Region Champ Cougars Are Upset in First Round

Piedmont Academy’s dream of reaching the basketball Final Four was dashed last week after a first-round upset loss.

The Cougars, who were coming off a Region 1-AA championship, fell to Christian Heritage 50-30 in the opening round of the GISA Class AA playoffs at Middle Georgia College in Cochran last Thursday.

“Things just didn’t go our way,” said second-year coach Josh Daher. “It was probably our worst game of the year. Of course, our opponent did things which helped make it that way. We couldn’t get anything to fall. They outplayed us from A to Z.”

Despite coming off the emotional high of winning region, Daher said he didn’t think his team overlooked Christian Heritage.

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“We prepared for them as if they were the best team in the state,” the coach said. “We had such an emotional run in region that it made it tough to keep that same pace. However, when you reach state, you’ve got to take it to another level.”

Despite the opening-round loss, Daher is excited about what the team accomplished in 2011-2012 and about the future. Piedmont posted 17 wins this season.

“This was a great year for our program,” the coach said. “We won region for the first time since 2007 and won at Brentwood for the first time in five seasons. We won’t allow one game to determine our success or failure. We played hard every night. We never walked off the court where I had to question or effort or intensity.”

Daher said the players would work this summer in preparation for next season, which will see the Cougars compete in a revamped region.

“I am so pumped up about the program and our potential,” Daher said. “There are so many things I want to do. We will be young next year but we’ll be ready to go.”