Marble Falls boys basketball beats Taylor
CAPTION: The Marble Falls Mustangs, including Garen Jones (10) and Beckett Berkman (right), got the stops they needed against Taylor to earn another District 24-4A victory. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team defeated Taylor 70-59 Jan. 14 in a District 24-4A battle.
The Mustangs (14-8, 4-1) led 22-20 after the first period and the two were tied at 31-31 at the intermission.
Both squads continued answering each other bucket for bucket during the third quarter. The Mustangs took a 41-36 lead thanks to free throws by senior forward Noah Lyon, who also scored on an assist from senior guard Tidus Willie.
Junior center Cam Plumlee scored on an offensive rebound for a 43-39 advantage with 3 minutes and 17 seconds left in the period. But after Willie added two free shots for a 45-42 lead, the Ducks scored the next five points to take a 47-45 advantage in the final two minutes.
With under a minute left in the period, senior forward Garen Jones drove to the basket for a teardrop shot and added another to give the Mustangs a 49-47 advantage. Taylor looked for the equalizer but missed the shot.
Sophomore guard Beckett Berkman threw a pass from one penetration line on the defensive end cross court to the other penetration line where Willie was all alone in front of the Marble Falls bench.
He caught the pass, dribbled, squared his weight and shoulders and launched a 3-pointer that hit nothing but net just as the horn sounded to give the Mustangs a 52-47 lead and all the momentum.
“That was a big moment,” head coach John Berkman said. “Going up 5 is a lot better than going up 2 at the end of the quarter and you hit it right at the end of a quarter. We sprint the floor and hit a big 3 like that – it is big. It’s a momentum crusher for them and a momentum booster for us. And I feel like it continued in the fourth quarter, which allowed us to really accelerate the lead.”
Jones added another lay-up on a drive and Noah found Willie for a fast break bucket and a 56-49 advantage two minutes into the final stanza.
Marble Falls was so dominant defensively that Taylor could only muster three points for four minutes. Dating back to the Jones layup in the third period, the Mustangs had a 19-0 run to put the game out of reach.
By the time the Ducks scored, Marble Falls led 68-55 and cruised to the victory.
“They got a couple of cheap buckets late,” Berkman said. “I felt like really the whole fourth quarter, we were in total control of the whole game.”
Taylor senior forward Eli Laurence dropped in 21 points, while senior guard T.J. Whybrew scored 19. No other Duck was in double figures.
Willie led all scorers with 21 points followed by Jones with 18, Lyon scored 9, Beckett Berkman and Plumlee added 8, and senior guard Isaiah Lazos and senior forward Reed Lewis each scored 3.
The coach pointed out that every team has one or two players who consistently score in double figures every contest. But so many times the outcome goes back to how well they get their teammates involved, Berkman said.
“When they share the ball, it empowers everybody else,” he said. “When they’re not selfish, it empowers everybody else to get the ball to the right people. And sometimes it’s them. And sometimes it’s somebody who just happens to get hot one night. We want to play team basketball, we understand who should shoot the ball. You watch some of the best teams that are playing basketball right now at any level. They’ve got guys that are the guys, but then different guys have to step up every night to help them win games. And when they’re unselfish to begin with, it just makes it so much easier for everybody to be able to be ready to go.”
The Mustangs have scored 296 points during district play, averaging 59.2 per contest. But in the last four games, they’re averaging 64 points a game. Meanwhile, opponents are averaging 52 points a game.
“We are a team that can score,” Berkman said. “If we can play defense, we can really make it difficult on some teams because we have a lot of different guys who can put in 8 or 9. But they’re coming along and they’re scoring more for us each night and rebound like crazy, and that’s huge.”
Jones said one big reason for the victory is because the Mustangs committed to rebounding better than they did during their 63-61 loss to Georgetown Gateway last week.
“The main thing is we’re on the same page,” he said. “Three of us have been playing together since sophomore year and five of us have played together since the seventh grade. We just have really good team chemistry. We’re one big happy family, and we know how to get the job done together.”
Answering the opponents’ runs is a big reason for the Mustangs’ success. Another is their ability to play with controlled emotion in not getting caught up in circumstances that are out of their control, especially when momentum has swung to the other side.
“We can’t get too high or too low when things are not going your way and things are going your way,” Berkman said. “Yes, you want to be excited when you got the momentum, but you gotta lock down and play the whole game. You can’t get carried away. One of the big words we’ve used this year is respond when things don’t go our way. Our older guys really took some leadership with that, not just tonight, but they’ve been doing it all year.”
Marble Falls is at Jarrell Friday, Jan. 17, with the junior varsity playing at 5 p.m., the freshmen at 6:30 p.m. and the varsity at 8 p.m.
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior guard Tidus Willie leads the Mustangs in points and commits to getting and keeping his teammates involved. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
