Last week the Moran Bulldogs were third at the Woodson tournament on Saturday, Dec. 1, beating the Albany JV 40-24, losing to Newcastle 36-53, and rebounding to defeat Anson JV 66-24. On Thursday and Saturday, Dec. 6-8 the ’Dawgs played in the Rochelle Tournament.

Clawing back from a 14-point deficit, the Lions mounted a second-half assault that steamed rolled over the Wheeler Mustangs, 48-27, in the regional playoff in Vernon last Friday to set up a quarterfinal rematch.

Both the varsity and JV Lady Lions were busy last week, getting in a lot of court time at area tournaments. The varsity played for the championship at the Dublin tournament, coming in second behind Goldthwaite. The JV girls swept the Woodson tournament to win the title by defeating Anson’s JV.

The junior high basketball teams fared well against Stamford on Monday, with the girls and boys both winning two out of three games. The Cubs and Lady Cubs will play Roscoe next Monday, with the boys hosting and the girls on the road. Games start at 5:30 p.m. at both locations.

The JV Lion basketball team opened the season at the Woodson tournament last week, winning one out of three games. The JV will host a 16-team tournament starting Thursday, which will continue on Saturday. Albany will open with a game against Early at 9:00 a.m.

The Moran varsity Bulldogs dropped their basketball season opener in Gustine last Tuesday, Nov. 27. The ’Dawgs kept it close in the first quarter before pulling ahead to lead 29-27 at intermission.

The traditional playoff drum beating, preceded by a community pep rally at the Bank Park, will kick off the Athletic Booster Club’s special activities this week as the Albany Lions prepare for the regional final match-up with Wheeler.

In a game where the momentum shifts and keeping up with turnovers was dizzying, the Albany Lions pulled off a 38-28 area playoff win over Santo last Friday in Graham. Albany (7-5) advances to the regional playoff this Friday against the Wheeler Mustangs (8-3) at Vernon’s Lion Stadium.

The varsity Lady Lions split games against opponents just before the Thanksgiving break. Albany lost their game in Ballinger on Nov. 19, but beat Munday at home on Nov. 20. The team returned to action this week, traveling to Hamlin on Tuesday and ending up with a close 33-37 loss.

The three Albany Cubs basketball teams made a clean sweep of games at home on Monday against Cross Plains. The Cubs will travel to Stamford on Dec. 3 for a set of games starting at 5:30 p.m. The 8A boys crushed Cross Plains 46-27 on Monday at home.