Cougars Prepare for State Tournament

A tall task awaits the Piedmont Academy boys basketball team in the opening round of the GISA Class AA state tournament — literally.

The Cougars will face First Presbyterian Christian Academy today, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in a game played at Middle Georgia College in Cochran. For first-year Piedmont coach Josh Daher, the game plan will be a simple one against the No. 1 team in the state.

“We are going to slow the whole game down,” Daher said. “We want to limit their number of possessions and try to win it at the end.”
The Cougars qualified for the state tournament after winning two games in last week’s Region 1-AA event hosted by Central Fellowship in Macon. After defeating Briarwood, Piedmont shocked Gatewood 25-22 in its second contest.

Daher went to his past in the game and used the four-corners offense that he helped George Walton Academy win two state titles during his time as a player. The Cougars used a slowed down, methodical approach as soon as it won the opening tip-off and in the process frustrated Gatewood, whose season ended at 19-6.
Bobby Mitchell led Piedmont with eight points while Alex Hall and Jakey Dunagan both added six. Davis Kimball finished with three and Peter Lawson scored two.
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The Cougars led 8-2 after the first quarter and 14-10 at halftime. Even when Piedmont did not score in the third quarter and found itself trailing 20-14, the players continued with the game plan and outscored the Gators 11-2 in the final eight minutes.

Making last Wednesday’s second-round region tournament win even more amazing was the fact Gatewood had posted victories of 49-24 and 55-14 against the Cougars during the regular season.

Piedmont then faced Central Fellowship in the semifinals Thursday falling 50-24. Mitchell led the way with nine points followed by Dunagan with five. Lawson, Tyler Cullum, Kimball and Justin Wilson each finished with two points.

The Cougars then played their fourth game in five nights against Brentwood Friday and fell 41-28 to Brentwood in a battle for third place. The game was close in the first half with the Eagles leading 12-10 after the first quarter and 20-16 at halftime.

Piedmont was within two points (27-25) after the third quarter when fatigue took over.

“We played hard,” Daher said. “The four games in five nights probably hurt us mentally more than it did physically. I am just so proud of this team. No one gave us a chance. We are still in it to win it. No one gave us a chance against Gatewood and we beat them. No one is giving us a chance this Thursday but we believe we can do it.”

First Presbyterian Christian Academy, based in Hinesville, has only lost to out-of-state teams this season. Daher said the big advantage the Highlanders have is they have a 6-9 player who is a strong outside shooter.

“It’s a horrible matchup for anybody,” the coach said.
Knowing his team is the decided underdog, Daher said his squad must play completely up to its potential.

“It should be a good game,” the coach said. “We have nothing to lose so we have no reason not to get after it.”