Lions hold off Hawley for 2nd district win
The varsity Lion basketball team picked up a pair of wins last week, including the district opener on Friday against Roscoe.
Albany also hosted Hawley on Tuesday adding another district victory over the visiting Bearcats with a big 44-37 win to improve to 2-0 in district and 7-2 overall.
The Lions will be on the road on Friday in Haskell to take on the Indians and will travel to Cross Plains next Tuesday as the district race continues.
The JV boys will play at approximately 5:00 p.m. at both locations after the JV girls. The varsity will take the court at about 7:30 p.m. after the varsity girls.
The Lions handed Roscoe a 49-27 loss on Friday at the local gym to start District 8-2A competition.
“This was a tough game to get into because Roscoe ran a stall game on offense and threw some special defenses at us,” head boys coach Ryder Peacock said. “We did a good job of not letting that affect us overall, even though we didn’t put as many points on the board as we are used to. We still did a good job of taking care of things on defense.”
The Lions hit 50 percent from the charity line.
The coach named Cameron Dacus and Josh Dyer as offensive standouts with 10 points each, along with Coby Knight for sinking nine points. Also scoring were Cutter Cowart 6, Blaine Kayga 4, Ben West 2, Ryan Hill 5, and Derek Isbell 2.
“This was a good start for us in district,” Peacock said. “I think this will just be the first of several different game plans that teams are going to use against us.”
Albany 11 9 15 13 - 49
Roscoe 2 6 11 8 - 27
The varsity also earned a 67-57 win over non-district Archer City on Jan. 8 at home.
“This was a great game to get ready for district,” the coach said. “Ryan and Cameron both did a good job of attacking the basket on offense, and we rebounded well on both ends including 10 offensive rebounds.”
The coach was especially happy with the Lions’ defensive efforts.
“I thought we closed out well on shooters and did a much better job of keeping our feet on the ground. Cutter, Blaine, Ben, and Cameron played really well up top for us on defense. We didn’t give Archer City any driving lanes and forced tough shots throughout the game.”
Dyer and Cowart were named defensive standouts, while Hill and Dacus were picked for offense.
Albany 17 15 17 18 - 67
Archer 13 8 16 20 - 57
PLAYER PTS. AST. REB. STL.
C Dacus 20 5 3 4
C Cowart 6 1 3 1
B Kayga 2 1 1 2
J Dyer 1 4 8 1
K Everitt 2 0 1 0
B West 2 4 4 2
R Hill 32 1 11 4
D Isbell 2 5 4 1
JV Boys Results
The JV White team dropped both bouts last week, while the JV Red picked up a win over Archer City.
The JV White lost 63-15 to Archer City on Jan. 8.
“We played a very talented and aggressive team,” coach Rod Britting said. “They came out in full court press and we didn’t handle the pressure very well. We turned the ball over and they got a huge lead. We didn’t take care of many of the fundamentals.”
Scoring were Jackson Chapman 2, Brooks Neece 2, Ryder Wilkins 2, Cade Neve 7, and Robert Bailey 2.
The JV White also lost the district opener to Roscoe, 35-30.
“We did a good job on defense,” Peacock said. “We just couldn’t come up with enough baskets in the final period. It is hard for this group because they haven’t been in the gym long and the teams they are playing are in mid-season shape.”
Scoring for Albany were Chapman 6, Everett McWhorter 2, Neece 4, Seth Hale 4, Bailey 4, Luke Ivy 6, and Wilkins 4.
The Lions were also able to put a second JV team on the court against Archer City. The JV Red defeated the visiting Wildcats 37-23.
“We got a lot of steals on defense,” Peacock said. “Dillon Hindman and Jeb Becker did a good job of using their speed and really did a good job of reading the offense to create turnovers. Cooper Fairchild also hit some big shots along the way to give us a big lead going into the fourth quarter.”
The coach added that he felt that defense was the key to the win.
Scoring for the Lions were Hindman 7, Fairchild 10, Becker 7, Malachi Gueldner 3, Brayden Sullivan 6, Brodey Jones 2, and Rylan Robertson 2.
