Lady Lions to host holiday tournament

The varsity and JV Lady Lions split games at home last week, both falling to the Goldthwaite Lady Eagles and then both beating the Throckmorton Lady Greyhounds.

The teams have been idle for the Christmas break, but the varsity will resume action at a local tournament on Thursday and Friday. The Lady Lions are hosting several teams for the two-day event, with admission of $4 for adults and $2 for students each day.

Albany will take the court against Hamlin at 10:00 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 27, then face Big Spring at 2:30 p.m. that day. On Friday, the Lady Lions will play Rising Star at 1:00 p.m. 

The girls will open District 8-2A action on Jan. 4 against Cross Plains at home. Other district teams this season include Stamford, Roscoe, Hawley and Haskell.

The varsity lost to the visiting Goldthwaite Lady Eagles, 36-29 on Dec. 18.

“Goldthwaite has a very good team, especially on defense,” head coach Tate Thompson said. “We played them in the championship round of the Dublin tournament and didn’t handle the pressure very well.”

The coach said that the Lady Lions have improved considerably since the two teams met three weeks ago.

“I was very pleased with the way that we were able to handle the pressure this time,” he said. “We put together four hard quarters, which is something that we have been striving to do. They just made a few more shots down the stretch than we did.”

Jaleigh Morales was the offensive standout, leading the team with 15 points. Also scoring were Cydney Nelson 1, Alli Hill 5, and Torie Fuentes 8.

Hill was picked by the coach as the standout on defense.

Albany 10 4 9 6 - 29

Eagles 7 11 13 5 - 36

The Lady Lions got back on the winning track against Throckmorton last Friday, beating the Lady Greyhounds 61-26.

“This was a good game for us heading into the Christmas break,” Thompson said. “I like where we are as a team, and the girls have gained some confidence going into Christmas. We are going to take some time to rest and come back ready to work.”

Fuentes was offensive standout and top scorer with 19 points, along with Jillian Guinn 7, Nelson 7, Hill 6, Sarah Cotter 2, Morales 12, and Elia Hebel 8.

Nelson was picked as the defensive standout.

JV Splits Games

The JV girls also lost to Goldthwaite last week, 37-18.

“While there were small areas where we could take away something positive, we realized we had to reset our focus on improving,” coach Richard Sullivan said. “I think the girls saw that we can’t ever become complacent as a team.”

Scoring were Traci Isbell 11, Sara Smith 2, Elizabeth Chavez 1, Ana Balliew 2, and Ansleigh Garcia 2.

Isbell was named offensive standout and Chavez was selected for defense.

Albany 2 2 4 10 - 18

Eagles 14 7 10 6 - 37

The JV handed the visiting Throckmorton girls a 40-22 loss last Friday to improve to 9-4 for the season.

“We got another win with a 20-0 second quarter effort,” the coach said. “The overall effort was a vast improvement over the game earlier in the week.”

Offensive standouts were Isbell, Smith, and Balliew, with Garcia, Chavez and Amber Leverton named for defense.

Scoring were Leverton 2, Isbell 14, Smith 8, Chavez 2, Balliew 8, and Garcia 6.

Albany 6 20 8 6 - 40

Throck 6 0 9 7 - 22