By Donnie A. Lucas

Coach M.J. Reneau has had one unspoken dream for her varsity volleyball team throughout this season – to guide her squad to the state volleyball tournament, an experience she had her senior year in 2008 as a Lady Lion.

Now that dream is just one step away from becoming realized.

The Lady Lions (22-4) defeated Plains in four sets Tuesday in Coahoma to win the Class 2A regional semifinal title and advance to the regional final game against Wink (22-4).

By Donnie A. Lucas

The 2020 football playoff season was supposed to start this week for the Albany Lions with a bi-district bout against the Chico Dragons, but the game became the latest victim of the ongoing COVID-19  pandemic.

On Tuesday, school officials in Chico decided to forfeit the game due to COVID-19 cases within their program, leaving Albany with the bi-district title without even stepping foot on the field.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The JV football team wrapped up the 2020 season with another shutout, beating the visiting Wylie sophomore JV 28-0 last Thursday at Robert Nail Stadium.

The Lions finished the season with a 7-1 record, playing several games against larger schools because of cancellations due to the coronavirus.

“This was a good win for our JV coming off a tough loss the week before,” coach David Fairchild said. “We faced a good defensive front, and I was pleased with our offensive line.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Cubs and Lady Cubs will start the 2020-2021 basketball season on Monday, Nov. 16 with a full set of games.

The seventh and eighth grade girls will host Abilene Christian School starting at 5:30 p.m., while the boys will make the trip to Abilene Christian with the same tip-off.

The junior high teams will be in action again on Monday, Nov. 23 with the girls traveling to Cisco and the boys staying home to host the Loboes.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lions basketball teams opened the season last Friday in Hermleigh, dropping the game 51-24.

Albany was scheduled to be back on the local court on Saturday against Huckabay, but the game was been cancelled because of the volleyball playoffs, according to coach Tate Thompson.

The Lady Lions are also on the schedule to host Rule on Tuesday, Nov. 17 starting at 5:00 p.m.

Currently, the Lady Lions are able to put a combined team on the floor since several players are still involved in volleyball.

By Donnie A. Lucas

In a five-set game that saw several momentum swings, the Lady Lions defeated Miles in a Class 2A Region I area bout, breaking an eight-year drought of advancing past the second round of the volleyball playoffs.

The Lady Lions (20-4) were scheduled to face the Coleman Lady Bluecats today, but Coleman was forced to forfeit the game on Wednesday morning. According to Coleman school officials, a spike in COVID cases forced cancellation of extracurricular activities for two weeks.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lion football team ended the regular season with a 35-0 win over the visiting Cross Plains Buffaloes in a game to determine the district champion.

The Lions sewed up the District 8-2A Div. II crown with their fourth shutout against a district foe, ending the regular part of their schedule with an 8-1 record, including 5-0 in district.

Albany is open this week, the final week in regular season action, but will be paired against Chico in the bi-district round of the playoffs to be held on Thursday, Nov. 12 in Graham.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The seventh and eighth grade Cub football team combined forces last week for the season finale in Cross Plans, bringing home a 33-0 win.

Ashton Bailey scored on the Cubs’ first offensive play, running the ball 55 yards for the touchdown. Bailey also kicked the PAT to put the Cubs ahead 7-0.

Dalton Richards scored next on a six-yard carry to take the lead to 13-0. The extra point attempt failed.

Quarterback Branson Beal scored on a 60-yard keeper, pushing the lead to 19-0. The PAT failed.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Four Albany High cross country track runners competed at the district meet in Anson last week, ending the season.

“Although we didn’t have anyone advance on to regionals, a couple of the girls shaved more than a minute off of their times from two weeks ago when they ran the same course,” coach Tate Thompson said. “All four of the girls are either freshmen or sophomores, so they gained some great experience that they will take with them for next year.”

By Donnie A. Lucas

The JV Lion football team lost its first game of the season last week in Tuscola, playing to a 34-19 loss to the Jim Ned JV.

The Lions will end the 2020 season on Thursday (today) at home against the Wylie sophomore team starting at 4:00 p.m.

“Jim Ned had a good team,” coach Rod Britting said. “We played them a hard-fought game with four turnovers. Ultimately, we made more mistakes than they did.”

The coach said that the Lions failed to stop the Indians on a couple of key third down situations.