Lady Cougars Are Region Champs

Going into the 2019-2020 season none of the members of the Piedmont Academy varsity girls basketball team were born the last time the program earned a region title.

That all changed this past week in LaGrange as Piedmont defeated Flint River Academy in the finals of the 1-AA tournament.

Before this season the last region tournament championship for the girls program came in 1998.

“Winning a region championship is an amazing team accomplishment,” said coach Michael Wilson. “Every girl on the roster and every girl that’s been a part of this program during the last six years should take great pride in knowing they made it happen.”

The accomplishment goes beyond the basketball program, Wilson said.

“It’s awesome for the school,” Wilson said. “It’s a great place to work and to send my children to and I am elated to be able to put another region title in the athletic department books. To be a part of the team that won the school’s first girls region title in 22 years is pretty cool. We aren’t finished yet and overall we are just beginning.

“It has always been my goal to make this program one of the best in the state and winning a region title is another step in that direction. Great things are happening and great things are coming. It’s a program I hope will be a source of pride for the school and one people who aren’t involved in it or with the school will want to come and be a part of.”

The state tournament begins for the Piedmont girls later this week—Friday at 3 p.m. Piedmont will play the winner of the Gatewood-Terrell Academy matchup. The quarterfinal state tournament game will be at Stratford Academy in Macon.

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Haley Ann Frank and Sydney Stroud were key factors for the Lady Cougars in the two region tournament contests. Stroud had eight points, 12 rebounds, six steals, four assists against Flint River. She also had six points, five rebounds, six assists and a steal against Oak Mountain.

Frank had 23 points, eight rebounds, seven steals, six pass deflections and four blocks against Flint River and nine points, seven rebounds, five steals, seven pass deflections, five assists and only two turnovers against Oak Mountain in the semifinals.

“This is a great accomplishment for us,” Stroud said. “Our goal right now as a team is to go as far as we can in state. We need to have good practices this week and do whatever we can to get better.”

Frank said the region title was exciting because the team has worked so hard.

“We will work on correcting any mistakes and then be ready to start the state tournament,” Frank said.

Frank and Stroud are both juniors for the Lady Cougars.

In the championship game the Lady Cougars downed rival Flint River 45-37. A monster 23-point performance by Frank helped pace the Piedmont offense. Frank had seven field goals, one three-pointer and was 6-of-8 from the free throw line.

Stroud finished with eight points in the title game while Maddie Waddleton added six points. Hannah Tyler and Jayden Young both scored four points.

In the semifinals the Lady Cougars defeated Oak Mountain 56-33.Tyler paced the Lady Cougars with 13 points in what was a balanced scoring attack. Young totaled 12 points while Frank scored nine and Waddleton added eight points.

Stroud (six points) and Haiden Crews and Madison Johnson (four points each) all contributed to the semifinal win.

Other members of the varsity team contributing to the region title were Emily McEwen, Mallory Kelly, Raleigh Lofton, Dakota Floyd and Bailey Mobley.

“I have never seen one of Piedmont’s girls teams play a better game than the semifinals,” Wilson said. “Oak Mountain came in with a game plan that threw us off initially and allowed them to jump out to a quick 7-0 lead. Once the girls adjusted and got comfortable our performance was almost perfect.”

Oak Mountain focused on defending Frank and Stroud and tried to make the pair a non-factor.

“They started out in a triangle-and-two defense,” Wilson said. “They felt with those two neutralized we could be beaten. I think it motivated the rest of our players and spotlighted the fact we are a team and anyone on the court is capable of leading us to a win. Haley Ann and Sydney showed they are great teammates by facilitating others on offense. Hannah Tyler and Jayden Young took advantage and led us in scoring. They were confident and aggressive and took what the defense gave them. They both had been struggling a little offensively lately and it was nice to see them gain confidence because I feel that carried over to their defensive play and their defensive play helped snap us out of the struggles we had last week defensively.”

With Oak Mountain focused in stopping Frank and Stroud, other players stepped up their performance to make sure the Lady Cougars advanced.

“Haley Ann and Sydney showed they are great teammates by facilitating others on offense.” Wilson said. “Hannah and Young took advantage and led us in scoring. They were confident and aggressive and took what the defense gave them. They both had been struggling a little offensively lately and it was nice to see them gain confidence because I feel that carried over to their defensive play and their defensive play helped snap us out of the struggles we had last week defensively.”

The play of Waddleton and Johnson were also keys to the championship.

“M.J. and Maddie were great in the paint both games,” their coach said. “Their play in the second halves could arguably have been the difference. They kept our offensive possessions going and allowed our scorers to get the chances they needed to have to be able to score. We struggled at times make shots and those helped us dominate the offensive boards and that area along with our active defense is why we won.”

While the Lady Cougars had some impressive offensive stats in the region tournament their coach did not want to take away from what the defense accomplished.

“The things we do defensively when we are active and being aggressive simply amazes me,” Wilson said. “The last couple of years I have kept up with the number of deflections players get in a game. I think deflecting a pass shows more than any category because it indicates to me whether or not we are being active and aggressive or if we are standing still.

“Deflections stop fast breaks, lead to steal, keep offenses out of rhythm and limits opponents’ ability to catch and shoot. It’s a great indicator of who the better defensive team is which directly leads to winning basketball games. Against Flint River and Oak Mountain we had 18 and 20 deflections respectively while they combined for five. We work and preach active hands and feet and they are doing a great job of executing.”