Marble Falls boys basketball beats Lampasas
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior forward Garen Jones contributed to the stat sheet throughout the win against Lampasas. Photo by Christopher A. Miles/Christopher A. Miles Photography
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team defeated Lampasas 61-56 Jan. 7 to move to 3-0 in District 24-4A play.
“Super proud of the efforts from our entire team,” head coach John Berkman said. “Felt like some things just weren’t going our way. Whether it be missed shots, missed opportunities, guys in foul trouble – you name it. Felt like it didn’t go our way early, but our guys just kept plugging and kept plugging and kept plugging.”
The contest couldn’t have started better for the Mustangs.
Senior forward Garen Jones outraced everyone for the layup after a steal then added another layup for a 4-1 lead. He kept the Mustangs ahead thanks to a three-step drive with a teardrop shot for a 10-6 advantage. Senior forward Noah Lyon and senior guard Tidus Willie added free throws, while senior guard Reed Lewis contributed a bucket from the low block then a 3-pointer from the right side for an 18-11 lead going into the second period.
But the Badgers began with a 7-0 run that ended when Willie scored a pair of free throws. The two teams matched each other basket for basket the rest of the half with the Mustangs taking a 30-26 advantage into the intermission.
The two teams kept the same pattern in the third quarter where Willie did the heavy lifting for the Mustangs and junior center Beau Patterson did the same for the Badgers. Neither team allowed the other to take more than a four-point lead. Patterson scored 8 of his 14 points during this timeframe.
In the end, Willie drew the defense and dumped the ball to junior forward Kaleb Bielfeldt for a wide open layup then completed a 3-point play for a 43-41 lead going into the fourth quarter.
The Badgers took only one lead in the final stanza — at 54-53 thanks to a drive to the basket by junior forward Jax Pratus with 1:54 remaining — but Marble Falls responded the rest of the way.
The Mustangs finished the final minutes on an 8-2 run highlighted by free throws by Jones and Willie.
The Mustangs hit 15 of 19 foul shots led by Willie. After missing his first attempt, he connected on 12 consecutive free throws en route to finishing with 26 points. Jones added 14, while junior center Cameron Plumlee scored 6, sophomore guard Beckett Berkman and Lewis each had 5, and sophomore forward Marc Barrios and Bielfeldt each dropped in 2.
“Because of the foul trouble and some other things not going our way, we had to have some other guys play some big minutes,” the coach said. “Reed Lewis played some big minutes. Kaleb Bielfeldt played a big set of minutes late in the third, early in the fourth for us. Cam Plumlee played huge against their big guy (Patterson) and did all he could against him. He had some big buckets late for us. Then our two big guns — Garen and Tidus — came through again. They played great and had some great plays, offensively and defensively.”
Berkman emphasized the reason why the Mustangs were victorious is because Jones and Willie committed to setting up their teammates for wide-open looks at the bucket and nailed them. When the Badgers adjusted, the duo created their scoring opportunities.
“That’s as big as anything when they share the ball, because they’re going to draw a lot of attention,” he said. “And if they’re willing to be good passers, it’s going to set other people up and then open them up later. So just a great team effort tonight, just really proud of it.”
Another component of the outcome was the Mustangs’ ability to answer with scores and stops when it counted the most. The coach said that’s a discussion point quite frequently.
“Basketball is a game of runs, whether it’s a six-point run by one team and then a 10-point run by the other team and vice versa, back-and-forth,” he said. “And you have to be able to withstand the other team’s runs because they’re going to make them if they’re good teams. And Lampasas is a good team. That’s one of the things we’ve been able to do this year well when we’ve had the lead. When somebody starts to close that gap or when somebody even takes the lead on us, we’re able to still withstand that and combat that a little bit. Our guys stay with our game plan. Our guys are coachable and our guys just respond well the right way. That makes all the difference when they’re willing to respond the right way.”
Marble Falls welcomes Georgetown Gateway (11-7, 3-1) Friday, Jan. 10, with the subvarsities playing at 5 p.m. and varsity at 6:30 p.m.
CAPTION: Marble Falls seniors Noah Wylie (left) and Tidus Willie go after the loose ball to get another crucial possession against the Lampasas Badgers. Photo by Christopher A. Miles/Christopher A. Miles Photography
