The junior high girls basketball teams opened the season on Monday by hosting Hawley in a set of three games.
The seventh grade team will play next at the Woodson tournament on Saturday, with the first round set for 8:00 a.m. against Woodson. They will play the Moran Lady Pups at 10:40 a.m.
The local teams will be on the road next Monday, Nov. 19 in Haskell for games starting at 5:30 p.m.
The Lion football team held off the Haskell Indians Friday for a narrow 20-19 win to improve to 4-0 in district, setting up a District 7-2A showdown for the championship this week.
Albany (4-5, 4-0) will host the Hamlin Pied Pipers (9-0) in the regular season finale Friday at Robert Nail Stadium with the district title on the line. Kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.
Both teams are already guaranteed the top two playoff spots, so it comes down to which school will grab the title.
The Lady Lion volleyball season came to close Saturday with Albany falling to the Miles Lady Bulldogs in three sets at the area playoff.
Playing in Brownwood, Albany lost 9-25, 15-25, 12-25 to end the season with a 12-16 overall record. Albany tied for third place in District 6-2A with a 7-5 mark.
“We had some bright spots and great moments against a good Miles team,” coach Kimberly Hill said. “We just weren’t consistent.”
The coach said she knew Miles could prove to be a challenging opponent.
Improving to 8-0 for the season, the JV Lions traveled to Graham to host the Haskell Indians last Thursday due to field conditions in Albany after heavy rains, earning a 42-0 victory.
The JV will be on the road to Hamlin this week to end the season against the Hamlin Pied Pipers. The JV will follow one junior high game, with kickoff at about 6:15 p.m. in Hamlin.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Lions started their scoring spree with a an eight-yard touchdown run by Robert Bailey. They led 6-0 after the PAT failed.
The Albany Cubs came home with a win and a tie against the Haskell Warriors last Thursday.
Games were moved to Graham’s artificial turf stadium after local heavy rains soaked Nail Stadium.
The seventh graders will play a rematch against Haskell on Thursday (today) starting at 4:00 p.m. in Haskell.
The eighth grade Cubs will travel to Hamlin for a 5:00 p.m. game as scheduled. Hamlin only has one junior high team, causing coaches to seek out another seventh grade game to end the season.
Cubs vs. Haskell
The Moran football season ended earlier than anticipated last week due to last Friday’s 66-80 loss on the road to Loraine ending the varsity’s playoff hopes, and a forfeit by Trent cancelling what had been scheduled as the Bulldogs’ final regular season game and senior night at Bulldog Stadium this Friday.
In addition, the junior high game that is on the calendar for this evening in Trent has been cancelled because the junior high Bulldogs picked up a game with Trent middle school on Oct. 18.
Loraine Results
Receiving a bye in the first round of the playoffs, the Lady Lion volleyball team will face off against the Miles Lady Bulldogs in the area round playoff Saturday at Brownwood High School.
Albany lost the area title to Miles last year in a close game, and are hoping to change those results in this year’s matchup.
The 2A bout is set for 5:00 p.m. at Gym 2, with Albany serving as the home team. Tiicket prices have been set at $4 for adults and $2 for students.
The junior high Cubs picked up a pair of victories last Thursday in Cross Plains. The teams will play at home Thursday (today), hosting the Haskell Indians. The seventh grade will take the field at 4:00 p.m., with the eighth grade following at about 5:15 p.m. The eighth grade Cubs took their game to the wire in Cross Plains, holding the Buffaloes out of the end zone as time ended to preserve a 20-14 win. Tye Edgar ran in a Cross Plains fumble to open the scoring, running the ball 50 yards for the tally. The conversion attempt failed.
The Albany Fall Ball team, made up of third and fourth grade baseball players, finished the season 6-1.
“We beat two teams from Southern, Jim Ned, and three Dixie teams,” said coach Anthony Ceder. “We got to play at ACU, but we lost in the semifinals to a great Dixie team.”
Players on the team included Aiden Vickers, Lyle Wheeler, Graham Ceder, Colter Edgar, Pecos Duke, Bennett Neece, Ace Vickers, Cole Richards, and Jakobi Word.
“It’s been a blast,” said Anthony Ceder. “And the kids have played hard and have been successful.”
The Lady Cubs ended the volleyball season last week with a pair of wins over Ranger.
The seventh grade easily defeated Ranger’s seventh grade 25-2, 25-7.
Kiana Roberson led with 31 serves, including three aces, followed by Robin Lucas with six that also included three aces. Sidney Russell had four serves that scored.
“This has been a great season for these girls,” coach Ginger Norton said. “They won the Hawley tournament and were runner-up in Graham.”
The eighth graders won 25-9, 25-14.
