Lady Cougars Win on the Road

After building a double-digit second half lead, the Piedmont Academy Lady Cougars had to rally late for a 36-33 road win against Monsignor Donovan Tuesday.

Piedmont held a 27-15 advantage after the third quarter but the host Lady Rams battled back and took a 31-29 lead with 1:42 left following a 3-pointer. Rachel Maletz made 1-of-2 free throw attempts to pull the Lady Cougars to within a point and then Piedmont regained the lead on a putback by Hailey Burnham with 1:10 left.

Monsignor Donovan got back to within a point with 16 seconds left but two more free throws by Maletz sealed the deal with 12 seconds remaining.

“It’s always good to win an away region game,” said Lady Cougar coach Wes Tanner after the contest.
Burnham finished with 21 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Maletz finished with five points, all from the free throw line, and Lanie King added four points and seven boards. Heather Tyler also scored four points while Kacy Swart finished with two.

Piedmont led 15-9 at halftime but seemed to take control of the game in the third quarter outscoring the Lady Rams 12-6. Monsignor Donovan refused to give in, however, and battled until the
final buzzer.
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The Piedmont boys were once again involved in a low-scoring, defensive struggle falling to Monsignor Donovan 37-30. Bobby Mitchell paced the Cougars with 17 points, including two 3-pointers. Jakey Dunagan added six points. Piedmont led 16-14 at halftime although the Rams held a 26-23 lead after the third quarter. The Cougars could never quite catch up in the fourth quarter. A 3-pointer by Mitchell with 3:33 left pulled Piedmont to within 31-26 but Monsignor Donovan would outscore the Cougars 6-4 down the stretch. A 3-pointer by Alex Hall with 22 seconds left trimmed the advantage to 33-30 but Piedmont was then called for an intentional foul. The Rams added four free throws in the final seconds for the seven-point win.

“We played well defensively,” coach Josh Daher. “We got some bad breaks late in the game. It’s all a process and we will continue working to get better.”

Hall finished with three points with Davis Kimball and Tyler Cullum both scoring two.

Prior to Tuesday’s action on the road, the Piedmont Academy teams faced Briarwood at home. The Piedmont boys took a 42-40 victory helped by an 18-point effort from Dunagan. Justin Wilson added nine points in the victory. The Cougars were outscored 18-14 in the final eight minutes but managed to hold on for the victory. Piedmont led 28-22 after the third quarter.

Mitchell finished with six points while Hall and Kimball both added three points. Cullum added two points while Peter Lawson made a free throw.
The Lady Cougars fell 34-30 Friday despite 17 points by Burnham and eight by Maletz. A 15-7 run by Briarwood in the fourth quarter helped make the difference. Tyler and King both scored two points for Piedmont while Anna Jones scored one. The Lady Cougars held a 23-19 lead after the third quarter.

“It was a tough loss,” Tanner said. “We lost to them by 14 points earlier in the season. We led pretty much wire to wire but couldn’t hold on at the end. It’s easy to tell we are getting better. We continue to be a work in progress.”

The Piedmont boys dropped another close contest Saturday falling 46-44 to Windsor. Trailing 36-29 after the third quarter, the Cougars went on a 15-10 run in the fourth quarter but could not quite catch in the end.

Dunagan led the scoring with 15 points followed by Mitchell with 14. Wilson finished with eight points while Hall and Kimball added three each. Lawson added a free throw in the second quarter.
The Lady Cougars rebounded to defeat Windsor 40-27 Saturday. The Burnham-Maletz combination continued to lead the team with 14 and 10 points respectively.

“We were a little flat to start the game but we overcame everything and took care of business,” Tanner said.
Tyler added six points in Saturday’s contest while King and Jordana Pope both finished with four. Carley Cain added two points.
The Piedmont teams will host Gatewood Friday beginning at 6 p.m. for Senior Night.