Lady Lions to host Throckmorton Friday
The Lady Lions earned a pair of wins last week and hosted Goldthwaite on Tuesday as they head into the Christmas break.
Albany dropped to 10-7 with a close 36-29 loss to the state-ranked Goldthwaite Lady Eagles on Dec. 18. Details were not available at press time but will be reported next week.
The Lady Lions will host Throckmorton at home on Friday, with the JV starting at 3:00 p.m., followed by the varsity girls at 4:00 p.m.
The varsity will take a week off before coming back to host a girls tournament Dec. 27-28.
Both squads will open district at home on Jan. 4 against Cross Plains.
The varsity defeated Ranger, 58-51, on Dec. 12 after trailing much of the game before posting a big fourth quarter.
“Ranger played a really good first half,” coach Tate Thompson said. “They have a couple of kids who can really score and we had a hard time stopping them in the first half. I’m extremely proud of our girls for stepping up in the second half, especially the fourth quarter.”
The team was down by nine points with five minutes remaining.
“The girls never quit, going on a 16-0 run in the last few minutes for the win,” the coach said. “They found a way to beat a really good team with some talented players. The girls’ resilience to not give up is a testament to the character of our team.”
Jaleigh Morales was tapped as the offensive standout, while Alli Hill was picked for defense.
Scoring were Torie Fuentes 11, Jillian Guinn 7, Cydney Nelson 7, Hill 7, Morales 22, and Elia Hebel 4.
Albany 13 13 14 18 - 58
Ranger 17 13 16 5 - 51
The varsity girls also hosted DeLeon last Friday, earning a 30-23 win.
“We were sluggish from the beginning, struggling to score early on,” Thompson said. “The girls stepped up in the second half and started to score. I was proud that even on an off night offensively, the girls found a way to pull out a win.”
Morales was again the offensive standout, with Fuentes named on defense.
Scoring were Fuentes 3, Guinn 3, Hill 3, Morales 14, Hebel 6, and Sarah Cotter 1.
Albany 5 6 7 12 - 30
DeLeon 2 7 9 5 - 23
The JV girls also won both of their games last week, beating the Merkel freshmen 43-16 on Dec. 12.
“The girls gave a fantastic effort in taking down Merkel,” coach Richard Sullivan said. “They controlled the game through defense and came out victorious.”
Ansleigh Garcia and Elizabeth Chavez were picked as the offensive standouts, while Sara Smith was named on defense.
Scoring were Traci Isbell 6, Smith 6, Tana Thompson 6, Chavez 8, Ana Balliew 4, and Garcia 13.
The JV also picked up another big win on Friday, defeating the visiting DeLeon JV 47-20.
“We leaned on our defensive efforts again to get a big jump start in this game,” Sullivan said. “The girls dominated the first half 29-8. The JV is improving by leaps and bounds each week and have set a goal to go undefeated in district.”
Isbell, Chavez and Balliew were named offensive standouts, along with Garcia, Smith and Amber Leverton on defense.
Scoring were Leverton 2, Isbell 13, Smith 6, Chavez 10, Balliew 8, and Garcia 8.
