Marble Falls boys basketball earns win at Wimberley tourney

CAPTION: Marble Falls junior guard Jamie Castillo (left), sophomore guard Tidus Willie and junior guard Davis Dreisbach helped the Mustangs earn a win at the Wimberley tournament coming out of the Christmas holiday. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team ended the Wimberley tournament with a 71-34 win against Duncanville Village Tech Dec. 30.

The victory came after losses to China Springs, Lake Belton and Austin McCallum in pool play and to Midlothian Heritage Dec. 28-29.

“It was good to end the tournament with a win the way we did it,” Mustangs head coach Travis Crain said. “We hit the floor for lose balls. We were playing the epitome of Mustang basketball. We showed up for the entire game.”

He pointed out the Mustangs competed in this contest they way they did in the 47-40 against Comal Davenport Dec. 16. They were the mentally tougher and more motivated squad that took advantage of opportunities in transition and in half-court sets.

“It was a balanced attack,” he said. “Our scoring was even, and we did it in a variety of ways. Our defense created turnovers. We were able to score in half court. We had great ball movement that was leading to great shots. We had great timing to get shots off. Our offense in half court was creating great opportunities for us.”

When Crain saw who was in pool play with Marble Falls, he immediately came to a conclusion.

“We were in a tough pool,” he said. “There were 16 teams, and us four coaches were in the toughest pool.”

He noted the first-half deficit to China Springs was about eight points and each time the Mustangs got closer, the Cougars hit a long jumper or completed a fastbreak with a bucket to extend the lead.

“It was a six-to-eight-point-game until the third quarter,” Crain said. “You could tell it was our first game coming out of the break.”

The losses to Lake Belton and McCallum were similar.

“We ran out of steam in the third quarter against Lake Belton,” the coach said. “You could tell we hit a wall. Against McCallum, we couldn’t get over the hump. Against Heritage we didn’t play well.”

Marble Falls will welcome Florence at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 6, where the program will honor its seniors before tip-off.

“We’re looking forward to getting back into practices and tightening things up,” Crain said.

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