By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams suffered a pair of losses against Hawley on Monday, Aug. 29, in their first home matches of the season.

The seventh grade team was swept 8-25, 13-25. The eighth grade team fell in three sets, 25-18, 8-25, 5-15.

The Lady Cubs will be off Monday, Sept. 5 for Labor Day and resume play Thursday, Sept. 8 at Bangs.

In the seventh grade match, Charli Trail led Albany with five service points. Carsyn Clegg and Karlyn Thompson each had one.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions and Lady Lions opened the 2022 cross country season Wednesday, Aug. 31 at Haskell, but results were not available at press time and will be reported next week.

Albany coach Ginger Norton said the first meet is more about learning to apply strategy and tactics for a race after nearly a month of preseason practices.

“We’ve been working out three times a week in the mornings and some shorter workouts in the afternoons because of the heat,” Norton said. “We did a timed run Monday morning.”

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions volleyball team won four of seven matches last week, finishing third at the Aspermont tournament in their final tourney of the season.

Albany (10-8) began the fourth week of the schedule Tuesday, Aug. 30, with a 11-25, 11-25, 22-25 loss at Abilene Christian. Details will be reported next week.

Lady Lions coach M.J. Reneau announced a schedule change for the weekend with Albany hosting Woodson on Saturday, Sept. 3, instead of Water Valley. The JV1 will play at 10:00 a.m. with the varsity match to follow.

By Sam Waller

High school football coaches stress the importance of playing a full 48 minutes.

The Albany Lions provided an example of why that is important in a 19-15 season-opening victory Friday, Aug. 26 against the Lubbock Trinity Christian Lions at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

Albany makes its first road outing of the season at 7:00 p.m. Friday, Sept. 2, when they visit the Dublin ­Lions at Cervetto Stadium.

Game Details

By Sam Waller

The Moran Lady Bulldogs volleyball team picked up its second victory of the season last week, taking losses in two other matches.

Moran was back on the road Tuesday, Aug. 23 at Roscoe. Results will be reported next week. Moran will play Friday-Saturday, Aug. 25-27 at the Abilene TLC tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs opened the week Tuesday, Aug. 16 with a five-set loss to Gustine in their home opener, then split two matches Saturday, Aug. 20 at Knox City.

Against Gustine, Moran lost 25-12, 25-16, 22-25, 15-25, 8-15.

By Sam Waller

The Moran Bulldogs football team enjoyed another solid outing last week in its second scrimmage.

The Bulldogs open the season at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 26 at Benjamin.

The Bulldogs scrimmaged Lueders-Avoca on Thursday, Aug. 18 at Lueders.

“It went well, no injuries or problems,” Bulldogs coach John Hughes said. “We scored similar to the way we did in our first scrimmage, but this time we gave up three scores, all because of blown assignments on defense.”

By Sam Waller

Albany junior high athletes began preseason practice in football last week with the start of school.

Seventh and eighth grade teams will take on Dublin on Thursday, Sept. 1 at Robert Nail Memorial Stadium.

Albany ISD athletic director Ryder Peacock, who will coach eighth grade football, said the Cubs have more than 30 players out for the two grades. The first two days of school were spent distributing equipment and getting organized with full practices starting Monday, Aug. 22.

By Sam Waller

Several factors combined to disrupt Brian Hamilton’s college baseball career, but he started getting things back on track in 2022 at Harding University.

A 2018 Albany graduate who earned all-state honors for the Lions, Hamilton redshirted in 2019 at Cisco College, then had the next two seasons wiped out by the coronavirus pandemic and a shoulder injury. He saw limited action as a pitcher in 2022, going 0-1 with a 7.88 ERA in four appearances, making one start and working a total of eight innings.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs volleyball teams opened their season Monday, Aug. 22 by splitting a pair of matches at Abilene Christian.

Junior high teams are not allowed to practice until the start of school under UIL rules. With Albany ISD beginning the new school year on Wednesday, Aug. 17, the teams had two practice sessions before playing.

The seventh grade Lady Cubs bounced back from a first-set loss to win their match 18-25, 25-23, 15-12.