Cougar Ladies Lose Opener

The Piedmont Academy girls basketball team fell in its 2003-04 season opener Tuesday to Nathan-ael Greene 44-24.

Despite falling behind early in the contest, the Lady Cougars played well in the second half playing even with the host Lady Patriots.

“It was a simple fact that we were playing eighth and ninth graders and they were playing juniors and seniors,” Piedmont coach Chip Champion said.

“We did better in the second half after our nerves calmed down.”
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Turnovers were a big factor early in the game. The Lady Cougars had 17 turnovers in the first half, but cut the number down to five in the second half.

“They started the game with a press which I knew they would do with our young team,” Champion said.

“We got in an early hole and couldn’t get out of it. I was proud of the way we fought in the second half. We started to do some things I knew we were capable of. Their height was also something that hurt us.”

Mandi Pulliam and Heather Lewis paced the Lady Cougars with six points each while Emily Beckham scored five.

“You hate to lose but at the same time we had some good things happen that we can build off of and get better,” Champion said.

The Lady Cougars return to Siloam today to face John Hancock at 4:30 p.m. The team will also face Robert Toombs Saturday at 1:30 p.m., also in Siloam as part of the Nathanael Greene tournament.