Marble Falls girls basketball wins final game at own tourney

CAPTION: Marble Falls junior center Leslie Reynoso connects on two of her 14 points against Argle Liberty Christian Nov. 23. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team defeated Argle Liberty Christian 34-33 Nov. 23 to end the Hill Country Classic with a 1-4 record.

Head coach Adley Canales summed how his team got the win.

“Discipline,” he said. “We played our game and controlled the ball. We led the whole way. They amped up the press and hit shots they weren’t hitting early. “

The losses were to Wimberley, the East Coast Dunkaroos from Australia, Klein Forest and Helotes O’Connor.

Canales said he could see his players improve throughout the event.

“They got better from the first game until the last game,” he said.

He was especially pleased with how the Lady Mustangs advanced the ball against their opponents’ full-court defenses.

“Our ability to handle pressure,” he said. “We had a lot of teams playing physical defense. We faced a lot of different styles of defense. Those things helped us grow. You can’t always simulate that in practice.”

Offensively, he was happy to see the Lady Mustangs display patience as they worked through their half-court sets against Liberty. He pointed out that taking care of the ball was the first step in the offense. The other steps are then to set up and work the ball for a good shot. He noted that Liberty packed the lane and refused to let senior forward Kylie Roberts, junior center Leslie Reynoso and freshman forwards Adalynn Wood and Kenley Virdell get clean shots at the basket.

But that meant guards Lila Pangborn and Rayleigh Crim, who are both juniors, and Kenadie Cotton and Caity Johnson, who are both seniors, had great looks at the basket from long distances. And they made the Warriors pay.

“We forced the other team to play defense,” the coach said. “In a short amount of time, we got what we wanted. It allowed Leslie to get opportunities that benefitted us. She had 14 points. A bunch came in the second half. We hit those 3-pointers early. Leslie got the 1-on-1s, which is what we’ve been wanting.”

With a mix of veterans and newcomers, some new to the high school program, Canales said celebrating the positives is important for this team.

“This is the best we’ve played all year,” he said. “It’s a proud moment as a coach.”

Flower Mound won the tournament by beating Marcus and Brock defeated Lake Travis for third.

Those results illustrate “the type of tournament we ran” and the quality of participants, the coach said.

In addition, the Dunkaroos got what they wanted in their stop in Texas. They were in San Antonio Nov. 21 to watch the Spurs after playing on the first day of the Hill Country Classic.

“They came and saw a bunch of different styles and saw a bunch of things they don’t normally see,” Canales said. “It was a bunch of good basketball.”

CAPTION: Marble Falls freshmen Mikaela Valdez (left) and Adalynn Wood force the Argle Liberty Christian player to pick up her dribble near the sideline. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro