Piedmont Boys Earn Win Tuesday

The Piedmont Academy boys basketball team defeated visiting Briarwood 35-30 Tuesday as Davis Kimball converted some key free throws down the stretch.

Kimball made seven free throws in the final eight minutes to help the Cougars hold on and improve to 8-4 overall. Bobby Mitchell finished with eight points while Jakey Dunagan scored six.

Zach Beggs and Justin Wilson both contributed five points Tuesday.

“It was a big win for us,” said coach Josh Daher. “To get a region win against a quality opponent should give our kids some confidence. The team executed well throughout the game. We have been playing great defense all year and we did a sound job defending a great team last night. They have a very good offense and our team did a great job of shutting them down. That win puts us right back in the mix of things. We have a very competitive region that is wide open right now. Every game form here on out is a region game, so we have to come ready to play every night.

The Lady Cougars dropped a competitive 36-29 contest to Briarwood despite 12 points from Hailey Burnham. Carley Cain was the team’s second leading scorer with six.

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“We are really working hard to find some model of consistency,” said Lady Cougar coach Wes Tanner. “We go minutes, and even quarters, at a time and can play with anyone. Then we go minutes and quarters where we go ice cold and simply cannot score. The biggest thing that we are struggling with is being confident in what we do. From now until the end of the year, we are really going to focus on better ball protection and building up confidence in everything that we do. Tuesday night was simply a rough patch for us. The improvement is going to continue.”

Heather Tyler finished with four points Tuesday while Lanie King added three.

Prior to Tuesday night’s action, the Piedmont teams traveled to Watkinsville to face Westminster. The Piedmont boys took a 49-21 win while the Lady Cougars were victorious 41-26.

For the boys, Mitchell poured in a game-high 22 points while Wilson and Dunagan both scored eight points. Davis Kimball added five while Owen Kimball scored three.

The Cougars jumped out to a 29-10 halftime lead and cruised to the win in the second half. Beggs added two points while Britton Bailey finished with one.

Burnham and Tyler both scored 11 points for the Lady Cougars in their win against Westminster last Friday. Piedmont led by three points after the first quarter and by four at halftime. However, a 16-0 run in the third quarter proved to be the difference.

Cain and Kacy Swart both scored six points while Anna Jones finished with four. Beth Anne Mahaffey added two points with King adding a free throw.

In an early game against Flint River, the Piedmont boys recorded a 41-34 win powered by a 17-point effort from Mitchell. Wilson finished with 11 points while Davis Kimball scored five. Drew Collins added a three-pointer and Tyler Cullum scored two points.

The Lady Cougars fell to Flint River 31-20 in the game played Dec. 20. King was the leading scorer for Piedmont with 10 followed by Jones with six and Tyler and Cain with two each. Burnham did not play in the contest.

The Piedmont teams will travel to Windsor in Macon Friday for games beginning at 6 p.m. before hosting Gatewood Saturday at 2 p.m. Piedmont will also travel to Monsignor Donovan Tuesday with games beginning at 6 p.m.