Boys varsity struggles as season gets underway
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lion varsity basketball team took the floor for the first time last week, falling to Munday in their opener.
The team hosted Early on Tuesday, coming back from an early deficit to play a close game against the 3A Longhorns but eventually losing 48-41.
The varsity will be on the road at the Hico tournament starting Thursday (today) and continuing through Friday. The Lions will play Valley Mills at 12:30 p.m. and Hubbard at 3:00 p.m. on Thursday, followed by games at 10:00 a.m. against Founders Christian and 12:30 p.m. versus Community Christian on Friday.
The boys are off the first part of next week for final exams, playing games in Comanche on Friday, Dec. 20 starting at 4:00 p.m.
Season Opener
The varsity lost in Munday 52-44 on Dec. 3 to start the season.
“For our first game we did some things that we can build on as we push through the early season,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “We missed a lot of shots that we normally make and made defensive errors that we will address in practice.”
The coach added that the players are still finding their basketball legs.
“We are also looking to develop some chemistry because we only have two guys on the floor from last year,” Peacock said.
Albany 11 7 11 15 - 44
Munday 7 13 21 11 - 52
Scoring for the Lions were Cole Chapman 3, Seth Hale 2, B.J. Morris 7, Dillon Hindman 3, Ben West 19, Brayden Sullivan 2, Coby Knight 4, and Ryder Wilkins 4.
JV I Splits Games
The JV I Lions picked up a win in Munday last week, along with splitting games in a local tournament.
Both JV teams hosted Early teams on Tuesday, but results were not available at press time.
The two JV teams will travel to Jacksboro starting Thursday for tournament action. The JV I will play Archer City at 9:50 a.m. on Thursday, followed by a 5:50 p.m. game against Muenster on the first day. The tournament will continue bracket play on Friday and Saturday.
The JV II will face Boyd at 4:00 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a game against Paradise at 4:00 p.m. Friday. They will return to Jacksboro on Saturday for a 3:15 p.m. game against Lindsay.
The JV defeated Munday 35-31 on Dec. 3. Scoring were Brooks Neece 7, London Fuentes 2, Caden Price 6, Barrett Beal 12, Robert Bailey 4, and Brodey Jones 6.
The JV I lost to Cisco last Thursday, 29-22, in the first round of the local tournament.
Scoring were Fuentes 4, Beal 9, Jones 4, and Cooper Fairchild 5.
Price and Luke Ivy were named defensive standouts.
The JV defeated Sweetwater’s JV in the next round on Saturday, 59-57.
“This was a great comeback win for our guys against a 4A program,” coach Rod Britting said. “The guys stayed the course and allowed the momentum to shift until we put them away in the second overtime.”
Albany trailed 31-26 at the half, but thanks to a 19-7 fourth quarter, the teams were knotted at 50-50 at the end of regulation time. The Lions out-scored Sweetwater 5-3 in the second OT period.
Offensive standouts named by the coach were Price, Beal and Fairchild.
Neece, Ivy and Fuentes were named for defense.
Scoring were Neece 4, Fuentes 1, Price 12, Beal 19, Fairchild 14, Bailey 3, Ivy 4, and Jones 3.
JV II Results
The JV II also split games in the tournament, falling to Cross Plains 37-21 in the first game.
Offensive standout was Jaheim Newton, while Ryan Mark and Malachi Gueldner were picked for defense.
Scoring were Gueldner 2, Tyler Waddell 4, Jayden Lucas 2, Newton 9, and Rylan Roberson 4.
The JV II defeated Hico in the second game, 26-13.
“We played solid defense and got lots of rebounds,” Britting said. “This was a much better game than the first one.”
Newton and Roberson were tapped as offensive standouts, with Gueldner, Mark and Chris Hensley named on defense.
Scoring in the game were Gueldner 5, Waddell 2, Newton 10, and Roberson 9.
