The Lady Lions continue to roll through District 8-2A competition, racking up a perfect 4-0 record after a win over Hawley on Tuesday.

Albany defeated the visiting Lady Bearcats, 48-20. Details of the game were not available at press time but will be reported next week.

Albany will finish the first round of district on Friday against the 4-0 Haskell Maidens in Haskell, with the winner claiming the top spot in the first half. Game times are 4:00 p.m. for the JV and 6:30 p.m. for the varsity.

The Cubs and Lady Cubs have been busy over the last week, playing two sets of games since returning from the Christmas break.

The teams will play Cross Plains next Monday, with games starting at 5:30 p.m. in both locations. The girls will host the Buffaloes, while the boys will be on the road in Cross Plains.

The Cubs split games against Hawley at home last Thursday in the first set of games since the break.

The junior high Bulldogs recorded the lone win on the basketball court for Moran this week, but compared to last year, when low player numbers coupled with injuries caused both high school teams to end their seasons early, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are still playing and improving their skills.

Lady Bulldogs

Open registration for the next series of General Education Development (GED) classes in Albany will take place on Monday, Jan. 21, according to local instructor Kenzie Fairchild.

“New applicants will be accepted starting next week,” said Fairchild. “Participants should be at least 17 years of age (with parent’s consent) or older and must have an ID to register.”

There are exceptions for 16-year-olds, listed at the end of this article.

Albany High School’s annual Winter Formal will be held this Saturday, Jan. 19 at the Whitney Theatre, from 7:00 until 10:00 p.m. 

Tickets are $12 individually prior to the event and $15 each at the door. Bottled water and cookies will be available at the dance.

The Winter Formal is sponsored each year by members of the Albany High School student council, and at least one class officer from each class has tickets for sale.

Music is provided by local disc jockey Angel Pacanins.

Students from Albany and several surrounding towns are invited to come to a Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) King’s Court at the Albany High School gym at 7:00 p.m. on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 23.

“This is the gym version of Fields of Faith, and I will be doing four of these around the Big Country,” said FCA Big Country East representative Paul Johnston. “We will not have any refreshments or anything for sale. This is a youth rally for students and their parents, and it is all about worship and helping students to buildup their faith.”

After donations to the Albany Chest 2018 exceeded the $42,000 goal set by the directors in early October, members of the board met last week to finalize the allocations to 26 different organizations that requested help.

At a meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 9, the directors awarded a total of $42,450, which was $1,000 more than the recommended amount after the October session, but still less than the $50,000 that had actually been requested.

Shackelford County commissioners approved a request on Monday, Jan. 14 by the City of Moran and Fort Griffin SUD for a grant application that will funnel through the county coffers, but will not affect county expenditures.

The meeting was conducted by senior commissioner Steve Riley in the absence of new county judge Bob Skelton, who was attending the first required school of his term that started Jan. 1, 2019.

Also in Austin at school this week was new Precinct 2 commissioner Ace Reames.

Water System Grant

Moran Independent School District has a student holiday scheduled for Friday, Jan. 25, and for Friday, Feb. 1. 

Jan. 25 is a staff professional development day and Feb. 1 is a staff comp day.

The holidays correspond with the original dates chosen for the Shackelford County Youth and Livestock Association show (Jan. 24-26) and the rescheduled dates for the local livestock show (Jan. 31-Feb. 2).

Youth entered in the livestock show need to be at the show barn at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 19 to help prepare the facility for the upcoming event.

The fifth and sixth grade youth basketball players opened the 2019 season at home last Saturday, with three of the local teams splitting games and one team winning both of their bouts.

5th Grade Boys

The fifth grade boys came out playing good defense from the start, according to coach John Tom Heatly.

“We hadn’t had a whole lot of practice, so I was extremely proud of them, and can’t say enough about the defense,” Heatly said. “They also did a great job sharing the ball with each other on offense. The entire team played well.”