Lions upset Cisco to stay in race
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lions split two games last week and won a nail-biter on Tuesday, keeping themselves in contention for a playoff berth out of District 10-2A.
On Jan. 25, Albany lost 58-48 at Hawley, but bounced back on Friday, Jan. 28 to beat Hamlin 64-7 at home. The game was preceded by a Senior Night ceremony honoring senior Luke Ivy.
Then on Tuesday, Feb. 1, the Lions upset Cisco 47-43, leading most of the game and holding off a Cisco rally. Details will be reported next week.
Albany (8-5 overall, 5-4 district) is fourth in the district standings and needs two wins the rest of the way to clinch a playoff spot.
The Lions host Anson on Friday, Feb. 4, in their final home game, then travel to Stamford on Tuesday.
At Hawley, Albany led 17-16 at the end of the first quarter and 28-27 at halftime. The Lions held a 39-37 edge after three quarters before Hawley posted a 21-9 edge in the fourth.
Coy Lefevre and Adam Hill each scored 13 points to lead Albany, and Cole Chapman added 11.
HAWLEY 58, ALBANY 48
ALBANY – London Fuentes 7, Coy Lefevre 13, Cole Chapman 11, Adam Hill 13, Luke Marshall 4.
Albany 17 11 11 9 - 48
Hawley 16 11 10 21 - 58
“I thought we did some good things, with a different scheme on defense, something we haven’t done before,” Lions coach Ryder Peacock said. “I thought it was important for us to do it in a big game, knowing that we didn’t have anything to lose and could develop for the long term.”
It marked the second time the Lions faded late in a loss to the Bearcats.
“It was another game where we missed some layups in the last two or three minutes, which hurt us,” Peacock said. “That kept us staying in the game late. We had our chances.”
There was no such problem against Hamlin, as the Lions scored the first seven points and closed the first half on a 34-0 run to lead 41-2. After the Pied Pipers opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, Albany scored the next 17 points.
Chapman finished with a game-high 19 points and Hill scored 11.
ALBANY 64, HAMLIN 7
ALBANY – London Fuentes 4, Coy Lefevre 7, Cole Chapman 19, Adam Hill 11, Houston Heatly 7, Bryson Herring 4, Luke Marshall 9, Lute Wheeler 3.
Hamlin 2 0 3 2 - 7
Albany 20 21 15 8 - 64
“Against Hamlin, we were able to do some things,” Peacock said. “Guys were getting some playing time. Getting the ball to go through the net was more important than anything.”
Peacock was pleased the Lions were able to maintain their level of play even after emptying the bench. Luke Marshall finished with nine points off the bench.
“A lot of times, you see a game like this get sloppy,” Peacock said. “You get frustrated, nobody plays well, and you don’t get anything good out of it. It was good to see the guys get after it.”
Peacock said the Lions hustled until the final buzzer.
“It wasn’t like we were just out there going through the motions trying to get it over with,” he said. “I was really proud of the effort.”
Junior Varsity
The Lions junior varsity teams each got in a game last week despite dealing with more cancellations.
On Tuesday, Jan. 25, the JV1 lost 50-24 at Hawley in its first outing since Jan. 11. The JV did not play Stamford, Haskell, or Hamlin, largely because of COVID concerns, and all teams had a scheduled open date on Jan. 21.
Albany fell behind 15-5 to Hawley in the first quarter and watched the margin increase the rest of the way.
Bryson Herring scored nine points to lead Albany’s JV effort, with Brayden Watson adding seven.
HAWLEY JV 50, ALBANY JV 24
ALBANY – Brayden Watson 7, Cole Read 3, Andrew Leverton 5, Bryson Herring 9.
Albany 5 6 8 5 - 24
Hawley 15 11 14 10 - 50
On Thursday, Jan. 27, the JV2 team lost 31-10 to Anson.
Albany led 5-2 after the opening period, then got outscored 11-0 in the second quarter. J.J. Clark recorded four points to lead Albany.
ANSON JV 31, ALBANY JV2 10
ALBANY – J.J. Clark 4, Brody Brown 2, Bam Becker 2, Austin Sanchez 2.
Anson 2 11 6 12 - 31
Albany 5 0 2 3 - 10
