Working Hard
By Sam Waller
The Albany Lady Lions lost their two games last week to conclude the first round of the District 10-2A schedule, but coach Tate Thompson said the team had flashes of good play.
The Lady Lions dropped a 66-28 decision at Anson on Tuesday, Jan. 11, before falling 66-15 to Stamford on Friday, Jan. 14 at home. Albany was victimized by hot shooting in both games as Anson hit 13 3-pointers and Stamford made six treys.
Albany (2-14 overall, 0-6 district) hosted Haskell on Tuesday, Jan. 18, to start the second half of the district schedule. The local girls lost 71-29, with complete results to be reported next week.
The Lady Lions have a district bye on Friday, Jan. 21 and resume play Tuesday, Jan. 25, at Hawley.
“We’ve got to get more consistent,” Thompson said. “The first quarter, quarter-and-a-half against Cisco on Jan. 7 and the first quarter against Stamford, we were doing some really good things. That’s encouraging.”
Thompson said the task now is to string more of those moments together for longer.
“I told the girls it doesn’t matter what happened the first round of district, these teams still have to beat us again,” he said. “We’re a better team, and we know we are. Let’s go try to surprise some people.”
Thompson said lessons learned the first time through help make that a feasible outcome.
“The girls are able to now see what to expect and it’s not a big mystery," he said. “The intimidation factor is gone, so now let’s just go out and play.”
In the 66-28 loss at Anson, Albany trailed 14-6 at the end of the first quarter and 35-15 at halftime. The Lady Tigers made nine 3-pointers in the first half.
Kiana Roberson led Albany with 14 points.
In the 66-15 loss to Stamford, the Lady Bulldogs led 17-2 in the first quarter and 32-9 at halftime.
The Lady Lions executed offensively, working the ball around for open shots, but struggled to finish possessions with points. Thompson said that led to fast-break opportunities for the Lady Bulldogs, who scored 29 consecutive points before Albany closed the half with a 7-0 run.
Roberson was again the leading scorer with 10 points.
ANSON 66, ALBANY 28
ALBANY – Ashlyn Holson 6, Briley Tabor 6, Lizzie Chavez 2, Kiana Roberson 14.Totals 10 6-9 28.
Albany 6 9 6 7 - 28
Anson 14 21 18 13 - 66
STAMFORD 66, ALBANY 15
ALBANY – Avery Kleiner 3, Kiana Roberson 10, Callan Edgar 2. Totals 5 4-5 15.
Stamford 17 15 18 16 - 66
Albany 2 7 0 6 - 15
