Lady Stangs see season end with loss to Leander Vandegrift
MARBLE FALLS — The Marble Falls High School girls basketball team’s season ended with a 38-27 loss to Leander Vandegrift Feb. 7.
The Lady Mustangs’ (4-8) 12-year streak of playoff appearances is over. And it wasn’t lost on Vandegrift head coach Jodi Hormann, who noted her squad trailed 16-11 at intermission.
"We knew this was going to be tough coming here," she said. "They hustle, they’re physical. We knew this was going to be tough."
Marble Falls controlled the first half by limiting the number of shots.
However, the Lady Vipers (6-6) turned things around in the final period. Jasmine Mobley scored on an offensive rebound and from the foul line for a three-point advantage, only to have Marble Falls senior guard Whitney Ulbricht answer with a 3-pointer of her own.
Those were the last Lady Mustang points for the next four minutes.
Meanwhile, Vandegrift went on an 11-0 run that provided the cushion.
"We played hard, but we made some crucial errors when we needed to be smarter," Marble Falls head coach Stephanie Gamble said.
Vandegrift was able to get multiple offensive rebounds and reset the half-court attack that allowed the Lady Vipers to take a minute or more per possession. Two of those possessions ended with Natasha Desai scoring two-footers. She finished with 12.
Marble Falls sophomore guard Sarah Stripling led the Lady Mustangs with 11 points, followed by Ulbricht and sophomore guard Blanca Fonseca with five apiece.
Though Marble Falls led 20-19 at the end of the third period, Gamble said the lead should have been more.
"We blew opportunities in the third when we had two or three layups," she said. "We got good looks at the basket. We had three turnovers to start the second half."
Still, Gamble couldn’t fault her players’ efforts.
"Our kids didn’t lay down and die," she said.