Lions struggle in first district games
By Donnie A. Lucas
The Lion basketball team opened district last Friday in Roscoe with a close loss, followed by a second defeat on Tuesday in Hawley.
Albany fell 48-54 to the Bearcats on Tuesday, to post an 0-2 District 8-2A mark.
The Lions will host Haskell on Friday starting at 5:00 p.m. with the JV boys, followed by the varsity boys at about 7:45 p.m. after the varsity girls.
Albany will also play at home next Tuesday, Jan. 28 with the Cross Plains Buffaloes coming to Albany for another district bout.
The Lions ended their non-district portion of the schedule last Tuesday, Jan. 14 in Archer City with a 48-36 loss.
“We got into foul trouble at the end of the third and beginning of the fourth, which led to a big run by Archer City,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “We weren’t able to recover after getting down.”
The coach said there were some positives in the game.
“I thought we got better in some areas,” he said. “We didn’t shoot the ball all that well, but we are taking good shots. Our defense continues to get better, too.”
B.J. Morris was the offensive standout.
Albany 8 12 10 6 - 36
Archer City 11 8 14 13 - 48
Scoring for the Lions were Cole Chapman 4, Seth Hale 2, B.J. Morris 11, Cade Neve 2, Ben West 9, Blaine Kayga 6, and Ryder Wilkins 2.
The Lions lost a closer game in their district opener in Roscoe, 47-42.
“We put ourselves in a huge hole early and just couldn’t overcome the deficit,” Peacock said. “I thought our guys did a good job in the second half as we played with a lot of urgency. Ben also had a big night for us on offense.”
Albany 4 9 9 20 - 42
Roscoe 15 10 6 16 - 47
Scoring were Chapman 2, Hale 5, Morris 5, West 23, and Kayga 7.
JV Wins on Road
The JV Lions won both games last week, including the district opener in Roscoe.
The JV edged out Archer City 48-46 on Jan. 14.
“This was a really good game against a team that blew us out of the gym last year,” coach Rod Britting said. “Our guys handled the pressure well and completely took over in the fourth quarter.”
The coach said the score was tied in the final seconds of the game when London Fuentes stole the ball and made a shot to win the game.
“I was really pleased with the improvement from our inside guys including Brodey Jones, Brooks Neece, and Coy Lefevre,” he said. “Barrett Beal also had a really good game.”
Offensive standouts were Beal, Jones and Fuentes, while Luke Ivy and Neece were named for defense.
Albany 11 13 10 14 - 48
Archer 12 16 11 7 - 46
Scoring were Neece 5, Fuentes 8, Beal 16, Jones 14, and Lefevre 5.
The JV had a much easier win in Roscoe last Friday, beating the Plowboys 57-23.
Beal and Jones were the offensive standouts, along with Neece, Ivy and Fuentes on defense.
“It was a great team win,” Britting said. “The guys are starting to play much better together.”
Albany 18 14 16 9 - 57
Roscoe 5 0 6 12 - 23
Scoring were Neece 8, Keatin Russell 3, Fuentes 7, Beal 19, Ivy 2, Jones 10, and Lefevre 8.
