Piedmont Improves to 2-0 in Region Play
By Chris Bridges
The Piedmont Academy varsity boys basketball team defeated the two-time defending region champion Tuesday night and improved to 2-0 in region play in the process.
Coach Chip Champion’s team defeated Brentwood 76-57 as three Cougars finished in double figures. Taylor Jackson scored a game-high 22 points while teammate Micah Tyler added 20. Lance Richardson finished with 12 points Tuesday night.
Leading by five at halftime, Piedmont used a strong second half outscoring Brentwood 42-28.
The win also improved the Cougars to 8-4 overall.
“It was probably the best game I’ve had a team at Piedmont play in some time,” Champion said. “Brentwood is probably not as strong as they have been, but they are still one of the top four teams in our region.”
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Tuesday night’s win followed a 45-28 non-region victory against John Hancock last Friday on the road. Zac Hauther paced Piedmont with 12 points while Tyler continued his strong play and added 10.
“John Hancock plays a slowed down game,” Champion said. “We had to battle through that, but we did what we had to do.”
Piedmont returned from Christmas break last Thursday falling to Flint River 62-40. A 9-of-27 night from the free throw line didn’t help the Cougars’ chances.
“Many people have Flint River as one of the top five teams in the state,” Champion said. “Still, we should have played better against them than we did.”
Two of Piedmont’s four losses this season have been against the Flint River Wildcats.
“Overall, we are doing some things really well right now,” Champion said. “However, we still have some room for improvement. If we play the way we are capable of playing, there is not a team on our schedule the rest of the way that we can’t beat.”
The Piedmont Academy varsity teams will travel to Edmund Burke Friday for games beginning at 6 p.m. The teams will stay in Augusta Friday night and then face Curtis Baptist Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
Piedmont will play at home again Tuesday against long-time rival Gatewood at 6 p.m.
The Piedmont Academy Lady Cougars struggled somewhat in their last three outings. The Piedmont girls fell to Brentwood 53-37 Tuesday night. Carrie Tucker led Piedmont with 15 points while Bailey Myers added 10.
“We held our own for the first two quarters,” coach Kenny Roberts said. “However, we had too many turnovers.”
Roberts also said Kirstie Lewis had a solid game defensively.
Last Friday the Piedmont girls fell to John Hancock 38-33 despite 10 points from both Lewis and Emily Beckham. Myers finished with eight points.
“We played well and controlled the tempo of the game,” Roberts said. “Carrie did a solid job for us at point guard.”
The Piedmont girls also dropped a 52-31 contest to Flint River last Thursday. Tucker was the team’s leading scorer with 10 points while Myers had nine.
“We struggled against Flint River,” Roberts said. “We didn’t play as well as we should have.”