By Donnie A. Lucas

It was a true cat fight in Tuscola on Monday, with the Lions and the Christoval Cougars clawing their way to a 33-33 tie at the end of regulation time in the bi-district round of the Class 2A playoffs.

The Cougars came out on top, outscoring Albany 10-6 in overtime for a 43-39 win.

“I thought the guys did a great job of playing hard tonight,” coach Ryder Peacock said. “Defensively, we did exactly what we needed to do to keep the game around 40 points by not allowing Christoval to run transition and eliminate second-chance points.”

By Melinda L. Lucas

A few members of Albany High School’s tennis team saw their first action of the 2020 season on Feb. 20, traveling to Rose Park in Abilene to participate in the Hawley Invitational Tournament.

Tennis coach Sara Wilson said that the six local players who were able to compete last week did “surprisingly well considering it was their first tournament of the year” with limited practice time.

Albany hosted Throckmorton and Cisco on Wednesday. Results will be reported next week.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Advancing to the third round of the Class 2A playoffs for the first time in 25 years, the Lady Lions faced the familiar Stamford Lady Bulldogs on Tuesday, suffering a season-ending 49-39 loss.

Albany finished the season with a 22-11 overall record, including 6-4 in District 8-2A behind Stamford (8-2) in second and Haskell (10-0) in first. The Lady Lions lost both games to the Lady Bulldogs in district.

The Lady Bulldogs move on to the Regional Tournament that starts Friday in Levelland, facing Gruver in the first game.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Junior high track teams traveled to Knox City on Monday, earning a number of medals and ribbons.

The four teams will compete at Breckenridge on Tuesday, March 3, starting at 3:30 p.m.

Results for both girls teams were received, but records weren’t kept for the boys teams. Several events were run in heats with just heat results reported.

8th Grade Girls

2400 m run – 2. Maci Hatchett 11:06. 4. Callan Edgar 13:24.

100 m dash – 1. Robin Lucas 14.08. 1. Kiana Roberson 15.06. 2. Braylyn Abbate 15.02.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion softball team is off to a strong start, winning three of the first four games.

Albany will play in the Stephenville tournament on Thursday through Saturday, playing two games each day.

Albany will play South Hills at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a 5:45 p.m. bout versus Krum. On Friday, the team will face Godley at 9:00 a.m. and Midway JV at 2:15 p.m., followed by a Saturday morning game at 9:00 a.m. against Eastland. Bracket play will be played later in the day based on the results of the first five rounds.

By Kathy Thomson

Boys and girls on Albany Little Dribblers teams played their third set of games last weekend on Saturday, Feb. 22, and will finish out their year this Saturday, Feb. 29.

Three girls teams and four boys teams are each playing two games every Saturday throughout the season.

The final set of matches will take place this Saturday, Feb. 29, starting at 8:30 a.m. with a match between the boys’ Red and Black teams. The first game of the day for the girls will be at 9:30 a.m. between Purple and Red.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The 2020 baseball season will open this week with the Albany JV Tournament, set for Thursday through Saturday.

The varsity Lions are on the calendar to open the season March 5-7 at the Hamlin tournament.

Currently, four JV teams are signed up for this week’s tournament in Albany, including Hamlin, Early, Cisco, and Albany.

“Each team will have one game each day for a total of three,” baseball coach David Fairchild said.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Staying even for three quarters of the Class 2A bi-district battle, the Lady Lions scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth to surge ahead for a 50-39 win over Eldorado on Monday in Bronte.

Albany (21-10) now advances to the area round to take on the Wink Lady Wildcats (17-6), winner of District 6-2A.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The varsity Lion basketball team sewed up a playoff berth last week with a win over Cross Plains, finishing the regular season at home Tuesday against Stamford.

Albany lost the finale to the undefeated district winning Bulldogs 75-57. Complete results will be reported next week.

The Lions face first-place Christoval from District 7-2A on Monday, Feb. 24 at Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, starting at 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices are set for $4 and $2, with all passes honored.

by Kathy Thomson

Eight Albany seniors are among the more than 320 top athletes and cheerleaders of the area who make up the 2020 all-star class for Big Country Chevy Dealers Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival, announced Sunday, Feb. 16 at Beltway Church South in Abilene.

Representing Albany High School on the gridiron will be Ben West and Blaine Kayga on the Blue football team and Tyler Beard playing for Red.

Alayna Koemel was named to the cheer squad for the football and volleyball games.