Lions earn top spot at Lingleville tourney
The Albany Lions boys basketball team put in a busy first week of its season, with five games, going 4-1.
The Lions open their district schedule Saturday, Dec. 21 at Stamford. The game was rescheduled from Friday, Dec. 20 because of Stamford’s participation in the Class 2A Division I state championship football game.
Albany opened its season Tuesday, Dec. 10, with a 43-40 loss at Coleman. The Lions then spent Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 12-14 at the Lingleville tournament, beating Newcastle 74-25, Bluff Dale 60-25, Strawn 74-32, and Richland Springs 54-25.
The biggest benefit, Lions coach Ryder Peacock said, was getting in a lot of conditioning work under game conditions.
“We played five games in five days with four of those in three days,” he said. “We’re here to get in shape, run up and down the floor. There were no games where we got a lead and backed off – we kept preaching to play like we were down 10 and keep playing hard.”
All 10 players that suited up for the tournament scored in at least one game. Albany had at least two double-figure scorers in each tournament game with six players reaching the plateau at least once.
Aaden Mendez averaged 16.4 points for the week with Clay Chapman averaging 15.6.
At Coleman, the Lions got off to a slow start with just 10 points in the first half, but managed to stay close as the Bluecats scored just 15. The pace picked up considerably in the second half, but Albany was unable to overcome the early deficit.
“The first game was really just getting on the floor and shooting, getting the legs a little more tired than normal,” Peacock said. “It might as well have been called a scrimmage for us. We’re still trying to figure out some things.”
With senior Chip Chambers, the lone returning player from last year’s varsity roster, Peacock said there’s plenty to figure out.
“We’ve got a whole new team out there, varsity-wise,” he said. “It was good to get the guys out there on the floor, let them run up and down, shoot the ball, work together a little bit and move the ball.”
Mendez scored 14 points, all in the second half, to lead the Lions. Chapman added nine points and Huffman Heatly had eight.
At Lingleville, the Lions started putting more pieces in place.
“You could tell the guys were starting to play together, kind of knocking the rust off,” Peacock said. “We started shooting the ball well and feeling better about it. It was a good week, overall.”
Thursday against Newcastle, Albany pulled away from a 13-13 tie to lead by 19 points at halftime, then outscored the Bobcats by 30 points in the second half. Mendez scored 19 points, Chapman 18, Heatly 17 and Chambers 13.
Friday against Bluff Dale, the Lions took an eight-point lead in the first quarter and led by 24 at halftime. Chapman led the scoring with 15 points and Jaxson Street added 11.
Against Strawn, Albany outscored the Greyhounds by at least nine points in every quarter. Mendez poured in 25 points with Chapman adding 17 and Slade Windham 14.
Saturday against Richland Springs, the Lions again pulled away with a big second quarter and held the Coyotes to single digits in every period. Chapman scored 19 points, Mendez 18 and Chambers 10.
Against Stamford, the Lions will take on an opponent facing a situation Albany became quite familiar with the last two seasons – going straight from the football field to the basketball court with little time to make the transition.
“I’ve been there and we know how it feels,” Peacock said. “You typically don’t have a whole lot of offense installed, you just play off your defense and athleticism. They’ve got some good athletes or they wouldn’t still be playing football.”
Junior Varsity
In its lone outing of the week, the Albany JV held on for a 40-37 win at Coleman.
“The kids played and the intensity level was good,” JV coach Rod Britting said. “There’s a lot of learning that still needs to happen. To win a game with some of the mistakes we made was a positive sign of where we can go from here.”
The Lions used a 13-6 edge in the second quarter to build an eight-point halftime lead.
Aiden Vickers scored 13 points with Connor Smith adding nine, all on 3-pointers.
