Lions open district with win
By Donnie A. Lucas
The varsity Lions basketball team opened the district race with a win over Stamford at the start of the Christmas break, then came back last weekend to compete in the Windthorst tournament on Dec. 27 and 28.
The Lions hosted Haskell on Tuesday as the District 10-2A season continues, however, results were not available due to an early deadline.
Albany will be on the road on Friday, Jan. 3 in Abilene to play TLCA in another district contest. The JV boys will start the action at 5:00 p.m., with the varsity boys following the girls’ game at approximately 7:30 p.m.
With classes resuming next Tuesday, Jan. 7, Albany is hosting Cisco with the JV boys starting at 5:00 p.m.
The Lions defeated Stamford 55-39 to open district play on Dec. 21.
The game was postponed a day since the Bulldogs played in the state football final on Thursday in Arlington.
“Our offense didn’t play as well they did at the Lingleville tournament,” head coach Ryder Peacock said. “We just were not shooting the ball like we had.”
The coach said that the Lions defense made up the difference.
“The defense made some things happen for us,” he said. “There were mistakes made that we had to overcome and will continue to work on, but we got the win and that is a great way to start district.”
The Lions jumped out to a 16-10 lead in the first period, expanding it to a 26-17 game at the half. Albany took the second half 14-9 and 15-13 to seal the victory.
Windthorst Tourney
Results
The Lions struggled on the first day of the tournament, dropping close games to Poolville, 50-46, and Windthorst, 57-53.
“On Friday we played seven quarters that showed we had been on a five-day break,” Peacock said. “We finally took off in the fourth quarter against Windthorst after being down by 18 points.”
Albany trailed 24-14 at the half against Windthorst, but clawed back with second half period wins of 18-17 and 21-16.
“We really started playing up to our potential in the second half of that game,” the coach said.
The Lions faced eventual tournament champs Henrietta in the third round on Saturday morning, losing 50-46.
“Henrietta was the top team,” he said. “They were beating everyone by 30 or 40 points, but our guys stepped up and really played a good game despite losing.”
Albany trailed 12-7 after the first quarter and 20-22 at the half, winning the third period 17-13 and finishing close with a 14-12 loss in the fourth.
The Lions’ lone win in the tournament was a 41-36 victory over Mineral Wells.
“That was a good win over a 4A opponent,” the coach said. “It was the roughest game we have played yet, and we had to get used to the speed of the game that larger schools play. If we had played like that throughout the tournament we would have won three of the four games.”
