Albany girls lose heartbreaker at Hamlin
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The Albany Lady Lions were seconds away from ending a 10-game losing streak last week only to suffer disappointment.
The LadyLions(5-16overall, 0-10 District 10-2A) had the district bye on Tuesday, Jan. 30 and will make their final home appearance of the season Friday, Feb. 2 when Stamford visits for senior recognition night.Albany concludes its season Tuesday, Feb. 6 at Anson.
In a season beset by injuries and other setbacks, the Lady Lions showed flashes of improvement in losses to Haskell and Hamlin. On Tuesday, Jan. 23, Albany lost 46-26 at home to Haskell in a game that had a four-point halftime margin. On Friday,Jan.26,Albanydropped a38-37heartbreakeratHamlin to see the losing skid reach 11.
Against Haskell, the Lady Lions put together two good quarters at the start, trailing 12-10 after the first quarter and 17-13 at the break. The Maidens then outscored Albany by 11 points in the fourth quarter.
“The girls played hard with heart and desire,” Lady Lion coach Brad Stautzenberger said. “It was close pretty much the whole game. Not having a true ball handler/point guard hurts us in key moments.”
KianaRobersonhad10points and seven rebounds to lead Albany. Braylyn Abbate added eight points and six rebounds.
At Hamlin, the Lady Lions battled back from a 13-2 firstquarter deficit to pull even at 14-14 at halftime. The score remained tied after three quarters and the teams traded baskets in the fourth with Albany holding a 37-36 lead in the final 30 seconds.
“The girls played a great game, just coming up short,” Stautzenberger said. “We had a one-point lead with about 20 seconds left and Hamlin hit a desperation shot. We had a chanceattheend,butfellshort.”
Avery Everitt and Roberson each scored 12 points to help keep the Lady Lions close. Albany also benefitted from a better performance on the boards with Madi Parrott grabbing seven rebounds, Roberson six and Abbate five.
HASKELL 46, ALBANY 26 ALBANY– Kiana Roberson 10, Braylyn Abbate 8, Charlee Hefner 5, Zayne Lefevre 3.
Haskell 12 5 12 17 - 46 Albany 10 3 7 6 - 26 HAMLIN 38, ALBANY 37 ALBANY – Avery Everitt 12, Kiana Roberson 12, Zayne Lefevre 6, Braylyn Abbate 4, Madi Parrott 3.
Albany 2 12 10 13 - 37 Hamlin 13 1 10 14 - 38
