Youth teams to play in Clyde

Three of the local girls and boys fifth and sixth grade basketball teams will play games this Saturday, Feb. 2, in Clyde, but the boys sixth grade team will not play this weekend because of scheduling conflicts.

“We only have six players, even when everyone is healthy,” said coach Campbell Terry. “Four of our boys are in the stock show, so there is no way we can play this Saturday.”

The season ends the following weekend, on Feb. 9, with games in Clyde and Eula. 

This past Saturday, local teams played games in Merkel and Jim Ned.

Fifth Grade Girls

Clyde beat the Albany’s fifth grade girls 20-8, but the local team quickly rebounded to defeat Merkel 12-2.

“We played Clyde first and lost the game to a really good team,” said coach Clint Chapman. “The girls are playing great defense. We just had a problem getting the ball in the basket.”

Scoring for Albany in the first game were Caroline Chapman 6 and Cheyenne Hebel 2.

“I was especially proud of their effort against Merkel because we had to play back-to-back games,” said Chapman. “I like how they are hustling and playing together.”

Scoring for Albany in the Merkel game were Caroline Chapman 2, Mimi Ivy 2, Kaisley Bartee 6, and Averie Myrick 2.

Sixth Grade Girls

The sixth grade girls lost to Merkel 14-15 and to Hawley 9-19 last weekend.

“We lost both games on Saturday, but the girls continue to improve fundamentally,” said coach Leslie Neve. “We just need our shots to fall, and we need to rebound better.”

Sixth Grade Boys

Terry’s sixth graders were the only Albany team playing in Jim Ned last Saturday.

Although they lost games to both Jim Ned #1 and Jim Ned #2, it wasn’t for lack of effort by the local sixth graders, according to the coach.

“We are very proud of them,” said Campbell. “The boys played and fought hard, especially when you consider that there are only six of them.”

Fifth Grade Boys

Albany’s fifth grade boys had another great weekend, winning both games and improving to 6-0 on the season, according to coach John Tom Heatly.  

“We played Eula first, and the boys came out of the gates a little slow in the first half,” coach Heatly said. “We didn’t get much practice last week and just didn’t shoot well in first half, but played much better in the second half to win 20-16. I was especially proud of the rebounding and effort from the entire team.”

Scoring for Albany were Brody Oliver 6, Huffman Heatly 6, Woods Peterson 4, and Mason McCloy 4.  

The boys defeated Clyde in their second game of the day.

“The boys shot the ball much better and jumped out to a big lead early,” said the coach. “Everyone played extremely well, especially on defense. They created lots of turnovers, which led to lots of fast break points.” 

Scoring for Albany were Peterson 7, Huffman Heatly 6, McCloy 6, Oliver 2, Gatlin Wills 2, and Jackson Shack 1.