Albany Boys’ Basketball Falls Just Short In Bid For Second Consecutive State Title, Takes Third

(KNSI) – The Albany High School Boys’ Basketball Team came close to repeating as state champions this weekend.

The team dropped a hard-fought semifinal contest Friday against Lake City, 69-59. It was a four-point game until the Tigers pounced without about 13 minutes left. They went on a 9-0 run to get the advantage comfortably into double digits and then mostly matched the Huskies bucket for bucket to keep the edge. The Huskies pushed to within six with about a minute to go.

Albany had three scorers in double figures. Zeke Austin and Jack Rieland tied for a team-high 16 points, with Sam Hondl adding thirteen.

The squad bounced back Saturday, winning the third-place game, 70-53. Albany matched up with Minnehaha Academy, a replay of last year’s championship tilt.

Zeke Austin had a monster second half to help the Huskies pull away. He ended with 28 points. More impressively, he also chipped in nine rebounds and a block while only committing two turnovers. Albany finishes the year 30-3, picking up hardware at the MSHSL State Tournament for the second consecutive year.

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