Lions bring home bi-district crown
It wasn’t a “lights out” type of game, but then again it was.
The Lion basketball team won a Region I Class 2A bi-district game on Tuesday in Bangs, beating Christoval, 46-43, after the bout was moved from the original location in Coleman due to an electrical outage.
Albany (13-6) now advances to the area round of the playoffs to face the Sundown Roughnecks, winner of District 5-2A. The game is set for Friday in Colorado City with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.
Ticket prices are $3 and $2, with usual passes accepted.
“Sundown is playing really well,” head coach Ryder Peacock said. “They returned the majority of their team from last year, and are playing fast on defense and shooting the ball well.”
The winner of the area game will advance to play the winner of the Van Horn vs. Haskell area game Feb. 25 or 26 in the regional quarterfinal. The top four teams will play in the Region 1 tournament at the Texas Dome in Levelland on March 1-2.
Albany jumped out to a quick lead against Christoval, but cooled off down the stretch.
“We had a big lead through the first half, but slowed down on defense in the second half and let them back in the game,” Peacock said. “We didn’t get the looks in the second half that we had in the first half.”
Details of the game were not available at press time but will be reported next week.
The Lions closed out district on Feb. 12 with a 77-55 loss to Stamford, finishing district in second place with a 7-3 record behind the Bulldogs (9-1).
Senior Cameron Dacus led the Lions at the boards, scoring 22 points against the Bulldogs in Stamford.
“It was good to see Cameron play as well as he did,” Peacock said. “He did a good job of attacking the basket and finishing some tough shots.”
The Lions fell behind early, trailing 26-14 after the first quarter and 43-25 at the half.
“Stamford shot the ball extremely well, even though we felt like we were in a good position defensively,” Peacock said. “They just made some tough shots and found a good rhythm. We didn’t do a good job of slowing the pace and got in a big hole we couldn’t get out of.”
Albany 14 11 13 17 - 55
Stamford 26 17 19 15 - 77
Scoring for the Lions in addition to Dacus were Cutter Cowart 4, Joshua Dyer 3, Kade Everitt 1, Derek Isbell 12, and Coby Knight 13.
The Lions also played a playoff warm-up game against Seymour last Friday, losing 38-33.
“We focused a lot on defense, and I was proud of the way the guys played on that end,” the coach said. “We were able to work on some different looks defensively.”
Knight was the top scorer with 15 points, followed by Dyer 2, Everitt 2, Isbell 6, and Dacus 8.
”We didn’t spend much time on offense, which really showed,” Peacock said. “We never really got going and missed quite a few shots we usually make. Overall, we were able to work on some things we needed to sharpen up.”
Albany 10 8 6 9 - 33
Seymour 10 14 6 8 - 38
JV Results
The JV Lions ended the season in Stamford last week, beating the Bulldogs 53-40 to finish with a 6-4 district mark and 9-7 overall.
“We played Stamford much stronger this time than we did in the first round,” coach Rod Britting said. “The guys really started figuring things out and got a complete team win.”
Albany JV 12 11 8 19 - 53
Stamford 10 16 7 6 - 40
Scoring were Jackson Chapman 5, Jaheim Newton 2, Cooper Fairchild 2, Brooks Neece 8, Luke Ivy 2, Ryder Wilkins 6, Cade Neve 6, Robert Bailey 2, Seth Hale 11, and Dillon Hindman 5.
Standouts on offense were Neece and Hale, while Wilkins and Chapman were named for defense.
