By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lion basketball team won the bi-district title in a 57-55 barn-burner with a two-point buzzer shot against Petrolia last Saturday in Bryson.

Albany advanced to the area round against Lipan on Tuesday in Eastland, losing 75-46 in a season-ending defeat to finish the year with a 11-7 record.

Details of the loss to the state-ranked Indians will be reported next week.

The Lions  overcame a 16-point deficit in the fourth quarter, capped by the buzzer basket by Barrett Beal to win the game and keep the contest out of overtime.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Weather conditions resulted in the cancelling of a scrimmage last Friday and the season opener on Tuesday for the Lady Lions softball team.

The team was still scheduled to play in the Eastland tournament this week, although the Thursday portion of the tournament was moved to Friday.

“They changed the Eastland tournament from a three-day event to a two-day tournament on Friday and Saturday,” said coach Jimmy Fuentes. “The number of games we will play was cut from six to four.”

By Sandy Morris

Eight local Little Dribblers teams started playing games on Saturday, Feb. 6, in the old Albany High School gym. 

The games will continue each Saturday through February.

Games start at 9:00 a.m. Feb. 20 and Feb. 27.

Results from the first two weeks of play are listed below.

Boys WEEK 1

Black 40 – Blue 27

Scoring for Black – Jathan Perez 8, Slayton Parsons 4, Luke Smith 9, Lyle Wheeler 17, Zaiden Dockins 2.

Scoring for Blue – Trevor Bellah 11, Levi Murphey 16.

By Melinda L. Lucas

A meeting of those interested in the Albay Girls Softball Association was postponed from its original time on Feb. 17 to next Wednesday, Feb. 24, according to association president Jacey Shack.

The meeting will be held at the Scout Hut starting at 7:00 p.m.

All parents are encouraged to attend, as well as anyone who would like to volunteer during the season.

“The meeting is open to anyone who has questions or needs more information about the season,” said Shack. “We also need volunteers willing to assist during the season.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

Several Albany football players were selected for positions on the All-Big Country Football Super Team, as well as the Class 2A teams for the area.

Three local players were named to one of the Super Teams, which is comprised of players ranging from Class 1A through 6A. Seven players also were selected for Class 2A honors based on performance during the 2020 football season.

The annual awards are sponsored by the Abilene Reporter-News.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Albany Lions locked up a basketball playoff berth with their regular win over Haskell on Feb. 9, ending up with second place in District 10-2A after Anson lost to Cisco last Friday.

The Lions (10-6, 9-3) will face Petrolia (14-8, 7-4) on Friday, Feb. 19  in the bi-district playoff game in Mineral Wells. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. with Albany serving as the home team.

By Sandy Morris

The Moran varsity boys’ basketball team was scheduled to wrap up its season last week with games against May and Baird. The game against Baird was cancelled and will not be made up.  

Moran athletes will now move into track and tennis seasons.

Moran vs. May

The varsity Bulldogs traveled to May on Tuesday, Feb. 9 and lost the game 51-5.

Arren Hawley was the leading scorer with three points, followed by Corey Miller with two points.  

By Sandy Morris

The Moran varsity girls and boys basketball teams both traveled to Eula on Tuesday, Feb. 2 and Rising Star on Friday, Feb. 5 for district play. 

Lady Bulldog 

Basketball

The Lady Bulldogs lost their contest with Eula 60-20.

Leading scorer for the game was Hannah Noble with six points, Dariann Hawley with five points, Johnnie Hise with four points, Hannah Rogers with three points, and Alli Scott with two points. 

Rising Star

By Donnie A. Lucas

The two boys teams in the Youth Basketball League participated in the season ending tournament, with the fifth graders winning their division and the sixth graders placing third.

The two girls’ team did not compete in the tournament due to a conflict with another activity.

The fifth graders, coached by Clint Chapman, won all three bracket games to remain undefeated for the season and win the title.

Albany beat Jim Ned in the first game 21-18. Scoring were Clay Chapman 9, Aiden Vickers 7, and Bennett Neece 2.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion softball team played in a four-team scrimmage in Snyder last Saturday, coming out on top against Brownfield 8-6 but losing to Snyder 10-1 and Coahoma 8-7.

Albany is scheduled to host another scrimmage on Friday against Anson at 4:00 p.m. However, coach Jimmy Fuentes wasn’t optimistic that the scrimmage would happen due to the current weather forecast.

Albany is also scheduled to host the regular season opener on Tuesday, Feb. 16 against Miles at 5:00 p.m.