Lady Cougars Begin Season 4-1; Cougar Boys Earn Second Win
Ten points by Madison McCart helped the Piedmont Academy varsity girls basketball team defeat visiting St. George 26-23 last week in a home contest, the fourth win of the young season for the Lady Cougars.
Lucy Tuggle added six points and Alexis Dodson and Haley Ann Frank both finished with four points. Gracie Hunt finished with two points in a low-scoring contest for both teams.
The Lady Cougars fell for the first time in 2017-2018 in a 45-20 setback to Class AAA John Milledge Academy on the road the following night.
Hunt and McCart led the team with five points each while Tuggle and Frank both finished with four points. Alexis Dodson added two points.
“Overall, I’m pleased with where we are,” said Lady Cougars coach Michael Wilson. “Four wins is a great start. John Milledge was tough but having a third game in a week, especially this early in the season, is always tough. We have to learn from last week and get better from it. We have more weeks like this in January and many are filled with region games, if we are to compete in our region we have to get mentally and physically ready for those weeks.”
The desire to win has been shown by the Piedmont girls to this point in the season, their coach said.
“It was evident in all the games but especially the first two,” Wilson said. “We trailed at halftime and into the fourth quarter but the girls never quit. We made a lot of crucial free throws in the fourth quarter and overtime and I believe that kind of execution will pay off late in the season.”
The early-season success for the Lady Cougars has been the result of a team effort.
“All the girls have played well,” Wilson said. “I am proud of them all, especially Gracie Hunt. She’s fighting hard for more playing time and the results of that effort are showing. She had a huge offensive rebound and put it back against Covenant to tie the game in the fourth quarter and made the game-winning free throw in overtime.”
Other team members are also making key contributions.
“Lucy and Madison are doing a great job of scoring for us and along with Alexis are doing a great job on our press creating a lot of turnovers,” said Wilson. “We didn’t press against John Milledge and maybe we should have. I thought the girls might not have the energy for it but it’s apparent we are a much better team when we press. That mistake is on me and I take a lot of responsibility for Friday’s outcome. I got us away from things that we had been doing well instead of keeping the course. I won’t make those mistakes again.”
There has also been a standout defensive effort from several players during the first portion of the 2017-2018 season.
“Sydney Stroud, Haley Ann Frank and Jayden Young are giving great effort defensively,” said their coach. “They are giving great effort offensively as well, even though they may be frustrated with some shooting struggles. I have no doubt that they will find their rhythm.”
Even the team’s younger players are already having an impact.
“I’m also very pleased with help we’ve gotten from our eighth graders, Hannah Tyler and Maddie Waddleton,” Wilson said. “Even though they are splitting time with varsity and middle school they are providing valuable minutes for the starters and contributing to our victories as well.”
The team was off Tuesday giving the Lady Cougars time to work on various aspects of their game in practice.
“I’m looking forward to three days of practice before our next games,” Wilson said. “Friday is our first region game and I’m confident we will continue to improve each day and be ready for the games this week. We have a chance to finish strong before Christmas and I think a strong three games will go a long way to making believers of the team out of many in the community. They are fun to watch and I hope many people come and see for themselves.”
Piedmont Academy’s varsity boys defeated St. George 59-37 as Tate Marks had a 19-point performance. Sam Wright added eight points in the win, the second of the season for the Cougars.
Dylan Coe finished with seven points while Caden Clark scored five and Talon Anglin and Sam Younker added four. Bradley Greenwood scored four three points while Brock Greenwood and JT Webb both scored two points.
The Piedmont boys fell to John Milledge 58-46 last Friday despite 13 points by Marks. Wright and Bradley Greenwood both added nine points.
Webb finished with five points while Ryan Holder scored four and Coe and Anglin both contributed two points.
“We have had a lot of people step up in the first part of the season,” said Piedmont boys coach Will Johnson. “Tate Marks, JT Webb and Sam Wright have each contributed and have been playing very well.”
The Cougars have already faced some quality teams early in the season which should prove beneficial as the season progresses.
“The players are coming to work every day,” Johnson said. “The good thing is we are not where we can be yet. We are not having games where all of our players are clicking on all cylinders. When we do that we can really be successful.”
With no game on Tuesday of this week, Johnson was looking to several practice sessions to help iron out some areas where the teams needs to improve.
“We need to cut down on our number of turnovers and do a better job of offensive rebounding,” the coach said. “A couple of our losses might have gone the other way if we had done better in those areas.”
Piedmont’s varsity basketball teams will host Twiggs Academy Thursday (today) at 6 p.m. and travel to Thomas Jefferson Friday for games also beginning at 6 p.m.
During Thursday’s home games with Twiggs, it will be a Christmas-themed night since it will be the final home games before the holiday. Fans are encouraged to wear an ugly Christmas sweater and bring a toy ($5-10 range) that can be donated to needy families.