ALBANY — The Comets recognized local heroes with a varsity double header on Saturday, Feb. 4. The girls basketball team defeated Palmyra-Eagle 82-35, while the boys fell 42-22.

The Lady Comets jumped out to an insurmountable 51-19 lead at halftime with six players scoring six or more first-half points. Albany nearly doubled Palmyra-Eagle again in the second, outscoring the Panthers  opponent 31-16.

Alana Durtschi, who was nominated as the Hometown Ticketing Athlete of the week for Jan. 23-29, recorded her second double-double of the season with 16 points and 15 rebounds. Gracie Freitag, who tallied 12 points, missed a double-double by one rebound. Avary Briggs led the offense with 19 points, going 2-for-3 from the charity stripe. Abby Hollis, ranked fourth in Division 5 for 3-point percentage, scored 17 points with four baskets from beyond the arc. 

In the boys nightcap, Palmyra-Eagle outscored Albany by 10 points in each half en route to a win.

James Schwartz led the squad with nine points and nine rebounds, one each away from a double-double. Brayden Bakken made a pair of threes in his six-point total, while Kaden Zurfluh (5 points) was responsible for the other one. The remaining offense came on a pair of free throws from Ethan Koss.

The Comets forced 17 turnovers but were unable to capitalize on the Panther errors. Albany scored just six points off turnovers and none in transition.