Piedmont Boys Open Season with Wins

Despite a very short amount of practice time as a complete squad the Piedmont Academy varsity boys basketball team earned region wins in its opening games last week.

The Cougars defeated Brandon Hall 66-58 at home on Friday before traveling to Oak Mountain in Carrollton the following day for a 53-32 victory. Coach Will Johnson said he was pleased with the quality start to the new season.

“Our goal each week is to win those individual games,” Johnson said. “When we played Brandon Hall it was our first game and their tenth. They are always a tough opponent. It was sloppy at times but we got the job done.”

Tate Marks led the Cougars on Friday with 19 points. He was also 10-of-10 from the free throw line. Ryan Holder added 18 points and Caleb Coffey contributed 15 points.

Mason Mize was a key player defensively while also finishing the game with eight points. Bradley Greenwood had 13 assists, 11 rebounds and six points.

“It was a total team effort,” Johnson said.

One key to the win in the season opener was a 17-of-22 night from the free throw line. Johnson is reminding his team of the 16-of-31 performance from the foul line in last year’s quarterfinal loss.

“That cost us a trip to the Final Four,” the coach said.

On Saturday the Cougars earned another region win against Oak Mountain.

“It was a quick turnaround and we were tired,” Johnson said. “It is tough to play Oak Mountain at their place. We lost there last season. Oak Mountain had already played eight games so it was good to get that win on the road.”

Piedmont played a solid game defensively holding its opponent to 17 first half points. With two minutes left in the third quarter Oak Mountain, who was 5-3 coming into the contest, was still at 17.

“We set the tone early on defense and limited our turnovers,” Johnson said. “On defense we want to create chaos for our opponent. On the other end of the court we went from 31 turnovers in the first game to 10. That was much better.”

Marks finished with 19 points with Holder adding 13. Jackson Welch finished with five points, seven rebounds and four assists.