Piedmont Basketball Loses at Gatewood

For the second time this season, Gatewood had too much firepower for the Piedmont Academy teams on the basketball court.

The Piedmont boys fell 44-21 Saturday in Eatonton. Chandler Burrell paced the Cougars with eight points while Zach Beggs finished with six. Britton Bailey, Logan Partenza and Chris Cain all scored two points while Hank Strickland made a free throw.

The Lady Cougars dropped a 58-19 contest to a strong Lady Gator team. Hailey Burnham led Piedmont with eight points while Heather Tyler scored six. Taylor Swart and Lanie King both finished with two while Amelia Dodson scored one.

Piedmont was also swept by Brentwood at home Friday. The boys fell 48-37 while the Lady Cougars were defeated 53-39.

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Partenza had a strong contest for the Piedmont boys Friday with 17 points. Bailey added seven points with Strickland scoring six. Burrell finished with five points while Beggs scored two.

For the Lady Cougars, Burnham had a monster performance with 22 points. King finished with six points while Anna Jones scored five and Tyler finishing with three. Lucy Strickland scored two points in Friday’s game with Brentwood while Kacy Swart added a free throw.

Coach Josh Daher said he is looking for both teams to continue improving as the season progresses.

“The girls are playing hard and a coach always likes to see that,” Daher said. “ I ask them to always do three things: play hard, play smart and execute. We are only doing one of those three things. Our number one priority right now is becoming better basketball handlers and passers. We have a lot of work to do to get to the level I want us playing at, but I have a group of girls who are willing to work.”

The Piedmont boys were inexperienced coming into the new season.

“I knew coming into the season with the schedule we have that we would struggle early,” Daher said of the boys. “We have a starting five that hasn’t had a lot of court time in a varsity game. We will get adjusted to the speed as the season goes on, but for now we are really focused on taking care of the basketball.

“When a team takes care of the basketball they will always be in the game, and that is our goal. We want to keep the game close and win it at the end. Special teams find away to win at the end. “

Piedmont is scheduled to host Spartanburg Friday beginning at 6 p.m. and Monsignor Donovan Saturday with varsity games beginning at 2 p.m.