Lady Lions finish season

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions wrapped up their basketball season on Tuesday, Feb. 8 with an 81-16 loss at Stamford.

The Lady Lions finished the season 3-18 overall and 1-9 in District 10-2A.

Stamford, ranked No. 13 in Class 2A by the Texas Association of basketball Coaches, won the district title and played Quanah on Monday in a bi-district playoff.

Lady Lions coach Tate Thompson said the Albany team, which included four sophomores and three freshmen, made progress during the season despite the lack of success in games.

“That’s what we talked about after the game,” Thompson said. “I know it’s hard for the girls to get motivated playing teams that are really good. We have four really, really good teams in our district.”

Thompson said building for next season starts with a strong effort during the offseason.

“I told the girls it needs to start with their strength and conditioning,” he said. “We’re going to have a summer league and have shootouts. I want them to take that next step and get better because we don’t need to leave off where we finished this year; we need to be better when we start next year.”

With eight players returning next season, Thompson said inexperience won’t be as big a factor.

“The girls learned the speed of the game we have to play and some of the things we have to do to compete with those teams,” he said. “The experience level was big, too.”

Season Finale

The Lady Lions fell behind 31-0 in the first quarter on Feb. 8 and trailed 51-2 at halftime. Stamford hit five of six 3-pointers in the first half.

Albany had its highest scoring period with nine points in the third quarter as Stamford pushed the lead to 64-11.

Briley Tabor, who scored seven points in the third quarter, finished with nine points to lead the Lady ­Lions. Kiana Roberson added five points, and Caroline Holson scored two.

STAMFORD 81, ALBANY 16

ALBANY – Briley Tabor 9, Kiana Roberson 5, Caroline Holson 2.

Albany 0 2 7 5 - 16

Stamford 31 20 13 17 - 81