Lions to play Petrolia for bi-district
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions basketball team closed out District 10-2A play last week with a pair of road victories, beating Stamford 57-38 on Tuesday, Feb. 8, and Haskell 50-14 on Friday, Feb. 11.
“These games gave us a chance to get a lot of guys time on the floor, get some experience as we go into the playoffs, and hopefully go in on a high note in terms of scoring,” Lions coach Ryder Peacock said. “We were able to rest some guys at the same time, so it was good on both ends.”
Peacock said the games allowed Albany to focus on specific areas in preparing for postseason play.
“Haskell ran some man defense, which helped us see some things we need to work on,” he said. “Stamford stayed in a zone, so we were able to work on that. It was really the best of both worlds in that we were able to see a little bit of everything.”
The Lions (10-5 overall, 6-4 district) played a playoff warmup game at Priddy on Tuesday, Feb. 15, while the rest of 10-2A completed the regular season.
Cisco defeated Anson on Tuesday, giving Albany an outright claim to the third place spot.
Meanwhile, in District 9-2A, there were potentially five different opponents for the Lions before Tuesday’s games, but a couple of unexpected outcomes in those contests put Petrolia in the second place slot to face the Lions at the next level.
Albany and Petrolia will play at 6:00 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22 at the Graham High School gym.Tickets are expected to be $4 for everyone and must be purchased online, with a link on the Albany ISD website.
Game Details
Against Stamford, Albany took a 13-7 lead in the first quarter and upped the margin to 36-15 at halftime as Cole Chapman hit for 13 of his game-high 27 points in the second period.
Albany emptied the bench for the final six minutes with junior Keatin Russell seeing his first action after an ankle injury in football sidelined him for three months.
“It always helps to have another body,” Peacock said. “Keatin’s a smart kid and even though he’s been hurt, he’s been paying attention and knows what we’re doing.”
The Lion substitutes contributed 16 points as a group.
Coy Lefevre and backups Houston Heatly and Lanxton Viertel scored six points apiece.
Against Haskell, the Lions overcame a slow start with a solid defensive effort. The Lions led 8-5 after the first quarter and 20-10 at halftime, then held the Indians to four points in the second half.
Chapman scored 16 points, and Adam Hill added 10. Luke Marshall had seven points off the bench.
ALBANY 57, STAMFORD 38
ALBANY – London Fuentes 3, Coy Lefevre 6, Cole Chapman 27, Adam Hill 5, Houston Heatly 6, Keatin Russell 2, Lute Wheeler 2, Lanxton Viertel 6.
Albany 13 23 8 13 - 57
Stamford 7 8 8 15 - 38
ALBANY 50, HASKELL 14
ALBANY – London Fuentes 6, Coy Lefevre 4, Cole Chapman 16, Adam Hill 10, Luke Marshall 7, Lute Wheeler 3, Lanxton Viertel 2.
Albany 8 12 18 13 - 50
Haskell 5 5 2 2 - 14
Junior Varsity
The Lions junior varsity split its two games, falling 39-33 at Stamford and winning 30-18 at Haskell.
Against Stamford, Albany led 9-2 after the first quarter, but trailed 18-15 at halftime. Bryson Herring scored 18 points to lead the Lions.
STAMFORD 39, ALBANY 33
ALBANY – Cole Read 5, Branson Beal 8, Bryson Herring 18, Brayden Watson 2.
Albany 9 6 9 9 - 33
Stamford 2 16 15 6 - 39
Against Haskell, the Lions overcame an 8-0 first-quarter deficit to take a 12-9 halftime lead. Albany led 20-18 after three quarters before pulling away. Branson Beal led the Lions with 11 points.
ALBANY 30, HASKELL 18
ALBANY – Brayden Watson 7, Cole Read 3, Andrew Leverton 3, Branson Beal 11, Bryson Herring 6.
Albany 0 12 8 10 - 30
Haskell 8 1 9 0 - 18
