Fight For First
The Lion basketball team dropped to second place in the district standings due to a pair of district losses in the last week but still have a shot at the district title.
Now 8-2 in District 8-2A action, Albany lost in Hawley last Friday and were surprised with a 41-40 loss at home on Tuesday to Haskell. Details will be reported next week.
With just two games remaining in the regular season, the Lions will host Cross Plains on Friday starting at 5:00 p.m. with the JV. The varsity will take the floor at 6:30 p.m.
A win against the Buffaloes will assure the Lions of at least a second place finish, but more importantly will give them the chance to win the district title in the regular season finale Tuesday in Stamford.
The Lions won the first round meeting with the Bulldogs, and a second victory on Tuesday would give both teams an 8-2 district record with both of Stamford’s losses coming at the hands of the Lions. A loss to Stamford will advance the Lions as the second seed into the playoffs.
“Next week’s game against Stamford will be huge, and it’s in Stamford,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “That game will decide the district championship.”
Game time in Stamford will also start at 5:00 p.m. for the JV, followed by the varsity at 6:30 p.m.
The two teams have already locked up first and second place in the district race.
The Lions got behind early against Hawley last Friday and spent the rest of the game playing catch-up.
“Our slow start really hurt us,” Peacock said. “We didn’t do a good job of finishing our shots around the basket, and we had a lot of unforced turnovers.”
The coach said while the team struggled on offense, the squad did much better on defense.
“We rebounded well at times and forced them into some bad looks,” he said. “We did a good job on defense down the stretch, forcing several turnovers, but we couldn’t score on them.”
The Lions had chances to tie up the game near the end, but couldn’t put enough together for a win.
“The guys played with heart and battled,” Peacock said. “I’m proud of their effort overall.”
Scoring for the Lions were Cameron Dacus 8, Cutter Cowart 9, Blaine Kayga 1, Joshua Dyer 8, Ben West 5, Derek Isbell 2, and Coby Knight 6.
Albany 3 15 12 9 - 39
Hawley 9 13 13 9 - 44
The Lions picked up a 61-36 win against Roscoe on Jan. 29.
“We couldn’t get anything to fall early in the game, but the guys kept from getting frustrated and did a good job taking over on defense,” Peacock said. “We also spread the ball around on offense.”
Scoring for the Lions were Dacus 9, Cowart 9, Kayga 7, Dyer 6, Kade Everitt 3, West 7, Isbell 9, Knight 7, and Ryder Wilkins 4.
Albany 6 23 14 18 - 61
Roscoe 4 7 7 18 - 36
JV Results
The two JV teams split games against Hawley last week. Games originally scheduled in Roscoe for the JV were cancelled due to illness.
The JV White team fell 43-37 to the Bearcats.
“We started really slow but tied it up at the half,” coach Rod Britting said. “We then let them score way too many points in the third quarter, or we may have won.”
Ryder Wilkins was named the offensive standout, and Jackson Chapman was picked for defense.
Scoring were Chapman 4, Cooper Fairchild 4, Luke Ivy 3, Wilkins 18, Cade Neve 6, and Seth Hale 4.
Albany JV 2 18 9 10 - 37
Hawley 13 7 17 6 - 43
The JV Red team won in Hawley, 39-27.
“The guys really hustled against Hawley, and good defense turned into good offense,” the coach said.
Scoring were Dillon Hindman 11, Jeb Becker 9, Brodey Jones 6, Jaheim Newton 11, and Chris Hensley 1.
Albany 5 8 17 9 - 39
Hawley 8 2 7 10 - 27
