Cougars fall to Piedmont Classical
By MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian wasn’t quite able to shake off the rust following an extended break.
The Cougars never found their rhythm offensively and their opponent eventually broke free of their defense in falling 70-61 against Piedmont Classical in nonconference boys basketball Saturday afternoon at HPCA.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve played,” HPCA coach Joseph Cooper said. “And I thought at times it looked like that. Not to give us any excuses — give all the credit to Piedmont; they came out and made us uncomfortable.
“But at times I thought we missed shots we’d been hitting — missed some layups here and there, missed some free throws early. I’m not sure we had our stamina as much as we should have in the second half.
“So, it was good to get back out and play again. It just shows where we’re at.”
K.J. Garrett scored 20 points to lead the Cougars (9-3), who hadn’t played since facing Charlotte Christian on Dec. 21 in Phenom’s Holiday Classic in Rock Hill, South Carolina. P.J. Underhill added 12 points followed by Isaiah Sanders with 10 points.
HPCA, which bumped its home games Friday against The Burlington School to Tuesday after rescheduling its games against Westchester Country Day, were OK for much of the first half. But an eight-point run gave the Bobcats (13-4) a 29-22 lead into halftime, and they broke away in the second half.
“I thought their energy was great off their bench,” Cooper said. “I thought we could’ve been better trying to match that energy. But I thought that was the big story.”
Piedmont Classical scored five of the first seven points of the second half to lead by 10, extended its lead to 12 midway through the quarter and maintained a seven-point advantage heading to the fourth. It opened the final quarter with eight straight points to lead by 15 with 7:04 left and held on the rest of the way.
The Cougars, who made just 6 of 16 shots in the third, got within nine with 4:47 left in the game and 10 with 2:58 remaining. But the Bobcats, handling HPCA’s last-ditch pressure defense, scored on seven straight possessions to rebuild their 15-point lead with just over a minute left in the game.
“We’ve got to figure out, as kind of the next step for our team, to still bring the energy even when things aren’t going our way,” Cooper said. “When we miss a few shots, it affects our whole game right now.
“We don’t rebound as well, we turn the ball over more. And as we continue to grow and figure each other out, I think we’ve got to take some growth in that area.”
The Cougars will play again at home Tuesday against The Burlington School, starting with the girls game at 5:30 p.m. They will then start Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference play Friday at Caldwell.
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
By MICHAEL LINDSAY ENTERPRISE SPORTS WRITER
HIGH POINT — High Point Christian wasn’t quite able to shake off the rust following an extended break.
The Cougars never found their rhythm offensively and their opponent eventually broke free of their defense in falling 70-61 against Piedmont Classical in nonconference boys basketball Saturday afternoon at HPCA.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve played,” HPCA coach Joseph Cooper said. “And I thought at times it looked like that. Not to give us any excuses — give all the credit to Piedmont; they came out and made us uncomfortable.
“But at times I thought we missed shots we’d been hitting — missed some layups here and there, missed some free throws early. I’m not sure we had our stamina as much as we should have in the second half.
“So, it was good to get back out and play again. It just shows where we’re at.”
K.J. Garrett scored 20 points to lead the Cougars (9-3), who hadn’t played since facing Charlotte Christian on Dec. 21 in Phenom’s Holiday Classic in Rock Hill, South Carolina. P.J. Underhill added 12 points followed by Isaiah Sanders with 10 points.
HPCA, which bumped its home games Friday against The Burlington School to Tuesday after rescheduling its games against Westchester Country Day, were OK for much of the first half. But an eight-point run gave the Bobcats (13-4) a 29-22 lead into halftime, and they broke away in the second half.
“I thought their energy was great off their bench,” Cooper said. “I thought we could’ve been better trying to match that energy. But I thought that was the big story.”
Piedmont Classical scored five of the first seven points of the second half to lead by 10, extended its lead to 12 midway through the quarter and maintained a seven-point advantage heading to the fourth. It opened the final quarter with eight straight points to lead by 15 with 7:04 left and held on the rest of the way.
The Cougars, who made just 6 of 16 shots in the third, got within nine with 4:47 left in the game and 10 with 2:58 remaining. But the Bobcats, handling HPCA’s last-ditch pressure defense, scored on seven straight possessions to rebuild their 15-point lead with just over a minute left in the game.
“We’ve got to figure out, as kind of the next step for our team, to still bring the energy even when things aren’t going our way,” Cooper said. “When we miss a few shots, it affects our whole game right now.
“We don’t rebound as well, we turn the ball over more. And as we continue to grow and figure each other out, I think we’ve got to take some growth in that area.”
The Cougars will play again at home Tuesday against The Burlington School, starting with the girls game at 5:30 p.m. They will then start Piedmont Triad Athletic Conference play Friday at Caldwell.
mlindsay@hpenews.com | 336-888-3526 | @HPEmichael
