Lions to play Petrolia for bi-district
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Albany Lions locked up a basketball playoff berth with their regular win over Haskell on Feb. 9, ending up with second place in District 10-2A after Anson lost to Cisco last Friday.
The Lions (10-6, 9-3) will face Petrolia (14-8, 7-4) on Friday, Feb. 19 in the bi-district playoff game in Mineral Wells. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. with Albany serving as the home team.
Tickets for Albany fans will be available solely on the Albany ISD website at $6 each for adults and $ 4 for students. No tickets will be sold at the gate, but district passes will be honored.
The Pirates are the third place team from District 9-2A. The winner of the game will advance to the area round next Monday or Tuesday to face the winner of the Lipan vs. Valley Mills bi-district game.
“We got to watch Petrolia play their final regular game on Saturday,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “They are a very big team overall, especially inside the paint. They play a slower game and depend on the big guys on the inside.”
The coach said the Lions will need to speed the game up, and that rebounding will be key in the game.
“We can’t give them a second opportunity to score off of rebounds,” he said.
Peacock was pleased that the Lions finished well in district play.
“It is good to be back in the playoffs, especially since we weren’t picked to finish high in our new district,” he said. “We are a relatively young team without much playoff experience, so we have to push as hard as we can to advance.”
The Lions were the fourth place seed from their old district last season, losing to Christoval in the first round.
Regular Season Finale
The Lions hosted Haskell on Feb. 9 in the last game of the regular schedule for Albany, beating the Indians 63-36.
“The guys did a good job of playing from start to finish,” the coach said. “Last time we played Haskell, we didn’t finish, but we did this time.”
Offensive standouts named by the coach were Barrett Beal, Adam Hill, and Coy Lefevre.
“Adam and Coy did a good job of controlling the paint, while Barrett had a big game outside,” Peacock said. “This was a great way to finish our district schedule.”
Albany 16 17 17 13 - 63
Haskell 7 13 7 9 - 36
Scoring for the Lions were Barrett Beal 17, London Fuentes 1, Coy Lefevre 14, Cole Chapman 3, Everett McWhorter 2, Adam Hill 15, Luke Ivy 4, Caden Price 4, and Zach Parrott 3.
JV Loses Finale
The JV Lions fell 36-27 to the Haskell JV on Feb. 9, ending their season with a 10-9 season record, including 5-7 in district.
“We started off good on both ends of the floor,” coach Rod Britting said. “We led into the fourth quarter, but then we got stifled with a 2-17 fourth quarter.”
The coach commended the team for their efforts throughout the season.
“I’m really proud of the improvements these guys made over the season,” Britting said. “We were competitive throughout and gave it all we had.”
Lute Wheeler was the offensive standout in the Haskell game, while Lanxton Viertel was named for defense.
Albany 5 11 9 2 - 27
Haskell 4 8 7 17 - 36
Scoring were Houston Heatly 4, Brayden Watson 2, Cole Read 3, Lute Wheeler 11, Bryson Herring 1, and Lanxton Viertel 6.
