Marble Falls girls basketball gets lopsided win against Eastside

CAPTION: Marble Falls senior guard Caity Johnson’s offseason work on improving her game is paying off for the Lady Mustangs. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team beat Austin Eastside Early College 62-12 Nov. 19.

That ended a three-game losing skid.

The Lady Mustangs (2-4) were never threatened. Behind the hot shooting of senior guard Caity Johnson and sophomore Kenley Virdell, Marble Falls raced to a 19-5 lead in the opening stanza.

Johnson scored 8 of her 15 points and Virdell dropped in 6 of her 9 in the first period.

Marble Falls led 35-4 at the half and 46-7 after three quarters.

The Lady Mustangs scored off half-court sets and fast breaks.

“We’ve been putting in the time offensively,” head coach Adley Canales said. “We weren’t forcing shots. It comes with playing time and practice and being on the floor together.”

Freshman forward Adalynn Wood scored 13 points followed by junior post Leslie Reynoso with 8, freshman Mikaela Valdez added 5, freshman Ally Moran dropped in 4, sophomore Brooke Nesrsta and junior point guard Lila Pangborn each scored 3, and junior guard Rayleigh Crim finished with 2.

“The scoring was good,” Canales said. “It was evenly distributed. Our goal was to focus on ourselves and do things right. We kept the intensity up and still played well. Our goal was to stay engaged even when the game got out of hand.”

The coach noted that Johnson’s scoring production illustrates an important piece to the team. The senior is a returning letterman, who has put in the work in the offseason and is playing with more confidence. Johnson can run the floor to finish plays in transition, can hit the 3-pointer from several spots on the court, and isn’t afraid of contact when she goes to the hoop.

“She’s accepted her role and knows what we need her to do,” he said. “She’s putting her body on the line. She’s a utility player for us. She creates mismatches for us on offense. She’s a dream of a kid. She’s a ‘yes sir, no sir,’ kind of player.”

Marble Falls lost to Austin Liberal Arts and Science Academy 50-44 Nov. 15 and Bastrop 51-38 Nov. 12.

The Lady Mustangs got into foul trouble against LAASA and lost the lead in the final two minutes.

“Shots weren’t falling,” the coach said.

Bastrop was led by senior center Nevaeh Jones, who recently signed to play for Charleston Southern.

“They were a good team,” Canales said.

Marble Falls hosts its Hill Country Classic Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 21-23 featuring 32 teams. The Lady Mustangs begin bracket play against Wimberley at 9 a.m. Thursday and will face either the East Coast Dunkaroos, a team from Australia, or Lago Vista at 1:30 p.m. The Dunkaroos are on a U.S. tour and contacted Canales about playing in the tournament.

The tournament will be played at Marble Falls high school and middle school and features Brock, Lipan, Flower Mound and Corpus Christi Flour Bluff.

“It’s a loaded field,” Canales said.