Marble Falls girls basketball beats San Saba on 2nd day of tourney
CAPTION: Strong defense paved the way for the Marble Falls Lady Mustangs’ win against San Saba. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls girls basketball team defeated San San 42-18 Nov. 18 to begin the second day of its Hill Country Classic tournament.
The Lady Mustangs (4-1) used a big first quarter for a 19-3 advantage they never relinquished. But the Lady Armadillos fought back. The defending Class 2A Region IV champions began the second period on a 7-1 run and limited Marble Falls to a point to trim the deficit to 20-11 at the half.
The Lady Mustangs simply picked up the defensive intensity in the second half. In short San Saba scored a total of seven points in 16 minutes of play. The Lady Dillos dropped in a total of four buckets in four periods.
“Defense is our calling card,” head coach john Berkman said. “I felt like our defense stepped up early. Defense is an effort game. I felt like that’s what carried our offense. Our defense really made it hard on San Saba to score.”
Junior post Lexie Edwards, senior guard Tea Rodriguez and senior forward Avie Nail each scored 8 points, and Emma Bindseil added 7.
“We count on Tea to control the game for us, whether it’s scoring or running the show,” Berkman said. “To be successful we have a lot of people who can score.”
The post play was especially impressive because of the height advantage. Edwards, Bindseil and senior Emma Koziel used their long wingspans, power dribble and feet to put themselves in position for high-percentage shots. Berkman credited assistant coach Adley Canales for working with the posts in helping them to use their physical abilities to make baskets.
“If we don’t have a god balance of inside and outside game, it’s hard to win,” Berkman said. “We have to be able to play both the inside and outside game.”
Marble Falls returns to the Max Copeland Gym court at 3 p.m. Nov. 18.
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