Piedmont Hoopsters Earn Victories
The Piedmont Academy varsity basketball teams swept Monsignor Donovan and Twiggs Academy in recent action.
Coach Will Johnson’s varsity boys earned a 48-40 win against Monsignor Donovan on Jan. 9 in Athens behind a balanced scoring attack led by Bradley Greenwood and Tate Marks (10 points each). Sam Wright finished with nine points in the Region 4-AA contest while Ryan Holder scored eight.
“We have started to play stronger after a rough stretch around Christmas,” said coach Will Johnson. “We are getting back on our feet. This is a big week for us with several region games and rival Gatewood on Monday.”
Dylan Coe, Talon Anglin, J.T. Webb, Brock Greenwood and Payton Wallace each added two points while Sam Younker made a free throw.
“We are peaking at the right time,” Johnson said. “Our youth has grown up a little bit.”
Eighth grader Ryan Holder and freshman Bradley Greenwood have been two key players in recent contest for Piedmont.
“Both have been influential in our success of late,” Johnson said. “As a team we just have to remember to show up ready for each game ready to play. We hope to continue our momentum into the region tournament.”
The varsity Cougars also defeated Twiggs Academy 63-55 in non-region action last Thursday in Jeffersonville. Holder scored a game-high 15 points while Bradley Greenwood (15 points) and Wright (12 points) also finished in double figures.
Piedmont started the game hot from the floor scoring 20 points in the first quarter.
Marks finished with eight points while Coe and Webb both scored two points. Anglin added a free throw in the third quarter.
The varsity Lady Cougars defeated Monsignor Donovan 47-26 past week before earning a 35-22 victory against Twiggs Academy.
“We are doing a really good job defensively of making other teams work to score and that’s what we need to keep doing if we want to keep winning games,” said Lady Cougars coach Michael Wilson. “We are getting more confident offensively. We just need to start knocking down the open looks we are getting. It will happen as the girls are working hard in practice and I believe we are close to a break out offensive output.”
Haley Ann Frank led the team with nine points while Madison McCart, Alexis Dodson and Gracie Hunt each finished with eight points. Sydney Stroud and Jayden Young both added six points with Deacon Robinson scoring two.
In the road win against Twiggs, the varsity girls were led by a 14-point performance by McCart. Dodson and Young both scored six while Frank scored four. Hunt and Lucy Tuggle both had two points.
“We are allowing less than 30 points per game against our last four opponents and that comes strictly from the girls’ grit,” Wilson said prior to Tuesday’s contest. “This team hustles and works as well as any team I’ve been coached. It’s who we are and why we are successful. We have worn many of our opponents down this season with our defense in the second half of games and as we get into the meat of the region schedule that’s what we are going to continue to go out and keep doing.”
The Piedmont Academy varsity basketball teams will host Windsor Academy Friday at 6 p.m before traveling to Briarwood Saturday for region games beginning at 3:30 p.m. Both opponents are region foes.