Lady Cougars Complete Quality Basketball Season
The Piedmont Academy varsity girls basketball team fell in the state quarterfinals recently but the 2018-2019 season was one filled with important strides.
The team opened state play with a 47-33 win against Southwest Georgia before falling to Edmund Burke 49-31. The second round GISA AA state tournament game was tied at 10 after the first quarter with Edmund Burke building a 28-18 lead by halftime.
The Lady Cougars trailed by 17 after the third quarter in the game played in Macon.
Madison McCart led the team with 14 points while Haley Ann Frank added seven and Sydney Stroud scored four.
For Wilson the end of the season was bittersweet.
“It’s tough to see those seniors graduate after working with them over the most part of their middle and high school basketball careers,” the Lady Cougar coach said. “They definitely have left the program in better shape. What I’m proudest of is that all the seniors will be continuing their education in college and all will graduate as members of the Beta Club and National Honor Society. It’s that commitment to hard work that spilled over into basketball and raised the level of the entire program.”
Overall, the Lady Cougars had a strong season in reaching the state quarterfinals and hosting a state tournament contest after finishing second in the region.
“We definitely moved forward in terms of our quality of play,” Wilson said. “People definitely took notice of what’s going on with this program and what type of athletes we have and will have coming back. We improved in practically every statistical category from last year and that was a goal at the start of the season. At the top of that list was shooting the basketball better and decreasing our turnovers while getting more from our defense. I’m very proud of that because those categories don’t improve without working on those skill sets and the girls did.”
Even in the final game of the season there were positives.
The way the season ended against Edmund Burke ended was tough but we had less turnovers and more steals than they had,” Wilson said. “We just were out-rebounded. That’s the area that sticks out the most when we reflect on the season. I know it wasn’t from lack of effort. Everyone gave all they had. It’s just another item I have to do a better job of teaching and emphasizing daily.”
In looking ahead, better rebounding will be a focus for the team.
“Better rebounding leads to more trips to the foul line for us and less for the opponent,” the coach said “The game with Edmund Burke is a prime example. They out rebounded us 43-25 and were 15-of-27 from foul line while we were only 5-of-9. Those numbers are the difference in reaching the Final Four.”
Being within one game of reaching the Final Four should be a motivating factor for the returning players.
“Those that are coming back have to realize rebounding will be our focus starting right now,” Wilson said. “Improving that starts in the weight room and continues each day. It’s a mentality that I’ve got to preach and those that return make a priority. If we rebound better this year we are probably still playing. We’ve gotten a taste of playing on a bigger stage and are excited and confident we can return and go farther. The girls have seen first-hand what areas we have to improve on to make the next step as have I and we are ready for that challenge.”