Cougars Lose in First Round of State Playoffs

The postseason experience came to a quick end for the Piedmont Academy boys basketball team last week as the Cougars fell to Solid Rock in the opening round of the GISA Class AA state tournament.

Piedmont was unable to keep pace in the second half with a strong Solid Rock team falling 82-46 in the Feb. 21 contest. Solid Rock led 24-14 after the first quarter and 37-26 at halftime.

The Cougars were down 60-39 after the third quarter, however.

Sam Wright led Piedmont with 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Tate Marks also finished in double figures with 10 points.

Bradley Greenwood and Caleb Coffey both added five points for Piedmont.

It was a season improvement as Coach Will Johnson completed his first season directing the team.

“It was a great year,” Johnson said. “We are excited about the future. All five of our starters return as well as some key players off the bench.”

The Cougars earned 13 wins this season the most for the program since 2012.

“We have to keep working harder and make progress over the summer,” Johnson said. “There is a great deal of excitement about basketball here and that is a great thing.”

Wright, Marks, Greenwood and Ryan Holder were the team’s top four scorers and all four will return next season. Sam Younker and J.T. Webb also return.

“We have a good core group of players coming back,” Johnson said. “We just have to continue success from this season and build on it.”