Lady Cougars Have Success
It was a busy as well as a successful stretch for the Piedmont Academy varsity girls basketball team in recent days.
The Lady Cougars defeated Young Americans 47-27 at home last Thursday behind 15 points by Sydney Stroud. Madison Johnson and Haley Ann Frank both scored seven points while Maddie Waddleton added five points. Jayden Young finished with four points.
Piedmont took control of the game early leading 16-5 after the first quarter.
Bailey Mobley, Raleigh Lofton, Haiden Crews and Dakota Floyd all scored two points while Mallory Kelly made a free throw.
The Lady Cougars were back on the court Friday against LaGrange Academy at home with a 47-29 win. Young led the team with 11 points while Stroud, Johnson and Frank all finished in double figures with 10 points.
Hannah Tyler, Floyd and Crews each added two points. The victories Thursday and Friday were big region wins for the team.
“I can’t single out a player or two above anyone else and it wouldn’t be fair as to how we played all weekend,” coach Michael Wilson said. “We played excellent team basketball, the best in my time at Piedmont. We shared the basketball, didn’t worry about who scored and the stats show that. Having four girls score double digits in a game is a tremendous team accomplishment.”
The Lady Cougars were faced with some quality opposing players in the two wins.
“Both YACS and LaGrange have an excellent player on their team,” Wilson said. “Both girls have the ability to beat a team on their own so it’s always a little scary going into our games with them. It might not look it on the surface but I’m glad when those games are safely put away. We were able to do that both nights because we played excellent team defense, create turnovers and converts them into points. Each game was effectively put away before the midpoint of the third quarter because of our team’s effort.”
Improving to 3-1 in region play (4-5 overall) was also a positive for Piedmont.
“It was good to pick up two region wins, especially the way we did it,” Wilson said. “We were able to play all the girls both nights and use a lot of different combinations and get contributions from all.”
The Lady Cougars dropped a competitive 43-40 road game Saturday afternoon against Briarwood to prevent a perfect three-game stretch last week.
“The game Saturday was close even though we were a little leg weary,” Wilson said “It’s always tough to win there but we battled and had the lead late. We just couldn’t close them out. It’s a learning experience and the next time we will do a better job of handling a narrow lead late and executing with possession of the ball with a chance to win. Briarwood may be the best team we play all year outside of Brentwood. They are an excellently coached team who creates match-up problems for us with their size and post play.”
Playing three games in as many days is tough for any basketball team.
“Going in, I felt our quickness would be a key for us to win and it was,” Wilson said. “We got in a little foul trouble playing our normal game. Maybe it was because we were tired or maybe it was because we were in an unfamiliar setting.”
The Lady Cougars trailed by a point in the final seconds and had multiple chances at a potential game-winning basket but could not get one to fall through the net.
Young led the team with 10 points while Stroud scored eight and Frank finished with seven. Waddleton contributed six points with Johnson scoring five and Hannah Tyler finishing with four.
“We backed off of the full-court pressure in the second and third quarters and they executed their half-court offense very well and were able to get to the foul line more than we were,” Wilson said. “They took advantage of it as free throws were the difference. Making more free throws than your opponent shoots usually results in a win and it’s an area in which we must improve.”
The coach said he would like for his team to play a little more physical game.
“We have to learn on offense how to embrace the contact of the sport and really seek it out and welcome it,” Wilson said. “Basketball is a contact sport and those who seek it generally end up on top. We have to be strong with the basketball in the lane when we go up so the referees will give us the calls we want. You don’t get calls, and rightfully so, by going up off balance, weak or out of control in basketball. We will keep teaching the girls how to do it until they get it right and I know they will.”