Boys even out league record at 1-1
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions boys varsity basketball team stumbled in its first District 10-2A outing before taking its holiday break and using the time to practice for the remainder of district play.
Albany (4-2 overall, 1-1 district) lost to Hawley before Christmas, then resumed competition on Tuesday, Jan. 4, with a district game at Hamlin. The Lions won easily 52-12, with details to be reported next week.
On Friday, Jan. 7, the Lions return home to host Cisco, with the JV boys on the schedule for a 4:00 p.m. tip-off and the varsity set to begin about 7:30 p.m. after the varsity girls.
The same schedule is planned for Tuesday, Jan. 11 when the Lions travel to Anson for district games there.
On Tuesday, Dec. 21 the Lions dropped a 50-43 decision to Hawley at home.
Both teams started the season more than a month late because of extended runs in the football playoffs. Albany reached the semifinals of the Class 2A Division II bracket, playing on Dec. 9. Hawley advanced to the Class 2A Division I championship, played on Dec. 15, and was playing its first basketball game.
“I think we’re starting to get back into a basketball frame of mind,” Lions coach Ryder Peacock said. “When you come off of a long football season like that, you put so much time and effort into it, sometimes it’s really hard to go from one sport to the next and expect to play at a high level. I think we’re getting there, though.”
Against Hawley, one bad quarter was enough to do Albany in. The Lions led 13-6 after the opening period and 21-17 at halftime before the Bearcats took the lead on the strength of a 17-5 edge in the third quarter.
Adam Hill scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Lions. Cole Chapman added 14 points with two 3-pointers.
The Bearcats, who had three players in double figures, finished with two more field goals, including a 4-3 edge on 3-pointers, and two more made free throws, to account for the seven-point margin.
Peacock said the time spent practicing instead of attending a holiday tournament will benefit the Lions.
“We were able to see what we needed to work on along with getting into basketball mode,” he said. “We were able to put in some things we haven’t had. A lot of teams we’re going to play have a minimum of two to three weeks head start on us and have played 10 to 15 more games.”
This isn’t the first time Albany has gotten a late start on basketball, but Peacock said the situation doesn’t mean the Lions can’t have a good season.
“I think some of our most successful years have come off of long football seasons,” he said. “We might have lost a few district games, but we started peaking at the right time. When other teams hit a plateau, we were starting to add to what we had.”
HAWLEY 50, ALBANY 43
HAWLEY (50) – D.Ramon 4 4-5 12, C.Myers 3 0-0 6, T.Knight 5 1-2 16, L.Culp 0 1-2 1, K.O’Shields 3 4-8 10, D.Chavez 0 0-0 0, B.Cruz 2 0-0 5, L.Bailey 0 0-0 0, B.Newton 0 0-0 0, G.Olney 0 0-0 0, K.Ables 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 10-17 50.
ALBANY (43) – London Fuentes 2 0-2 5, Houston Heatly 0 0-0 0, Cole Chapman 5 2-4 14, Adam Hill 7 4-8 18, Luke Ivy 0 0-2 0, Robert Bailey 0 0-0 0, Bryson Herring 0 0-0 0, Luke Marshall 1 2-2 4, Jaheim Newton 0 0-0 0, Lute Wheeler 0 0-0 0, Lanxton Viertel 1 0-0 2. Totals 16 8-18 43.
Hawley 6 11 17 16 - 50
Albany 13 8 5 17 - 43
3-Point goals – Hawley 4 (Knight 3, Cruz 1), Albany 3 (Fuentes 1, Chapman 2). Total fouls – Hawley 18, Albany 16. Fouled out – none. Technical fouls – none.
Junior Varsity
The Lion junior varsity opened its district schedule on Tuesday, Dec. 21, with a 39-36 loss to Hawley.
Albany took a 26-24 lead into the fourth quarter only to be outscored 15-10 in the final period.
Bryson Herring led the Lions with 17 points.
HAWLEY JV 39, ALBANY JV 36
HAWLEY (39) – Stovall 2, B. Patanpatan 13, F. Patanpatan 2, Ables 3, Rainey 8, Olney 11.
ALBANY (36) – Lute Wheeler 2, Brayden Watson 5, Bryson Herring 17, Cole Read 5, Andrew Leverton 2, Branson Beal 5.
Hawley 6 12 6 15 - 39
Albany 10 8 8 10 - 36
