Marble Falls boys hoops loses to Gateway
CAPTION: Jackson Trudeau (3), Beckett Berkman (11) and Isaiah Lazos are determined to finish the regular season strong. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School boys basketball team lost to Georgetown Gateway 50-39 Jan. 28 in District 24-4A play to drop to fourth in the District 24-4A rankings.
The Gators (8-1, 16-7) led 11-10 after the first period and 23-19 at the half. But the Mustangs (14-11, 4-4) came back to take a 38-36 lead going into the fourth quarter.
“I’m really proud of how hard our guys played,” head coach John Berkman said. “I felt like we had put ourselves in position. We didn’t hit a lot of shots in the fourth quarter.”
Gateway committed to chewing clock during the final stanza.
“They tried to hold the ball in the fourth quarter to limit our opportunities,” Berkman said. “We played good enough defense, we rebounded and got the ball back.”
To save time, Marble Falls had to foul. Gateway hit 6 of 8 free throws, almost half of its points in that decisive quarter.
Four games remain in the regular season, but the Mustangs will take their final road trip Friday, Jan. 31, when they travel to Taylor. The junior varsity plays at 5 p.m., the freshmen at 6:30 p.m. and the varsity at 8 p.m.
Gateway and Lampasas (22-8, 8-1) are the district leaders with Burnet (16-14, 5-4) sitting third and Marble Falls is in fourth place.
But Jarrell, Burnet and Salado must visit Max Copeland Gym. The Cougars (7-17, 1-7) are in town Tuesday, Feb. 4, followed by the Bulldogs and the Eagles (11-17, 2-6).
Berkman acknowledges the thin margins, adding at least two of the playoff teams have yet to be determined. He noted the Mustangs understand what’s at stake and are preparing to get every team’s best shot.
