By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lion softball team is off to a strong start, winning three of the first four games.

Albany will play in the Stephenville tournament on Thursday through Saturday, playing two games each day.

Albany will play South Hills at 2:15 p.m. on Thursday, followed by a 5:45 p.m. bout versus Krum. On Friday, the team will face Godley at 9:00 a.m. and Midway JV at 2:15 p.m., followed by a Saturday morning game at 9:00 a.m. against Eastland. Bracket play will be played later in the day based on the results of the first five rounds.

By Kathy Thomson

Boys and girls on Albany Little Dribblers teams played their third set of games last weekend on Saturday, Feb. 22, and will finish out their year this Saturday, Feb. 29.

Three girls teams and four boys teams are each playing two games every Saturday throughout the season.

The final set of matches will take place this Saturday, Feb. 29, starting at 8:30 a.m. with a match between the boys’ Red and Black teams. The first game of the day for the girls will be at 9:30 a.m. between Purple and Red.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The 2020 baseball season will open this week with the Albany JV Tournament, set for Thursday through Saturday.

The varsity Lions are on the calendar to open the season March 5-7 at the Hamlin tournament.

Currently, four JV teams are signed up for this week’s tournament in Albany, including Hamlin, Early, Cisco, and Albany.

“Each team will have one game each day for a total of three,” baseball coach David Fairchild said.

By Donnie A. Lucas

Staying even for three quarters of the Class 2A bi-district battle, the Lady Lions scored 12 unanswered points in the fourth to surge ahead for a 50-39 win over Eldorado on Monday in Bronte.

Albany (21-10) now advances to the area round to take on the Wink Lady Wildcats (17-6), winner of District 6-2A.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The varsity Lion basketball team sewed up a playoff berth last week with a win over Cross Plains, finishing the regular season at home Tuesday against Stamford.

Albany lost the finale to the undefeated district winning Bulldogs 75-57. Complete results will be reported next week.

The Lions face first-place Christoval from District 7-2A on Monday, Feb. 24 at Jim Ned High School in Tuscola, starting at 6:30 p.m. Ticket prices are set for $4 and $2, with all passes honored.

by Kathy Thomson

Eight Albany seniors are among the more than 320 top athletes and cheerleaders of the area who make up the 2020 all-star class for Big Country Chevy Dealers Fellowship of Christian Athletes All-Star Festival, announced Sunday, Feb. 16 at Beltway Church South in Abilene.

Representing Albany High School on the gridiron will be Ben West and Blaine Kayga on the Blue football team and Tyler Beard playing for Red.

Alayna Koemel was named to the cheer squad for the football and volleyball games.

By Kathy Thomson

The Moran basketball season ended this week with the high school boys playing in Ranger on Tuesday, Feb. 18.

Results from that game and from the Bulldogs’ match in Strawn on Feb. 11 were not available at press time and will be reported next week.

The boys varsity team lost a close game to Gordon on Friday, Feb. 14, falling 38-36.

Lady Bulldogs

The high school girls played Strawn’s Lady Hounds on Tuesday, Feb. 11. 

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lady Lions locked down third place in the district race last week with a pair of victories at home, earning a spot in the playoffs Monday, Feb. 17.

Albany will face Eldorado in the bi-district game, set to be played at Bronte on Monday, Feb. 17 with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff. Ticket prices have been set at $4 and $2 with all regular passes accepted.

By Donnie A. Lucas

The Lion basketball team split district wins last week at home, but lost on the road Tuesday in Haskell to the Indians.

Albany posted a 44-32 loss in Haskell, falling to 2-6 in district and tied for fourth place with Cross Plains in the 8-2A race behind Stamford in first (8-0), Hawley in second (6-2), and Haskell in third (5-3).

The winner of this Friday’s game with Cross Plains will decide the fourth place position in the district. 

By Kathy Thomson

The fifth and sixth grade youth teams finished out their season last Saturday, Feb. 8, playing in tournaments at Clyde and Eula with mixed results.

Fifth Grade Boys

The fifth grade boys won their first two games to make it to the championship match.

They outscored Eula White 30-7 in game one, and returned to take Jim Ned 25-15 in game two.

Hawley came out on top in the final game, beating Albany 26-14.

Assistant coach Campbell Terry said that the boys played great during the tournament.