By Donnie A. Lucas

All good things come to an end, and so it was for the Lady Lions’ volleyball season on Tuesday, just one step short of the state championship game.

Albany lost to defending state champion Crawford in straight sets Tuesday, 25-14,25-11,25-14 in the Class 2A state semifinal game played in Weatherford.

The Lady Lions qualified for the state tournament as one of the final four teams for only the second time in program history with a three-set win over Wink last Saturday in Big Spring.

By Donnie A. Lucas

After a three-week break, the Albany Lion football team will finally see action Thursday (today) in the Class 2A-Div 1 area playoff against the Ralls  Jackrabbits at Snyder.

The second-round playoff bout will kick off at 7:00  p.m.with the Lions serving as the home team.

Tickets are selling for $6 for adults and $4 for students and must be purchased online by accessing a link on the Albany ISD website. A small processing fee will be added to each ticket sold.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Cubs and Lady Cubs won three out of four games during their opening set of games on Monday.

The junior high girls won both bouts against the visiting Abilene Christian School teams, while the boys split games with ACS in Abilene.

The four Albany teams are scheduled to play Cisco next Monday, Nov. 23, with the girls on the road and the boys at home.

The junior high girls are putting a Red team and a White team on the floor this season, both with a mixture of seventh and eighth grades.

The Red team edged out ACS 19-17.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion basketball team hosted Rule on Monday in the home opener, picking up a 53-18 win.

The varsity is scheduled to host the Abilene Lady Hawks on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. 

The girls are also on the books to travel to Guthrie on Monday, Nov. 23 at 6:00 p.m., then return home to host a Tuesday, Nov. 24 game against Comanche prior to a break for Thanksgiving.

The Lady Lions have been combining the JV and varsity players not playing volleyball, but the teams should be sorted out by next week now that volleyball is over.

By Sandy Morris

Moran High School’s varsity girls basketball team traveled to Strawn on Friday, Nov. 13. 

The Lady Bulldogs came up short, losing 67-17. 

According to girls head coach John Hughes, the score isn’t a true reflection of the game.

“There is definite improvement from where we were last year,” said Hughes. “We still have things to work on, but it is early.”

By Sandy Morris

As COVID takes down another Albany sports opponent with the forfeiting of the bi-district game by Chico, members of the Albany Athletic Booster Club continue to adjust “send-off” plans. 

Spirit Drum

Beating of the spirit drum will begin the night before the game. The drum schedule, which was already full for this week,will be pushed forward to next week, although some adjustments may have to be made if there are conflicts.  

Playoff T-Shirts

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.