Marble Falls boys basketball adds district road win

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior guard Davis Dreisbach and the Mustangs beat Georgetown Gateway thanks to hot shooting and a commitment to playing shutdown defense. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team defeated Georgetown Gateway 79-67 Jan. 19 for the Mustangs’ first District 24-4A road win.

“I’m really, really proud of our kids,” head coach Travis Crain said. “Our district is very difficult. Anytime you can go on the road and pick up a win is huge. We were in a situation where both teams had the same record.”

Marble Falls (2-1) trailed the Gators (1-2) by a couple of possessions at the end of the first quarter and made up for it behind the hot shooting of junior guard Tidus Willie and senior guard Davis Dreisbach.

By the end of the half, the Mustangs had flipped the scoreboard to take a nine-point advantage.

“We really started to get going and get settled in,” Crain said. “Credit to Gateway. They were doing a great job of creating extra possessions on offensive rebounds. It’s why they got that lead in the first quarter. Once we adjusted to that, it allowed us to get back in the game once we eliminated second-chance points. Our offense was in a good flow. We stopped giving the second chances at the rim and converted our own possessions.”

Willie led with 38 points followed by Dreisbach with 26, senior guard Kody Smith added 6, junior forward Garen Jones dropped in 5, and senior guard Jaime Castillo and senior center Cooper Cochran each finished with 2.

Willie scored from everywhere, while Dreisbach “attacked all night. It was really good all around,” the coach said.

Crain emphasized the win doesn’t happen without each Mustang contributing in numerous ways that go beyond the scorebook.

He pointed out that Castillo, Cochran and junior guard Roman Brown lit up the stat sheet. The coach noted that Gateway junior small forward Ian Cadenhead was finding ways to score and keep the Gators in the game in the third stanza.

“Jaime came in and was like ‘I got him.’ He limited his looks. It allowed us to build our lead,” Crain said. “Cooper played tremendous defense and was an incredible passer and set up guys. Roman played incredible minutes and got guys open shots. Everybody maxed out and rolled and gave us some quality minutes.

“It’s incredible. We go and play with urgency,” he said. “I thought our guys understood that and took that to heart. They were able to handle their business on the road, and that’s incredibly hard to do.”

Burnet (3-0) beat Lago Vista (0-3) 51-47 Jan. 19 to set up a big showdown between the Mustangs and the Bulldogs at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 23, in Max Copeland Gym.

“I think we’re locked in on what we want,” Crain said. “We understand what the district is. We understand there is parity. We know it’s going to come down to a couple of possessions in every game that separate teams. We’re trying to embrace it. We’re trying to prepare for it as best we can.”

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