Marble Falls girls basketball’s hot shooting leads to second postseason win
CAPTION: Marble Falls senior guard Alyssa Berkman hits one of her seven 3-pointers during the Lady Mustangs’ second round win in the playoffs. Photo by Martelle Luedecke/Luedecke Photography
The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team scorched Caldwell 75-15 in the area round of the Class 4A playoffs Feb. 18 in front of more than 1,400 fans at Max Copeland Gym.
The Lady Mustangs (21-13, 6-2 District 24-4A champion) will face Waco La Vega at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 20, at Georgetown High School.
Marble Falls seized control from the start when senior guard Alyssa Berkman drained the first of her game-high seven 3-pointers 18 seconds into the contest. By the end of the game, Marble Falls had dropped in 15 3-pointers thanks to senior guards Mackenzie Farmer, Emma Koziel, Tea Rodriguez and Berkman.
Rodriguez said she knew it was going to be a special night when the Lady Mustangs saw Berkman’s first attempt go in.
“We haven’t had a game like that in a long time,” she said. “We’re on the road to success, we’re working together. It’s a good thing. At the end of the day, we’re family.”
Both Rodriguez and head coach John Berkman said the team didn’t do anything any differently throughout the week; no extra shooting during practices, no coming in early or staying late to get more shooting in.
“It doesn’t happen very often,” Berkman said. “You can’t have one person who scores. We had four different people hit 3-pointers, and they hit multiple 3-pointers. For us to hit that many is a big, big deal. We were shooting inside-out and attacking the goal. Those are the 3-pointers we work on.”
His daughter’s first bucket triggered a 14-0 run that included three 3-pointers from Rodriguez, two free throws from senior post Emma Bindseil and a free throw from Berkman.
The quarter ended on Rodriguez bounce pass to junior center Lexie Edwards, who took the ball and immediately scored the lay-up for a 16-1 advantage going into the second period.
Rodridguez hit two free throws and Berkman nailed a 3-pointer from the left corner to start a 15-5 run in the second quarter. The streak included another Berkman 3-pointer, a 3-pointer and 2-pointer from Farmer, and a lay-up by Rodriguez for a 31-5 advantage with 3:50 left in the half.
Rodriguez added another 3-pointer and then completed a fastbreak bucket thanks to a pass from Berkman for a 36-6 advantage at the half.
Not even intermission could cool the Lady Mustangs. After the Lady Hornets (18-17, 7-5 District 22-4A third place) scored the first bucket of the second half, Berkman answered with a 3-pointer from virtually the same spot she made her first long trey in the first quarter. Once again Marble Falls was off and running and put a magical display of incredible touch shooting, knocking down just about every shot on a first attempt.
Some came from Rodriguez, Berkman and Farmer, who were lurking behind the 3-point line and often found open looks because of the whipped and accurate passes where all they had to do was set their feet and take aim. And when the Lady Hornets were quick enough to get a hand in their faces, Edwards and sophomore forward Kylie Roberts were equally accurate around the paint.
By the end of the period, Marble Falls dropped in seven 3-pointers, including four from Berkman, for a 61-9 lead.
Marble Falls changed tactics a little bit in the final stanza, choosing to push the pace by scoring fastbreak buckets thanks to defensive stands that included steals, deflections and rebounds. In short, the intensity never dropped as sophomore forward Bethany Fry was the ringleader by scoring nine consecutive points. Koziel added a 3-pointer, the Lady Mustangs’ final points of the contest, for the win.
“Everybody pulls for everybody,” the coach said. “Everybody wants everybody to be successful. Our reserves everyday in practice go against our starters. They know their job is to contribute. They know they have to play their best and do what we do. We’re not going to stall and we’re not going to hold the ball. When those reserves get in, they want to be successful. They were prepared.”
Alyssa Berkman led with 22 points followed by Rodriguez with 20, Fry dropped in 11, Farmer added 8, Koziel scored 6, Edwards contributed 4, and Bindseil, Rangel and Roberts each scored 2.
Caldwell scored only four 2-pointers and were 7 for 12 from the free throw line.
The Marble Falls faithful were ready do its part as the sixth man by being vocal and loud for 32 minutes. Instead, there were gasps of appreciation for the players’ performances and grateful applause for their preparation and representing the fans in a tremendous way.
“I love playing in front of the community,” Rodriguez said.
“Their cheers and chants and excitement at scoring is very appreciative,” the coach said. “I’m super proud of the girls. What a game to put on in front of our home crowd.”
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