The Lady Lions slipped to second place in the district race with a loss last Friday to the Haskell Maidens.

Albany opened the second half of district on Tuesday with a 43-38 win over Cross Plains. Details will be reported next week. The win improved the varsity record to 18-9 overall and 5-1 in district.

The district race continues on Friday with Albany hosting the Stamford Lady Bulldogs. Tip-off for the varsity is set for 6:30 p.m. The JV girls will also take the court against Stamford starting at 4:00 p.m.

Fifth and sixth grade youth basketball season continued with games in Eula and Stamford Jan. 19.

Both fifth grade teams brought back victories from Eula, but the sixth grade boys and girls did not fare as well in Stamford.

5th Grade Boys

The fifth grade boys are undefeated this season, improving to a 4-0 record after two wins on Saturday.

“The boys played really well in our first game against Hawley,” said coach John Tom Heatly. “The score was 18-7 at the half and 43-11 at the end, which shows how well our team played in the second half.”

The Cubs and Lady Cubs got in a round of basketball action on Monday against Cross Plains with mixed results.

The eighth girls also played in a tournament last week in Throckmorton, earning a pair of wins.

The junior high boys teams are hosting a two-day tournament on Thursday and Saturday involving 10 area schools.

A last minute three-point shot secured the lone victory reported for Moran basketball teams this week.

Bulldogs

The varsity boys lost a road game 25-64 in Eula on Tuesday, Jan. 15. 

The Bulldogs hosted Strawn Friday, Jan. 18. The visitors claimed a 82-31 victory.

Results were not available at press time from the Gordon game on Tuesday.

Moran will finish out the first half of district play when they welcome Ranger to Bulldog Gym on Friday, Jan. 26, for an 8:00 p.m. tip-off.

Lady Bulldogs

The Lion basketball team dropped a non-district game in Graford last Friday, 66-57, but got back into the winning column on Tuesday hosting Archer City.

The Lions handed the visiting Wildcats a 67-57 loss in their final non-district tune-up game.

Both the varsity and JV will host the Roscoe Plowboys on Friday to start District 8-2A action. The JV boys will follow the JV girls at about 5:15 p.m., while the varsity will take the floor after the varsity girls at about 7:30 p.m.

The Lions will host the Hawley Bearcats on Tuesday, Jan. 15 with the same schedule.

The varsity Lion basketball team picked up a pair of wins last week, including the district opener on Friday against Roscoe.

Albany also hosted Hawley on Tuesday adding another district victory over the visiting Bearcats with a big 44-37 win to improve to 2-0 in district and 7-2 overall.

The Lions will be on the road on Friday in Haskell to take on the Indians and will travel to Cross Plains next Tuesday as the district race continues.

The Cubs and Lady Cubs have been busy over the last week, playing two sets of games since returning from the Christmas break.

The teams will play Cross Plains next Monday, with games starting at 5:30 p.m. in both locations. The girls will host the Buffaloes, while the boys will be on the road in Cross Plains.

The Cubs split games against Hawley at home last Thursday in the first set of games since the break.

The junior high Bulldogs recorded the lone win on the basketball court for Moran this week, but compared to last year, when low player numbers coupled with injuries caused both high school teams to end their seasons early, the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldogs are still playing and improving their skills.

Lady Bulldogs

The fifth and sixth grade youth basketball players opened the 2019 season at home last Saturday, with three of the local teams splitting games and one team winning both of their bouts.

5th Grade Boys

The fifth grade boys came out playing good defense from the start, according to coach John Tom Heatly.

“We hadn’t had a whole lot of practice, so I was extremely proud of them, and can’t say enough about the defense,” Heatly said. “They also did a great job sharing the ball with each other on offense. The entire team played well.”

The varsity Lion basketball team won three out of four rounds at the Windthorst tournament last week as they prepare for the opening of the district race.

Although they started the season late due to football playoffs, coach Ryder Peacock said that team members brought back several positives from the two-day tourney in Windthorst.

“We were able to rotate a lot of guys in during tight games to see how they would respond,” Peacock said. “It is still very early in the season for us, and we found ways to win while our perimeter game develops.