Marble Falls girls basketball loses to Jarrell

CAPTION: Senior forward Kylie Roberts and the Lady Mustangs are preparing to start the second round of district play. Staff photo by Jennifer Fierro

The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team lost to Jarrell 63-24 Jan. 17 to end the first round of District 24-4A play.

Seven minutes into the contest, the Lady Cougars led 8-4.

“We started out well,” Marble Falls head coach Adley Canales said. “It was back and forth to start.”

But Jarrell, thanks to sophomore guard Aniya Taylor, freshman guard Erica Taylor, and freshman Karis Brown, used its defensive pressure to jumpstart the offense.

By the end of the period, the Lady Cougars led 15-4 and never looked back.

“They continued to pull away,” Canales said.

Aniya Taylor scored 20 points followed by Erica Taylor with 13, and Brown finished with 12.

Meanwhile, the Lady Mustangs’ offensive struggles continued.

“We were getting all the looks we wanted,” the coach said. “They just weren’t falling.”

Coaches believed the Lady Mustangs’ taller lineup would allow them to spread the floor and pass to posts on the low block and the paint, which happened Canales said. Marble Falls rebounded well, the coach added.

“We were getting one-on-ones,” he said. “We had the advantage size wise. We were working through our posts. We were getting putbacks. But against a team like that if you don’t convert, it’s hard to keep it close.”

Burnet (13-14, 4-1) and Jarrell (23-6, 4-1) are tied for the district lead with Salado (16-12, 3-2) in third and Lampasas (10-16, 2-3) and Taylor (10-16, 2-3) are fourth. Salado lost to Taylor 47-40 Jan. 17, while Burnet defeated Lampasas 36-22. Marble Falls (0-5) is fifth.

Canales summed up what his team has to do to qualify for the playoffs.

“We still have to go beat Taylor and Lampasas and beat one of the top three,” he said. “We have to beat one of the top three to have a shot.”

Marble Falls is at Burnet Wednesday, Jan. 22, in a varsity game only that begins at 7:30 p.m.