Canales named Marble Falls girls basketball, golf head coach

Marble Falls Independent School District announced that Adley Canales is the new girls basketball and lone golf head coach for the 2024-25 school year.

Canales was the co-head golf coach with Lonnie Tackitt and was the Lady Mustangs varsity assistant coach on John Berkman’s staff during the 2023-24 school year. Berkman became the Marble Falls boys basketball head coach April 24.

Canales, who hails from Kingsville, has been on staff at the school district for seven years. His wife, Anissa, is the Marble Falls High School cheer coach. The couple have daughter Kora and son Ryan.

“It’s a great community,” Canales said. “We love it here. We’ve had success across the board in basketball and golf. When you put so much time into something, it’s hard to change that. And when you get the chance to take over that, it’s hard to say no.”

He earned an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science from Schreiner University and a Masters in Athletic Administration from Concordia University.

Canales takes the reins of two highly successful programs. In 2022-23, the boys golf team finished 10th at the Class 4A state tournament, while the Lady Mustangs advanced to the Class 4A regional quarterfinals after winning the District 24-4A crown, their first in more than a decade.

Canales has experienced the highs in both programs, noting alumni who played for those sports still care about their successes.

“It has a track record of success before John got there,” he said of the girls basketball program. “Look at the record boards and banners and see the accolades. We’ve had success by getting to regional tournaments, playoff wins and deep runs. I’d like to continue to build on what we did. I’ve been there in great years and lean years. Even in the lean years, we still made the playoffs.”

As the coach of the posts, Canales’ most obvious contribution is how he helped develop senior center Lexie Edwards into a dangerous player capable of scoring from just about any spot on the court. She is difficult to defend because of her low posts moves and how she was able to get position on the low block. When she goes to the high post, she turns and reads the defense. If there’s no one there, she is deadly in making those shots. If a posts comes to defend her, she uses three power dribbles to drive to the hoop for a lay-up. Her long-range shooting from the 3-point line was especially impressive as few defenders realized how accurate she was when given open looks at the hoop. Canales saw the holes in the defense and where Edwards could be deadly. Edwards signed her National Letter of Intent to play for Howard Payne University during a signing ceremony May 8.

“She had a great work ethic,” the coach said. “She was super coachable. She’s a great kid with great manners and a great family. It shows. She did all the right things.”

While he is proud of Edwards and their work, he noted the reason he coaches posts came down to Berkman’s knowledge and development of guards.

“As the head coach I will oversee both positions,” Canales said. “I’m confident working with guards and posts. John coached the guards because he played that position in high school and in college. It worked out to where I could take the posts.”

Kait Goertz remains as the freshman coach, and Canales said he’s on the hunt for a varsity assistant.

The golf program, under Tackitt’s direction for three decades until he retired at the end of the 2020-21 school year, was the model of stability. His assistant coach, Ricky Blackington, took over the program until he resigned toward the end of July 2023. Because of the timing and wanting to get a great hire, Tackitt returned to the program for one year as co-head coach with Canales.

Athletic director Keri Timmerman observed Canales during the spring semester and pointed out the traits he has as an educator that made him the right hire for both programs.

“He’s very organized and on top of things,” he said. “(Golf is) a very technical sport.”

He noted many high school golfers have private trainers, and Canales is “someone who can help navigate” that.

Canales checked off each box, he added, including having sustained success in both programs, shows the ability to lead a program down to the smallest details that aren’t obvious to fans, and has a knack building rapport with others.

“He has relationships with players and keeps the continuity of development,” Timmerman said. “If some things work, there’s no reason to change them. He’s very organized and very disciplined We want to reward coaches who stay and develop and don’t chase head coaching jobs. He has a great demeanor on the court.”

Canales pointed out other high schools have basketball coaches who also serve as golf head coaches, including Burnet High’s Rick Gates and Roy Kiser.

“It can work,” he said. “For me it’s about reaching out to see what they can do.”

“I’ve watched him operate,” Timmerman said. “Obviously there’s a respect and trust for him. Continuity is a big deal. He’s a good coach and a great teacher. He’s going to stay with us.”

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