The Albany Lions picked up two wins in district action last week, including a milestone victory for head coach David Fairchild, who recorded his 500th career win.
Albany opened the week with an 11-1 win over Haskell on March 17 at home. Aiden Vickers earned the win on the mound, going five innings while allowing just one hit and striking out seven.
Senior Chance Stewart set a new school record in the 800-meter run to highlight Albany’s performance at the PK Relays in Graham on Saturday, March 21.
Stewart posted a time of 1:59.7 to win first place, breaking the previous school record of 2:01.16 set by Andres Salazar, a 2008 state meet qualifier.
Albany will host a high school meet all day Thursday, March 26 and a junior high meet on Friday, March 27.
The high school athletes will travel to Newcastle on March 30 for the final pre-district meet before going to the district competition in Cisco on April 9.
The Albany Lions golf team put together one of its strongest rounds of the season Monday, winning the Stamford golf tournament held March 23 with a team total of 317 and finishing well ahead of the rest of the field.
The Albany Lions golf team traveled to Sugar Tree Golf Course on Wednesday, March 11 to compete in a tournament hosted by Millsap. The field included teams from across several classifications, ranging from 5A schools down to 2A.
Albany finished third overall with a team score of 333. The Lions were edged out by 3A Tolar, which finished with a 326, and 5A Dallas Highland Park, which won the tournament with a 317.
Albany Golf Club continues to undergo a series of improvements as work progresses on renovations to several greens and other upgrades across the course.
Greens No. 6 and No. 9 have already been completed as part of the project, and crews are currently working through the remaining greens. According to club officials, the next greens scheduled for renovation are No. 1 and No. 8, followed by work on greens No. 2 and No. 4. The goal is to complete renovations on all of the greens before moving on to additional improvements around the course.
The Albany Lions opened their baseball season at home over the weekend, hosting the annual Albany Baseball Tournament and finishing with a 2-1 record.
Albany picked up wins over Eastland and Brady before falling to Early in the final game of the tournament. Head coach David Fairchild said the Lions showed plenty of positives Thursday and Friday as the team begins the new season.
“We had an overall good tournament,” Fairchild said.
Lions defeat
Eastland
Five Albany Lady Lions earned District 10-2A basketball honors following the 2025-2026 season, and head coach Ashlyn Bevel was named the district’s Coach of the Year.
Junior Zayne Lefevre and freshman Keeley Britting were selected to the District 10-2A first team. Named to the second team were senior Madi Parrott, junior Ashlyn Miller and freshman Tinley Hefner.
With the basketball season now complete and Albany’s playoff run finished, several Lions have earned top honors on the District 10-AA All-District team.
Leading the way for Albany was senior Huffman Heatly, who was named Co-Most Valuable Player after a standout season in which he helped guide the Lions to one of the most successful campaigns in program history. Heatly played a central role on both ends of the court, providing leadership, scoring, and defensive intensity throughout the year.
The Albany Lions saw their season come to an end Thursday night, Feb. 26, falling to Graford, 66-49, in the Area round of the Class 2A Division II playoffs at Graham.
The loss ended more than a year without a defeat for the Lions. Albany’s previous loss also came against Graford, meaning the Lions went 370 days between losses and completed an undefeated regular season before returning to the postseason.
Effort there,
shots not
The Albany Lions were pushed to the limit Monday night but responded when it mattered most, defeating Seymour 66-61 in overtime in a hard-fought playoff game at Graham.
The contest marked Albany’s first overtime game of the season and turned into a defensive struggle for much of the night, with both teams battling through stretches where offense was difficult to find.
