at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Slidell at 10 a.m. and Vanguard College Prep at 2:30 p.m. Friday in pool play.

CAPTION: Junior guard Beckett Berkman continues to be the scoring leader for the Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro