Lady Lions move on to area
The Lady Lions edged out Eldorado Monday night in Coleman, 32-30, to win the bi-district championship and advance to the second round.
Albany (21-9) will face the Sundown Roughettes Friday in Colorado City in the area playoff. Tip off is set for 6:30 p.m.
Sundown (19-13), the winner from District 5-2A, beat Iraan 53-29 on Monday in their bi-district round.
The Lady Lions will serve as the visitors in Colorado City. Ticket prices are set at $3 and $2, and district and senior citizen passes will be honored.
“Sundown is a very disciplined team that is well coached,” coach Tate Thompson said. “If we play well like we are capable of, then we will have a really good chance of winning.”
The winner of the area round will play the winner of the Wink? vs. Forsan area game in the regional quarterfinal game next Monday or Tuesday.
Girls Slip By Lady Eagles
Albany pulled ahead 7-1 in the first quarter, but Eldorado narrowed the gap to 7-6 by the end of the period. The score stayed close for the rest of the game.
“We got a good lead early, but we couldn’t hold it,” said Thompson. “They got back in the game, and we couldn’t seem to put it away.”
The coach said that the low scoring game was a defensive battle.
“We knew that defense would be what won the game, and it did,” he said. “We struggled to score against their zone defense, but we made up for it by creating turnovers with our defense and scoring that way.”
Jaleigh Morales was named the defensive player of the game, while Alli Hill was picked for offense.
“This win was a true testament to the character of these girls,” Thompson said. “This was our first game without a starter who made huge contributions to every game, but the other girls stepped up to pick up the slack and got it done.”
Sophomore standout Elia Hebel is preparing for knee surgery after suffering a torn ACL after the Haskell game last week.
Scoring for Albany were Torie Fuentes 5, Jillian Guinn 4, Carley Green 1, Hill 10, Sarah Beth Cotter 2, and Morales 10.
Albany 7 6 12 7 - 32
Eldorado 6 6 12 6 - 30
Albany Defeats Haskell
The Lady Lions sewed up second place in District 8-2A last week by shocking Haskell with a 37-32 win in the final home game of the regular season. The Maidens were previously undefeated in district and are state-ranked.
“Anytime you play the number three team in the state and lose by 50 points the first time you play them, it is easy to become intimidated,” Thompson said. “But the girls didn’t succumb to that. We played outstanding defense and out-hustled Haskell, and that is why we were able to beat them.”
Fuentes was the leading scorer in the game with 14 points, while Morales was again the defensive standout.
“I couldn’t be more proud of these girls for the way they performed,” the coach said. “Any time a team can win 20 games in a season, it is quite an accomplishment. These girls have done something that this program hasn’t been able to do in a while.”
Scoring for Albany were Fuentes 14, Guinn 4, Green 2, Hill 3, Morales 10, and Elia Hebel 4.
Albany 5 14 5 13 - 37
Haskell 11 6 9 6 - 32
JV Girls Lose To Haskell
The JV girls ended the season with a 28-26 loss to Haskell.
Scoring were Traci Isbell 2, Tana Thompson 2, Lizzie Chavez 5, Ana Balliew 2, and Ansleigh Garcia 15.
