Marble Falls boys basketball looks to continue hot streak

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior center Cameron Plumlee (23) and junior forward Marc Barrios are two of the Mustangs who are looking to defend their home court. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team travels to play at Fredericksburg Tuesday, Dec. 2, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and the varsity to follow. Currently the Mustangs have won two games in a row

Then the Mustangs (3-4) will host their HTeaO Hoops Classic Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 4-6, at Marble Falls High School. The tournament features 14 teams from across the state and even a traveling team from Australia. Head coach John Berkman noted those squads bring various styles and philosophies that will be on display in every games.

Austin McCallum, Copperas Cove, San Antonio Cornerstone and Maly Warringah of Australia play in pool one, while Grapevine, Cedar Park High, Elgin and the Lake Travis junior varsity are in pool two. Edison, Greenwood and Marble Falls are in pool three, and Georgetown East View, Magnolia and Faith Academy of Marble Falls are in pool four.

“We’ve got some good teams,” Mustangs head coach John Berkman said. “It’ll be good to have a wide variety of styles of play for sure. (Manly Warringah) reached out to us and we had a spot thankfully, so it’s good. It’s always fun to see their style of play and how they do some things differently than what we may do.”

The teams will compete in pool play Thursday and Friday morning. Pool records determine where teams play Friday afternoon. The top two finishers in each pool advance to bracket play, while the others will compete in a round robin event. Each team will play no more than five games.

This year’s tournament also features a 3-point contest for the first time. Each team will enter three sharp shooters, but only one will be able to shoot before a pool game begins. He has one minute to make as many 3-pointers as possible with his teammates rebounding. Each shooter with the most 3-pointers made on his team will advance to the next round. Then tournament officials will determine the next six highest-scoring shooters to complete the field of 20.

On Friday, those 20 shooters will have 45 seconds to attempt four shots from three designated spots. The top four shooters from each round will advance to the next round.

Berkman said it’s crucial the Mustangs use the month of December properly since they are about 30 days out from starting District 24-4A play.

“I just want to use us compete,” he said. “Whether we are playing somebody that has us outmatched or not, I want to see us compete. That’s one of the things that we were working on before the break. Sometimes you’re going to make shots, sometimes you’re not going to make shots, sometimes you’re going to play opponents that are tougher than others. And the key is playing your best every time you step on the court and competing to your best. Just running up-and-down a court is not competing. We want guys that are looking to compete each and every possession when we’re playing. We may not win every game, but we’re looking to compete in every game, and there’s definitely a difference. We’re just excited to get back on the court and get playing again.” 

CAPTION: Charlie Martin and the Mustangs look to continue their hot streak as they begin the final month of pre-district play. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro