Basketball teams get early measuring sticks
I still remember the first game I covered between the Lady Mustangs and Lady Cougars.
It was December 2006, the second game of District 25-4A at Max Copeland Gym.
Marble Falls was run out of their own gym that night — literally — as Connally was able to push the pace of the game and made two passes for easy layups, 58-45.
It was a frustrating night for Marble Falls as the players believed they had a great chance to win the game. One player was shooting three-pointers after the game that never found the bottom of the net. Others were with their parents in the parking lot.
My advice to them that night was more of a question. Did you play your best? If the answer is no, then go home, go to bed and don’t think about the game anymore.
Of course Marble Falls would suffer one more loss. Then-sophomore point guard Katy Cooke hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to trim the deficit, 55-54.
The two teams met one more time at the Class 4A Region IV Tournament to decide the right to advance to the state tournament.
This time, Marble Falls showed it learned from past games and came away with the win, 46-39.
Who could have known the Lady Mustangs would reel off four straight wins 23 months later?
The latest was at the Chisholm Trail Classic in Belton Friday. Chisholm Trail has the reputation of luring the area’s best teams no matter their classification and this latest tournament is no different.
Marble Falls used the same formula it had in years past to beat Connally, 50-43. The Lady Mustangs slowed the pace and made the Lady Cougars play defense for a long period of time, Marble Falls head coach Stephanie Gamble said.
The two teams will only play in predistrict now as Connally has moved up to Class 5A.
But make no mistake about this. The win against Connally means a lot to several of the past and current players, particularly those who remember losing to an Ashley Lindsay-led squad in the mid-2000s.
The players who care the most are those who suffered through a loss in the final seconds when the two competed in a game to decide which squad advanced as the district’s No. 1 seed.
And the victory means a lot to the fans of Marble Falls basketball.
For those of you who are dying to see the Purple and White on the hardcourts, the Marble Falls High School boys team will be in a four-team scrimmage Saturday, Nov. 15, at Max Copeland Gym, 2101 Mustang Drive, beginning at 11 a.m.
The scrimmage is the fans’ first look at the 2008-2009 Mustangs guided by first-year head coach Bruce Etheridge.
Etheridge is excited about the team, noting they have talent and are hard workers.
The squad is expected to feature sophomores and juniors in District 25-4A that has three teams ranked in the top 20 of the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches poll.
Still, the Mustangs will not be out-hustled and not many teams will outwork them. That’s an Etheridge guarantee.
Just give them time to grow and learn, just like their female counterparts did.