Marble Falls girls basketball loses to Jarrell
CAPTION: Adley Canales finishes his first year as the head coach of the Lady Mustangs, a season he will remember as a “year of growth.” Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro
The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team lost to Jarrell 63-51 Feb. 4 to end the season.
The Lady Mustangs led 13-12 after the first period and trailed 28-26 at the half and 41-39 after three quarters.
“They hit a buzzer beater at the horn at the half,” Marble Falls head coach Adley Canales said. “We played even in the third.”
The Lady Cougars, who needed to beat Marble Falls to win the District 24-4A championship, outscored the Lady Mustangs 22-12 in the final eight minutes of the contest.
Jarrell sophomore guard Aniya Taylor, who was the district’s Offensive Player of the Year a season ago, led all scorers with 41 points thanks in large part to hitting nine 3-pointers and 8 of 9 foul shots. She was followed by senior Lamyre’ Fitch, who had 12, and freshman Erica Taylor, Aniya’s sister finished with 10. The Lady Cougars didn’t have anyone else score.
Though the outcome wasn’t what Marble Falls wanted, Canales said he could see how far the players have come in the last several weeks.
“That was the most complete game we’ve played all year,” he said.
The Lady Mustangs put all the elements together of what they’ve learned throughout the season. He said the players, especially the underclassmen who were used to getting more wins, better understand the strength and speed of varsity athletes, who have been in high school weight and conditioning programs for years.
The simple truth is that believing success will come by giving great effort in Canales’ practices wasn’t enough, he said. That’s because the coaches in this district all have organized productive practices, so it’s harder to earn wins when everyone is giving max effort in preparation during the season.
“Everybody is already doing that to stay even, at minimum,” he said. “(My players) learned how to compete and how to compete at a high level. There were no slouch games. They learned what it’s about. They had success in the middle school and playing with their own age groups. They realize that what they were doing before isn’t enough. It takes more than what you get in practice.”
Three seniors — Kenadie Cotton, Caity Johnson and Kylie Roberts — said good-bye. Roberts was a seasoned veteran, who was used to playing in the postseason and was unafraid to go after every 50-50 ball. Johnson’s versatility made her difficult to guard, while Cotton’s ability to run the offense and play lockdown defense was invaluable the squad.
Canales was thankful to have the trio.
“They played extremely well,” Canales said. “I’m extremely proud of them. The season didn’t go the way we wanted. They were always trying to do the right things.”
