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Lions win bi-district crown in overtime

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By Sam Waller

A free throw by Adam Hill in the last seconds of overtime gave Albany the win in a bi-district game Tuesday that was a battle from the beginning.

Tied up at the end of regulation time because of a Seymour free throw, the Lions eventually defeated the Panthers 54-53 in a nail-biter. Details will be reported next week.

Albany moves on to the area round, facing the Itasca Wampus Cats this Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at Dublin. It hadn’t been decided at press time whether Lion fans would sit on the home or visitors side, but tickets are $5 for adults and $3 for students at the gate. Passes will be accepted.

Itasca was the winner of District 12-2A, brushing past De Leon Tuesday 57-21 for the bi-district title.

Hawley/Practice Games

The Albany Lions entered the boys basketball playoffs with a pair of losses last week after winning their previous six games.

The Lions (13-5) entered the postseason as the third seed from District 10-2A following a coin flip with Cisco after tying for second place.

On Tuesday, Feb. 14, Albany lost 65-47 at Hawley in a game that decided the top playoff seed out of 10-2A. On Friday, Feb. 17, the Lions dropped a 53-47 decision to Sterling City in a playoff warmup game at Loraine.

At Hawley, the ­Lions battled back from a 15-point deficit in the first half to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter only to see the Bearcats close the game on a 20-0 run.

“Hawley came out and shot well,” Lions coach Ryder Peacock said. “We played pretty well, but they were playing at a high level on the offensive end, just making everything they threw up. I thought our guys did a good job of not panicking and staying with it, not letting the game get away from us early on.”

London Fuentes led Albany with 17 points with Adam Hill adding 12. Wyatt Windham and Lanxton Viertel each scored eight points.

Albany won the first meeting 51-48 in overtime on Jan. 20 at home. Both teams were shorthanded that night with the Lions missing Hill and the Bearcats without Kason O’Shields and Austin Cumpton.

O’Shields poured in 37 points in the rematch, scoring 17 in the first quarter.

With the game tied at 10, Hawley went on a 17-2 run to lead 27-12 in the second quarter. The Lions responded with a 10-2 run to get within seven, but the Bearcats ended the half with a 34-22 lead.

Hawley was still up by 11 late in the third quarter, but the Lions scored twice in the last 10 seconds of the period. Hill stole the ball and hit a halfcourt heave at the buzzer to make it 43-37.

“The guys know it’s a game of runs a lot of times,” Peacock said. “We were down 12 at halftime and talked about cutting it in half, then see what we could do in the fourth quarter. We couldn’t have drawn it up any better, getting it to six going into the fourth quarter.”

Hill’s trey sparked a 15-2 run that saw the Lions go in front 47-45 on Fuentes’ 3-pointer with 4:31 remaining. It turned out to be Albany’s last score.

Hawley scored eight points in the next 30 seconds to regain the lead and ignite the decisive run.

Peacock said being able to rally from a large deficit on the road was one positive the Lions could carry into the playoffs.

“The guys continued to fight and come back in a very tough environment,” he said. “It’s one thing to come back from 14 or 15 points. It’s another thing to do it when you’re playing for the district title at their place.”

In a practice game against Sterling City, Albany fell behind 23-15 in the first quarter before cutting the deficit to two at halftime. Sterling City outscored the Lions by four in the third quarter and maintained the margin in the fourth.

Peacock said he was more concerned with being prepared for Seymour than matching up with the Eagles.

“We don’t put a lot of emphasis on practice games as far as winning and losing,” he said. “I evaluated to see what we needed to get better at and what we were doing wrong, just focusing on the little things.”

Peacock said he got as much out of the game as a coach as the players on the court did.

“I was able to pick some things out that we need to eliminate if we’re going to be able to make a big playoff run,” he said. “It was good for us to break ourselves down and work on a few things. We rotated a few different guys in and saw how they played together.”

Hill led the Lions with 17 points with Windham adding nine and Viertel eight.

HAWLEY 65, ALBANY 47

ALBANY – London Fuentes 17, Adam Hill 12, Wyatt Windham 8, Lanxton Viertel 8, Luke Marshall 2.

Albany 12 10 15 10 - 47

Hawley 19 15 9 22 - 65

STERLING CITY 53, ALBANY 47

ALBANY – Adam Hill 17, Wyatt Windham 9, Lanxton Viertel 8, Lute Wheeler 7, London Fuentes 2, Luke Marshall 2, Brayden Watson 2.

Albany 15 10 10 12 - 47

Sterling 23 4 14 12 - 53