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Lions earn guaranteed playoff spot

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By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions officially punched their ticket for the postseason Friday, Feb. 3 with a 45-30 victory at Stamford.

The Lions (12-3 overall, 8-2 district) still have a shot at the District 10-2A championship. After a 67-27 senior night win over Anson on Tuesday, Feb. 7, Albany hosts Cisco at 6:15 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10 and travels to Hawley on Tuesday, Feb. 14 to close out the regular season.

Albany played just one game last week after having the district bye on Tuesday, Jan. 31.

On Monday, Feb. 6, Hawley defeated Cisco 65-51 in a weather-delayed game to take sole possession of first place in the district standings at 8-1. Albany entered Tuesday tied with Cisco for second place one game back.

“We control our own destiny,” Lions coach Ryder Peacock said. “We’re just going to take it one game at a time. We’ve got ourselves back in position to do something, and that’s all you can ask for.”

Peacock said the situation, basically a three-team tournament for the championship, will benefit Albany no matter which playoff seed the Lions take.

“It’s good to play these types of games before you actually get into the playoffs,” he said. “Those are going to prepare you for that level.”

At Stamford, Albany used a 14-2 advantage in the third quarter to pull away from a 19-19 halftime tie. The Bulldogs led 16-13 after one quarter, but the pace slowed considerably in the second quarter as the Lions pulled even. Wyatt Windham’s 3-pointer was the only field goal for either team in the period.

“We had three guys with three fouls pretty much in the first quarter,” Peacock said. “We had to change it up a little bit to slow things down in the second quarter. We went to a zone, and that changed the game.”

Albany was able to pick up the scoring pace in the third quarter while maintaining a solid defense.

“Our defense really paved the way. When we went to a zone, it caught Stamford off guard,” Peacock said. “They just never really got into any kind of rhythm offensively after that, and we created a few turnovers.”

Peacock said being patient on offense helped increase the production.

“We passed through their defense and got good shots,” he said. “We controlled the tempo of the game offensively and defensively pretty much the entire second half. They scored most of their points in the second half in the final minute or so.”

London Fuentes scored a game-high 12 points for Albany, with Adam Hill adding 11 points and Lanxton Viertel eight. Windham finished with five points.

“I thought the guys shared the ball really well,” Peacock said. “They moved the ball and got a lot of assists.”

ALBANY 45, STAMFORD 30

ALBANY – London Fuentes 12, Adam Hill 11, Lanxton Viertel 8, Wyatt Windham 5, Brayden Watson 4, Lute Wheeler 4, Luke Marshall 1.

Albany 13 6 14 12 - 45

Stamford 16 3 2 9 - 30

Junior Varsity

The Lions JV team took control in the second quarter and continued pulling away in the third to take a 47-32 victory at Stamford.

Tied at 6-6 after one quarter, Albany outscored the Bulldogs 16-7 in each of the next two periods.

“We played much better defense, were more consistent on offense, and took good shots,” JV coach Rod Britting said.

Albany’s Huffman Heatly led all scorers with 14 points, while Aiden Mendez added 11. The Lions enjoyed good distribution with five players getting at least six points.

ALBANY JV 47, STAMFORD 32

ALBANY – Huffman Heatly 14, Aiden Mendez 11, Cade Fairchild 8, Slade Windham 7, Brody Oliver 6, Breylon Billington 1.

Albany JV 6 16 16 9 - 47

Stamford 6 7 7 12 - 32