Youth basketball to finish Saturday
By Sam Waller
Albany’s youth basketball teams continued their season on Saturday, Jan. 29, with boys teams playing at Jim Ned and girls teams playing at Hawley.
The teams of fifth and sixth graders wrap up their season on Saturday, Feb. 5.
Sixth Grade Boys
On Saturday, Jan. 29, Albany’s sixth grade boys team coached by Clint Chapman defeated Merkel 39-16 and beat Hawley 48-11.
Against Merkel, Aiden Vickers scored 18 points and Clay Chapman added 15. Bennett Neece, Graham Ceder, and Cash Edgar scored two points apiece.
Against Hawley, Vickers and Chapman each scored 21 points with Ceder, Jakobi Word, and Xavier May each scoring two points.
Fifth Grade Boys
On Saturday, Jan. 8, the fifth grade boys team coached by Tony Wheeler defeated Jim Ned Blue 48-18 and Jim Ned Red 24-10.
Against Jim Ned Blue, Lyle Wheeler scored 15 points and Blake Britting added 10. They were followed by Levi Murphy with eight points, Sam Tidwell with six, Trevor Bellah with five, and Jaime Barrera and Jathan Perez with two apiece.
Against Jim Ned Red, Britting led the scoring with 17 points. Wheeler scored five and Tidwell two.
On Saturday, Jan. 22, the fifth grade boys defeated Jim Ned Blue 28-14 and Jim Ned Red 33-14.
Against Jim Ned Blue, Britting led with 11 points. Wheeler had nine, Tidwell six, and Murphy two.
Against Jim Ned Red, Murphy had the hot hand with 14 points. Britting scored nine points, while Wheeler had five and Tidwell three.
On Saturday, Jan. 29, the fifth grade boys beat Eula 34-30 and Hawley 40-4.
Against Eula, Wheeler scored 17 points with Britting adding eight and Murphy seven. Albany was credited when Eula scored in the wrong goal.
Against Hawley, Wheeler, Britting, and Slayton Parsons scored eight points apiece. Ben Russell, Ace Townson, and Perez added four points each, while Tidwell and Murphy both scored two points.
Sixth Grade Girls
On Saturday, Jan. 29, the sixth grade girls team coached by Justin Trail played its first games of the year. The Albany girls lost 13-12 to Hawley and 27-2 to Jim Ned Red.
Fifth Grade Girls
On Saturday, Jan. 29, the fifth grade girls team suffered its first loss of the season 17-12 to Jim Ned, but bounced back to defeat Hawley Black 32-2.
Against Jim Ned, Tinley Hefner scored six points, Hailey Gleitz scored four, and Keeley Britting scored two.
Against Hawley Black, Hefner scored 10 points and Laramie Reynolds scored eight. Britting and Avery Gleitz each scored four points with Kynlee Milligan, Hailey Gleitz, and Sawyer Shoaf scoring two apiece.
“The girls have grown so much and are making improvements on their skills weekly,” fifth grade girls coach Susan Britting said. “I am very proud of each and every one of them.”
