Marble Falls girls basketball beats Canyon Lake

CAPTION: All the elements came together for the Lady Mustangs led by their defensive effort as illustrated by senior forward Kylie Roberts (21) and junior forward Leslie Reynoso (25). Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team defeated Canyon Lake 36-31 Dec. 30 before breaking for the Christmas holiday.

“We played our brand of basketball,” head coach Adley Canales said. “We played our tempo with an up pace. We played from the inside out.”

The Lady Mustangs committed to getting their posts involved at the beginning of the game. When Canyon Lake adjusted its defense, that allowed the perimeter players to pick up the scoring.

“We had one-on-one matchups with our posts,” Canales said. “Then our guards were getting to the line. We were hitting free throws.”

He was pleased to see his players fight through to get to the basket, no matter what the Lady Hawks threw at them.

Freshman forward Adalynn Wood scored 11 points followed by junior forward Leslie Reynoso with 8. Senior Kenadie Cotton connected on “two big” 3-pointers.

Meanwhile, the Lady Mustangs allowed 31 points in 38 minutes, which also pleased their coach. That illustrated their commitment to rebounding and forcing opponents to be sure before attempting the shot.

“That’s a point of emphasis for us,” he said. “We want to limit them to one shot every chance we can get. Coaches are on the sideline keeping stats and coaching. But it looks like we doubled them up on rebounding. Defense is all about attitude and effort. It’s a mindset.”

To Canales, this game before the start of the holiday was the culmination of what his team has been playing toward the last two months — a victory where they put so many of the elements together.

“I’m proud of their growth, their willingness to be coached,” he said. “They show up every day wanting to get better. And they have a willingness to play through anything.”

He noted a lot of fouls were called for both teams. And there was some chippiness.

“They stayed composed,” he said. “They take whatever is thrown at them, and they were rewarded with a win.”

The coach acknowledged the pre-district schedule wasn’t easy, but the Lady Mustangs played through learning a lot of hard lessons the hard way. And he told them so in the locker room before they exited Canyon Lake High.

“All of that led up to this point,” he recalled saying. “It led to winning games like this. They kept playing and finally got rewarded with a win.”

Marble Falls travels to play at Brownwood with the subvarsities playing at 10:30 a.m. and the varsity at noon then welcome Burnet for the District 24-4A opener Friday, Jan. 3, with the subvarsities competing at 1 p.m. and the varsity at 2:30 p.m.

CAPTION: Marble Falls freshman Adalynn Wood is unafraid to get on the low block and make a play. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro