Albany Boys Basketball Looks To Defend Their State Title

The Albany boys basketball team is back in the Class AA State Tournament but this time they are there to defend their title.  The Huskies defeated Minnehaha Academy 72-65 to capture the state championship in 2023.  Albany is 28-2 this season and is coming off a 63-53 win over Annandale last Friday in the section 6-2-A final at St. Cloud State.

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Albany is led this season by juniors Sam Hondl, Zeke Austin and senior Andrew Olson.  Head Coach Cory Schlagel joined me on WJON.  He says Hondl and Austin are returning starters and they feel like seniors to him.  Olson suffered a broken wrist prior to the season and joined the active roster midseason.  Schlagel says getting Olson back was like making a trade or acquiring a free agent based on the impact he gave them.  He says Austin he didn't know he had a team that could make a return trip to the state tournament early in the season but rather was just looking to retool the team and see who would fit where.

Albany's two loses came early in the season to Eden Valley-Watkins on December 12 59-53 and January 4 at home to Annandale 64-43.  Schlagel says they didn't have Olson for those two games which played a role and he says they also didn't play their best.  Albany avenged the loss to Annandale by defeating the Cardinals 63-53 in the Section 6-2-A Final last Friday.

The Huskies will play Jackson County Central Wednesday night at 6 p.m. at Target Center in the Class AA State Quarterfinals.  Schlagel says Jackson County Central is a well balanced, young team that will likely be a hungry crew.  Albany is the #2 seed while Jackson County Central is unseeded.  The Albany/Jackson County Central winner will play the Lake City/Pelican Rapids winner at 8 p.m. Friday night at Williams Arena in the state semifinals.  Albany defeated Lake City early in the season 67-49.

If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Cory Schlagel it is available below.

Albany Roster: