Ten Highland Lakes Sports Insights

CAPTION: The Marble Falls Lady Mustangs gather after their season ends in a regional quaterfinal loss to Waco La Vega. La Vega on the Class 4A Region III championship to advance to the state tournament. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The high school basketball season has ended for the Highland Lakes. And that means all the attention will move to soccer and the start of spring sports. There’s still plenty to look forward to, particularly for Marble Falls since it dropped to Class 4A. So let’s do a quick review first of the hardwood before we move on to the pitch and the diamonds.

1. The Marble Falls basketball teams’ seasons ended in back-to-back nights of losses. We’re going to start with the Mustangs, who lost to China Spring 56-55 in an ending that will stay with Marble Falls for awhile. A Cougar 3-pointer with 7 seconds left, a stoppage in play where a technical could have been assessed and wasn’t and a warning could have been issued and wasn’t does little to comfort the Mustangs, who were prepped and knew what to do in order to come away with a one-point win. But the ending does little to take away the positives from a season where Marble Falls, which was on a 36-game losing streak it ended in the season opener, was the first team to win six District 24-4A games and a share of the district crown. It does little to erase the two wins over Burnet, the miracle win at home against Jarrell, and the road win against Georgetown Gateway, which I thought was the most complete team in the district based solely on its intangibles. And that’s why most fans will agree with me when I state pride is at the forefront when thinking of these Mustangs. They fought and clawed and found ways to be victorious where they snatched it from the opponent. Let’s hope there’s enough here for the players to want to continue to work and improve for next season.
2. The Lady Mustangs lost to Waco La Vega 61-33 Feb. 20 in the regional quarterfinals, their first appearance in several years. Marble Falls played as well as it could against an opponent that has speed and can jump out of the gym. La Vega made it virtually impossible to get past the midcourt line. There’s not an opponent on the Marble Falls schedule that I can recall that challenged the Lady Mustangs in that way. Hats off to the Lady Mustangs, who were deemed the favorites to win the district crown. The difference between them and everyone else is they performed like the favorites and won it. It’s been said behind the backs of the program that Marble Falls will be on a full-on rebuild next season, and the Lady Mustangs know that district opponents are counting on that. The returners will either take that as a challenge and continue to work when no one is looking or they’ll rest on what the 2022-23 team has accomplished. It’ll be interesting to see how this one plays out.
3. The Llano Yellow Jackets’ season ended in a 46-35 loss to Brock in the area round of the playoffs Feb. 24. While the Jackets struggled in field goal shooting, they played very well defensively to make it very difficult for the Eagles. Like the Mustangs, there’s plenty to be proud of. Llano won its first outright district title in 33 years and a bi-district championship for the first time since 2014. These seniors continue to positively impact the athletic department and are showing why fans will talk about this sports year for a long time.
4. Congrats to another Lady Mustang team — powerlifting — in getting 11 regional qualifiers for the meet scheduled for March 3 in Dublin. Head coach Robert Draper and strength-and-conditioning coach Richard Scales are to be commended for the work these athletes are putting in and the rewards their receiving because of it. It’s been an amazing year for Marble Falls powerlifting. The Mustangs won all five invitationals they entered. Regionals for them will be announced Monday, Feb. 27. Coaches at opposing schools have talked about Marble Falls powerlifting in glowing terms all season. The Mustangs and Lady Mustangs have impressed them with the quantity of lifters in each class and their ability to lift tons of weight and earn a score. And the coaches have noticed the positives from the athletes in their physical and mental well-being. And that’s the beauty of athletics — what it can do to help athletes in their lives.
5. Let’s stay in powerlifting for a minute. Joining the Lady Mustangs at regionals are 10 Burnet Lady Dawgs and 15 Llano Lady Jackets. This marks the third year Abby Smith will represent Burnet at regionals where she will attempt to qualify once more for the state meet. The Lady Jackets are led by senior Remi Easley and juniors Gwyn Burnett and Emily Leach, who automatically qualified for regionals earlier this season. Tip your hat to head coaches Tyler McIntosh at Burnet and Richard Kattner at Llano and their assistant coaches for the tremendous work of these strong athletes. Regional qualifiers for the boys will be announced Monday, Feb. 27.
6. Soccer season is down to its final four regular season matches, and District 25-4A eyes will on Austin Achieve Tuesday, Feb. 28, when the Polar Bears welcome Marble Falls. This is a crucial match-up for the boys. If the Mustangs prevail, they will have a shot to win an untied district title. If Achieve wins, they will split the regular season with Marble Falls. But because soccer uses a points system to determine just about everything, it’s unclear to me what happens next. South Burnet County is hoping that question won’t need to be asked. Meanwhile, the Lady Mustangs are still in second place, a game behind the Burnet Lady Dawgs. The two will meet at Mustang Stadium in the regular season finale March 10.
7. Congratulations to the Burnet Bulldogs, who beat Jarrell 5-1 Feb. 24 to clinch a playoff berth for the first time in the eight-year history of their program. Meanwhile the Lady Dawgs remain the class of the district and control their own destiny for winning the district crown outright. Few teams have been able to challenge the Lady Dawgs. That’s why that last regular-season contest is big.
8. Let’s move to the softball diamond. The most complete team in the Highland Lakes is Llano, which features a great one-two punch at pitching in Madison Kloepper, who signed to play for Western New Mexico in November, and Skyler Brown. It also has the best lead-off batter in the area in junior Gwyn Burnett, who already committed to play softball for the University of Nevada at Las Vegas. The Lady Jackets hosted their D.I.R.T. Tournament the last three days and showed their depth as a team. They beat Marble Falls 14-1. The Lady Mustangs look to be rebuilding and will lean heavily on head coach Alex Lozoya, who was hired last summer to lead the program. Meanwhile, the Burnet Lady Dawgs are 4-6 right now and feature a great talent in junior Camrynn Guthrie, who is the best catcher in the area. Guthrie committed to play for Florida Atlantic last year. Should be a great season.
9. The area baseball teams learned about themselves at the annual Fredericksburg tournament. Llano beat Austin Regents 12-0 after losing to the host 11-10, to Burnet 13-7 and to Cameron Yoe 3-2. Senior Jackson Dillard pitched against Regents and did a great job.
10. The Bulldogs are also looking solid as they beat Fredericksburg 9-8 and Regents 15-3. Burnet returns several from a squad that lost a bi-district series to La Grange last season. Should be a fun season for the Bulldogs, who are looking to return to the playoffs. Burnet welcomes Jarrell Tuesday, March 7, in the District 24-4A opener.
11. The Mustangs beat Karnes City 9-0 and Austin Akins 10-6 before losing to Lufkin 16-2 at the Austin Independent School District tournament at Austin Navarro. Marble Falls will be competing at the Llano tournament this weekend before starting District 24-4A play at home against Lampasas Tuesday, March 7.

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