By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions suffered a pair of home losses last week in their final outings before the start of district play, falling 42-23 to Richland Springs on Tuesday, Dec. 7, and 34-12 to Gordon on Friday, Dec. 10.

The Lady Lions opened the District 10-2A schedule on Tuesday night, Dec. 14 against the Haskell Maidens. Albany was on the losing side of the scoreboard, with details to be reported next week.

Against Richland Springs last week, Albany fell behind 16-2 in the first quarter and never recovered.

By Sam Waller

Moran basketball teams had a busy week with both boys and girls varsity teams making their first tournament appearances.

The Bulldogs started the week against Strawn Nov. 30 before competing in the Woodson tournament.

The Lady Bulldogs played in the Breckenridge tournament after dealing with schedule changes.

Both boys and girls will play in the Lueders-Avoca tournament this weekend.

Girls Games

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High Lady Cubs basketball teams swept their home games Monday against Hamlin, allowing a total of 16 points.

The White team won 33-8 with the Red team posting a 36-8 victory. In both games, Hamlin went without scoring in the second and third quarters.

In boys action at Hamlin, Albany won all three games. The eighth grade Cubs won 36-23, the seventh grade 31-27, and the combo team 12-10. 

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions junior varsity basketball team swept its four games over the weekend at the Albany JV Tournament, while the freshman team went 2-2 in its first action of the season.

The JV team beat Munday 57-29 and Breckenridge 30-22 on Thursday, then topped Graham 53-46 and Anson 47-20 on Saturday.

The freshman team downed Woodson 37-20 and Breckenridge 32-30 on Thursday, but had a tougher time Saturday, losing 31-26 to Graham and 48-21 to Cross Plains.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady ­Lions got plenty of court time after their return from the Thanksgiving break, playing at Ballinger on Tuesday, Nov. 30, before spending the weekend at the Breckenridge tournament.

The Lady Lions went 2-3 at the tournament, beating Class 4A Springtown and Moran. Kiana Roberson was named to the all-tournament team after averaging 10.2 points per game for the weekend.

Lady Lions coach Tate Thompson said the tournament was a good experience for the team.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lions have picked a good time to be playing their best football of the season.

In doing so, the Lions gained a measure of revenge by ending the reign of defending state champion Windthorst with a 28-14 victory last Friday in a Class 2A Division II state quarterfinal at Newton Field in Graham.

Albany (13-0) advances to the state semifinals for the 13th time in school history to face Stratford. The game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. Thursday (tonight) at Lowrey Field in Lubbock.

By Sam Waller

Scheduling conflicts have created several changes to the Moran high school and junior high basketball schedules in addition to creating a like number of headaches for athletic director John Hughes.

Tuesday’s scheduled varsity home games against Three Way were cancelled because Three Way had double booked and played a different opponent.

By Melinda L. Lucas

Tickets for Friday’s state quarterfinal football playoff against Windthorst, to be played at 7:00 p.m.  in Graham’s Newton Field, must be purchased online by going to grahamisd.org and clicking on “Tickets” or by following the link on the Albany Athletic Booster Club’s Facebook page. 

Passes will be accepted, but no tickets will be sold at the gate, according to Graham officials.

By Sam Waller

The Albany Junior High basketball teams split four games Monday against Hawley, winning one girls and one boys contest.

At home, the Lady Cubs Red team won  44-17, while the White team lost 30-12.

In boys action at Hawley, the eighth grade Cubs won 38-15, while the seventh graders lost 35-23. The boys Combo game was cancelled.

The junior high teams return to action Monday, Dec. 6, against Hamlin. The girls teams will again play at home with the boys on the road for the third consecutive week.

Girls Red Team

By Sam Waller

The Albany Lady Lions basketball team dropped its second outing of the season on Tuesday, Nov. 23, losing 54-26 at Comanche before taking off for Thanksgiving.

Albany (0-2) played Tuesday at Ballinger. Details will be reported next week.

The Lady Lion will make their first tournament appearance of the season Thursday through Saturday at Breckenridge.

Against Comanche, Kiana Roberson scored 12 points to lead the local girls, who played less than 24 hours after opening their season against Ballinger.