Lady Stangs fall to Georgetown

GEORGETOWN — Playing their fifth game in five days, the Marble Falls High School girls basketball team lost to Georgetown, 54-45, Nov. 24.

“We ended up fouling at the end,” head coach Stephanie Gamble said. “I thought it was closer (than the score indicated).”

Georgetown is known for having a solid program that challenges teams because of its depth. This contest was no different, Gamble said.

“(Head coach Rhonda Farney) does a great job with the kids,” she said. “She’s been there for 20-plus years. She has a bunch of them.”

The Eagles had depth and were able to score from various spots on the floor, Gamble said. 

But because Marble Falls had closed the gap to three and time was expiring, Gamble told her players to foul.

Georgetown made eight free throws to secure the win.

“They knocked them down,” Gamble said. 

And while the coach acknowledged the toll the number of contests can take in a short amount of time, she did not use that as an excuse for the outcome.

“I think in spurts that affected us,” she said. “Sometimes you get a little dead-legged and can’t overcome the hump. But we had some people who just didn’t play well.”

Marble Falls took a 9-6 lead after the first period.

“We made some good decisions in the first quarter,” the coach said. 

The Lady Mustangs were outscored, 14-8 in the second, 16-12 in the third and 19-16 in the final period.

“The second quarter was their dominating quarter,” Gamble said. 

Katy Cooke and Lindsay Ansley were on the bench because of foul trouble.

“Georgetown is going to be physical,” the coach said. “They move the ball around a lot and keep coming at you.”

Katie Mosher ended the game with 17 points followed by Lindsay Ansley with 14. Katy Cooke and Amanda Gray each added four points. Erica De La Hoya and Shannon Bendas each scored three points. 

Marble Falls was 12 of 15 from the line with most coming in the second half.

While the Lady Mustangs played their 10th game of the season, the Eagles were in their fifth.

“We played hard,” Gamble said. “We didn’t always play smart.”

But she saw it as a test of character and saw the fight in her squad.

She credited the Georgetown defense for sticking to Cooke and not allowing her to take over.

“They tried to one-up Cooke,” she said. “She started trying to do too much with the ball.”

Once the Eagles realized that Ansley was becoming a factor, Georgetown double-teamed her, the coach said. That left a Lady Mustang open.

“That gave Mosher some open looks,” she said. “But we didn’t step up like we needed to.”

And though Marble Falls trimmed the deficit to three points, the Lady Mustangs turned the ball over twice and could not come any closer.

Still, Gamble saw many positive aspects exhibited by her team that will help as they continue to get experience. 

“In each game, you step out and learn something different,” she said. “You learn something about yourself, who you are as a people and who we are as basketball players. Grabbing something from each one of those enlightens us one way or another, and we’ll be better down the road.”

The Lady Mustangs will travel to play San Antonio Stephens for a 1 p.m. tipoff today. It is the last game before taking a short Thanksgiving holiday break.

“It’s going to be a tough, tough challenge,” Gamble said. “We’re playing a lot of games in a short period of time. We’re still lackadaisical in taking care of the ball. Hopefully as we get more comfortable in roles we’re in, we’re going to be better. The kids are playing now without a lot of experience. Sometimes that takes care of itself.” 

Photo by Virgil Belk/Hill Country Sports Images