Piedmont Teams Win
Both Piedmont Academy varsity basketball teams recorded region wins Tuesday night.
The Lady Cougars defeated Westminster Christian of Watkinsville 59-43 on the road while the varsity boys recorded a 70-65 region win.
Coach Kenny Roberts saw his Lady Cougars lead by just two points at halftime, but a 21-5 run in the third quarter put Piedmont in control. Roberts said his team played “super defense” in Tuesday’s win.
Meg Eckerle continued her standout season with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Carrie Tucker finished with 13 points and seven steals. Kir-stie Lewis played a key role in the game with 11 points.
Lewis also stepped in at point guard when the team got into foul trouble. Emily Beckham added eight points for the Lady Cougars. The win improved the Piedmont girls to 2-1 in Region 1-AA play.
The Piedmont boys were able to outlast Westminster Tuesday by using its depth to wear down the host team.
Taylor Jackson led the way with 20 points followed by 14 from Cris Jackson. Micah Tyler played a key role off the bench in the win with nine points, including 3-of-3 from the free throw line.
Josh Phillips finished with seven points while Christopher Hornibrook added seven, including two 3-pointers.
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“Westminster has two of the best players I’ve seen in a long time,” Roberts said. “However, we simply ran them to death. We kept it up-tempo and played nine people to wear them down.”
Roberts said Westminster was predicted to be one of the top teams in the region this season.
Piedmont will return to action Friday when it hosts Briarwood. The teams will then travel to Brentwood Tuesday. Games at 6 p.m. both nights.
Prior to Tuesday night’s road action, the Piedmont Academy teams swept Nathanael Greene at home Saturday.
The Lady Cougars pulled off an incredible fourth quarter comeback led by the play of Eckerle, who finished with a game-high 26 points in the 47-38 win.
Piedmont trailed 33-26 after the third quarter and would fall behind by as many as 10 points in the fourth quarter. Eckerle scored 15 points in the final quarter, however, going 7-of-8 from the field.
“She just took control of the game,” Roberts said. “She scored 20 points in the second half.”
Roberts said the defensive play of Lewis and Priscilla Jones also helped spark the comeback. Tucker finished with six points, seven rebounds and six steals while Emily Beckham had six points and six boards.
The Piedmont boys had little trouble with Nathanael Greene Saturday cruising to a 68-37 win in a game where Roberts was able to get everyone playing experience.
Zac Hauther finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, all of which came in the first three quarters. Phillips finished with 13 points, including two 3-pointers, while Lance Richardson added 10 points. T. Jackson finished with seven points while Whit Morgan had seven rebounds.
Last Friday the Piedmont teams split with rival Gatewood, also at home. The Lady Cougars fell 54-37 despite 14 points, including three 3-pointers, by Eckerle and 14 points and six rebounds from Tucker. The Lady Cougars trailed 26-19 at halftime and had played well in the first half, according to their coach.
“We did a good job of slowing them down and we kept our turnovers down,” Roberts said of the game’s first two quarters. “Things got away from us, however, in the second half.”
Piedmont’s boys recorded a key Region 1-AA win defeating Gatewood 81-71, improving the Cougars to 2-0 in region play.
The team had a balanced scoring attack as nine players scored, including four in double figures. Richardson led the way with 19 points followed by T. Jackson with 13, Christopher Hornibrook with 12 and Phillips with 12.
The Cougars were 14-of-20 from the foul line in the game’s final eight minutes. The 81 points was a season high for the Piedmont boys.
During the holidays, the Piedmont teams competed in a three-day tournament hosted by First Presbyterian in Macon. All games were against Class AAA opponents.
The Piedmont boys went 1-2 posting a 71-53 win against Sherwood while falling to Pinecrest (61-56) and host FPD (56-48).
“I was proud of how the teans played,” Roberts said of the holiday action. “We competed each game.”
Phillips was the team’s leading scorer against Sherwood with 16 followed by T. Jackson’s 14, and 10 from Richardson. Hauther added seven points and eight rebounds.
T. Jackson was the leading scorer against Pinecrest with 15 followed by Hornibrook with nine. Piedmont had a chance to tie the game with less than a minute to go. Hauther added nine points and nine boards while Cris Jackson finished with 11 points.
Hauther’s 12 points and eight rebounds led Piedmont against FPD followed by Taylor Jackson’s 11 points, eight of which game in the fourth quarter.
The Piedmont girls dropped games to Sherwood (51-32), Pinecrest (46-32) and FPD (70-40).
“We played this tournament knowing we would be playing bigger schools,” Roberts said. Lewis (nine points, five rebounds) and Tucker (eight points, 4- of-4 from three throw line) led the Lady Cougars against Sherwood. Beckham (11 points, four rebounds) and Tucker (nine points) were the leaders against Pinecrest. Beckham also helped lead Piedmont against FPD with nine points and six boards.