Lady Mustangs win tourney opener

MARBLE FALLS — To Lady Mustangs head basketball coach Stephanie Gamble, the win against San Marcos, 55-36, Thursday may have been a struggle.

But it was a victory.

“We won,” she said after she talked to the players in the locker room.

Gamble said she was disappointed with the performance.

“I can say we didn’t play well,” she said. “We can’t take care of the ball. We’re making extremely poor decisions with the ball.”

Statistics showed that at one time, Marble Falls had almost as many turnovers — eight — as points – nine.

But in the end, the Lady Mustangs found a way to notch the victory to open the 2008 American Bank of Texas Girls’ Basketball Tournament. 

Marble Falls took a 3-0 lead thanks to a Katy Cooke free throw and a pass to Diana Fonseca. 

Jasmine Williams hit two free throws, while Fonseca added another. 

The Lady Mustangs closed out the period on a 5-1 run for a 9-4 lead.

Cooke hit a three from the right side to begin the next period. 

After Christina Hilstock leaned in for a short jumper, Mosher rebounded a miss, passed to Kimi Hicks, who found Shannon Bendas under the basket, 14-10.

The Lady Rattlers took the lead on a free throw and two layups.

But Lindsay Ansley scored two free throws to tie the game. Mosher was fouled on a steal and knocked down the free throw. Hicks found Ansley on a throw-in for a 20-16 lead.

Marble Falls scored the opening bucket to begin the second half, but San Marcos quickly answered. 

Then Cooke scored back-to-back layups for a 26-19 lead. 

Ansley hit a free throw then blocked a shot that was picked up by Cooke, who found Mosher for a score, 30-21.

After two Lady Rattlers layups, Bendas passed to Mosher for a 10-foot jumper. Mosher drove the basket for a bucket. Ansley rebounded a miss and passed to Kyli Bird, 36-25.

The Lady Mustangs had their most productive quarter of the game in the final eight minutes. They scored 19 points thanks to execution on the offensive end. Amanda Gray hit a shot in the lane thanks to a Hicks pass, while Erica DeLaHoya hit a free throw and rebounded her own miss for a bucket.

Cooke passed to Mosher at the free throw line, who found DeLaHoya running to the basket. 

Marble Falls was six of eight from the free-throw line in the final 90 seconds for the win.

Mosher scored 15 points, while Ansley added 14 and Cooke had 11. Fonseca scored four and Gray and Bird each had two.

San Marcos’ half-court trap bothered the Lady Mustangs, who struggled to find the open player. 

The Lady Rattlers featured smaller, quicker guards, who relied on steals and layups to stay in the contest. 

In spite of her disappointment, Gamble said she believes in her players.

“On ability, we’re fine,” she said. “On conditioning, we’re fine. We made extremely poor decisions with the ball.” 

jfierro@thepicayune.com

Photo by Virgil Belk/Hill Country Sports Images