Making Progress

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions opened the second half of District 10-2A play with 71-29 home loss to Haskell on Tuesday, Jan. 18, before taking its second bye of the district schedule.

Albany visited Hawley on Tuesday, Jan. 25, to start the closing stretch of the season. The girls lost 45-36, with complete results to be reported next week.

The Lady Lions host Hamlin on Friday, Jan. 28.

Against Haskell, Lady Lions coach Tate Thompson said Albany showed improvement from its first meeting with the Maidens, an 89-21 loss at Haskell on Dec. 14.

“I thought we played a lot better defense,” Thompson said. “We forced them to take a lot of bad shots. We gave up a lot of open, easy looks the first time, and we made sure we got all their shots contested this time.”

Thompson said protecting the ball is still an issue for the Lady Lions.

“Again, we turned the ball over against their press, and those ended up leading to two points for them,” he said. “But all in all, I thought we played pretty solid most of the time.”

Haskell led 18-5 after the first quarter and 32-15 at halftime. The Maidens broke the game open with a 23-2 edge in the third quarter.

Kiana Roberson led Albany with 14 points, while Ashlyn Holson added seven.

Thompson said the open date came at a good time as sickness swept through the school.

“I got sick last week, and it ended up working out with me missing a couple of days,” he said.

Other activities also made the timing of the bye work in Albany’s favor.

“I told the girls if they had a good day in practice Thursday, I’d give them Friday off, and the break was good because of the stock show, too,” Thompson said. “I told the team to come back Monday with a fresh mind, fresh body, and let’s work this week.”

HASKELL 71, ALBANY 29

ALBANY – Ashlyn Holson 7, Briley Tabor 2, Lizzie Chavez 2, Kiana Roberson 14, Caroline Holson 2, Callan Edgar 2.

Haskell 18 14 23 16 - 71

Albany 5 10 2 12 - 29