Lady Cougars Remain Perfect in Region
Piedmont Academy and Brentwood have emerged as two of the top varsity girls teams in GISA Class AA this season but the Lady Eagles have been able to stay one step ahead of the Lady Cougars.
Brentwood took Saturday’s anticipated rematch 53-46 for its second win of the 2020-2021 campaign against Piedmont. The Lady Eagles won by five points in the season’s first matchup between the schools.
“We were just happy to get to play over the weekend,” coach Michael Wilson said. “We found out Thursday both our weekend opponents (Nathanael Greene and Cross Keys) had to cancel due to quarantine and we didn’t want to go so long without playing. To be able to play Brentwood was a plus and we were in a position to win. We’ve got to learn to keep our composure against good teams late in games.”
Marissa Holder had another strong effort for the Lady Cougars with 17 points. Hannah Tyler and Jayden Young both added seven points.
“We’ve lost to John Milledge and to Brentwood twice in the same fashion this year,” Wilson said. “Against Brentwood, we had leads early in the fourth in both games and got a little out of rhythm. They made their attempts during that stretch and you just can’t do that against top teams. We have all the ingredients Brentwood has. We have talent at multiple positions. We have quality depth but Brentwood has been so good for so long they are used to playing big games and they don’t get rattled.”
Sydney Stroud finished with six points while Haley Ann Frank scored five. Maddie Waddleton added four points.
Holder and Frank both had four steals while Waddleton had eight rebounds and two deflections. Frank had five assists while Holder had three.
“We still have a tendency to play a little more excited than most and that often translates into committing some fouls we shouldn’t, not being as relaxed at the foul line, getting a little too aggressive on defense and getting out of position,” Wilson said. “Those little things add up but those are also correctable mistakes.”
Against quality opponents, the Lady Cougars need to rebound the basketball better, their coach said.
Good teams exploit areas you struggle in and against Brentwood we didn’t do a good job at all and they exploited it,” Wilson said. “Rebounding kept them in the game early. I felt we could have had a larger lead going into the fourth quarter had we limited them to one look and if we had been able to get offensive rebounds and extend our possessions.”
The Lady Cougars rebounded with a 45-24 win against Central Georgia Arts and Athletics in a home game Saturday.
Holder led the team with 20 points with Stroud adding 10. Young, Tyler and Waddleton each scored four points with Teagan Satterfield and Frank scoring two.
Holder also had 13 rebounds, six assists, four steals and one block. Stroud had seven steals in the win while Young had three.
“I thought we bounced back nicely on Saturday,” Wilson said. “It wasn’t the prettiest game but give Central Georgia some credit in that. We didn’t know what to expect from them but they were a pretty good basketball team. They did a good job defensively of doing their job and made very few mistakes. They got back really well on defense and made as difficult on us in transition as anyone has this year.”
Piedmont benefited from strong bench play on Saturday.
“Haiden Crews, Bailey Mobley, Teagan Satterfield and Abby Arnold all came in at key points in the game and did what we asked them to do,” Wilson said. “They fought and gave us valuable minutes. Those are young girls and they are valuable to our success this year and in years to come. It’s nice to see them contribute when asked to do so.”
“Defensively we were pretty good in the first half,” the coach said.
“Offensively we were not as aggressive as we need to be as well as not passing the ball very well. We had a nice chat at halftime and we came out with some fire and played well together and got after them. We sped them up offensively and really attacked the lane and made the good passes when the defense collapsed. Marissa made some big baskets for us and Sydney did a really good job getting to the foul line on her drives and then converted those attempts into points.”
The Lady Cougars retuned to region play Tuesday and cruised by Windsor Academy at home 63-7. Piedmont took early control leading 16-4 after the first quarter and led by 26 at halftime.
Holder scored 19 points while Frank added 13. Satterfield added eight points and Stroud finished with seven. Waddleton and Tyler both scored six points.
Piedmont (13-3 overall, 4-0 in region) will host Class AAA John Milledge Academy on Thursday at 6 p.m. and travel to Creekside Christian in McDonough on Saturday for a 1:30 p.m. contest.
JMS is 17-2 overall and one of the top teams in AAA. The Lady Trojans won by five points in the first meeting earlier this season.
“John Milledge will be a challenge because they will come to town ready to play,” Wilson said. “We had them on the ropes in the first game and didn’t take advantage. I know they will come in with some added wrinkles defensively that we will have to adjust to and if we are unable to do so we will be in for a long night. They won’t come in overlooking us or taking us lightly like they may have been able to in years past so it will also be interesting to see how we responded to the top-ranked AAA team coming in expecting a battle.”