Lions earn two district wins, fall to Cisco

By Donnie A. Lucas

The varsity Lion basketball team earned a pair of wins over district opponents last week, defeating both Haskell and TLC Abilene to improve to 8-4 for the season, including 3-0 in district.

The Lions hosted the Cisco Loboes on Tuesday, dropping to 3-1 in district with a 48-39 loss.

Albany will be on the road on Friday in Anson to take on the Tigers in a 7:30 p.m. bout, followed by a trip to Stamford on Jan. 20 to wrap up the first half of district.

The Lions dominated Haskell on Dec. 31, earning a 53-26 win over the Indians.

“We played well against Haskell,” said head boys coach Ryder Peacock. “Our defense played a great game, rebounding well on both ends to give us multiple opportunities to score.”

Albany jumped out to a 16-6 lead in the first quarter and led 30-13 at the half. The Lions also took the third period 9-4 and wrapped up the game with a 14-9 fourth quarter.

The team traveled to TLC Abilene last Friday, bringing home a 63-23 victory to remain undefeated in district.

“We got off to a fast start against TLCA, leading 23-0 in the first,” Peacock said. “That gave us a great opportunity to work on some defensive aspects of our game that we hadn’t practiced much.”

He added that several players came in off the bench to gain much needed experience.

Albany added 11 points to their score by the half, leading 34-9. They outscored TLCA 17-9 in the third and dropped the fourth 9-12.

ALBANY 53 – HASKELL 26

Haskell 6 7 4 9 - 26

Albany 16 14 9 14 - 53

ALBANY - Huffman Heatly 15, Aaden Mendez 11, Chip Chambers 10, Will Barrett 6, Clay Chapman 4, Slade Windham 3, Jaxson Street 2, Branson Beal 2.

ALBANY 63 – TCLA 23

TLCA 0 9 5 9 - 23

Albany 23 11 17 12 - 63

ALBANY – Clay Chapman 14, Aaden Mendez 11, Huffman Heatly 8, Jaxson Street 7, Bam Becker 6, Chip Chambers 6, Will Barrett 4, Slade Windham 3, Branson Beal 2.