Basketball still on hold
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions and Lady Lions basketball teams are in wait-and-see mode as several players are busy participating in the football and volleyball playoffs.
Under UIL rules, girls were allowed to begin playing games last Friday with boys allowed to start this Friday. However, player availability will be an issue for Albany teams until the fall sports conclude their seasons.
The varsity and junior varsity girls are scheduled to visit Eula on Tuesday, while the JV boys are to host Abilene TLCA. The Lady Lions varsity is entered in the Seymour tournament Nov. 18-20, but those dates coincide with the state volleyball tournament.
Girls coach Tate Thompson said he will decide how to proceed following Tuesday’s volleyball playoff match.
“If they get past the regional tournament, the we’ll pull out of everything next week,” Thompson said. “I’m probably going to pull us out of the Eula game just to be safe. If they lose this weekend, that will give us one day before we go play Eula and I don’t have enough girls to run them ragged like that.”
Even if Albany advances to the state volleyball tournament, Thompson is guaranteed to have players available after Nov. 20. The Lady Lions have basketball games scheduled Nov. 22 against Guthrie and Nov. 23 at Comanche.
“I know we’ll have them here in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “It’s all good to go.”
Meanwhile, boys coach Ryder Peacock faces the prospect of waiting until after Dec. 16 if Albany reaches the football state final.
“Every year, I hope our first practice is after school lets out for the semester,” Peacock said. “That delay is always a good thing. I’m a big believer that success breeds success.”
The varsity boys’ first scheduled game is Nov. 23 at Comanche.
Until all hands are on deck, Peacock plans to play JV games, working around the football program’s schedule. Albany’s JV football players will continue to practice with the varsity and suit up for playoff games.
“We’ve got seven or eight in offseason and seven or eight playing football, so I’ve got about 15 or 16 kids,” Peacock said.
Peacock said the situation forces him to use early games as practices. The JV boys have a game scheduled for Nov. 19, which would be during the area football playoffs.
“Hopefully, we’ll still be doing the same thing when tournament season starts in December,” Peacock said. “We’ll be taking them to tournaments and getting them as much time on the floor as possible. As we’ve done for the past 10 years, we’ll learn on the fly.”
Junior High
The Albany Cubs and Lady Cubs will tip off their seasons Monday against Abilene Christian.
The girls will visit ACS with the boys playing at home. Game times for both start at 5:30 p.m.
