Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
This is Piedmont girls basketball coach Tim Price’s favorite time of the year, and it shows.
Putting aside two years spent as Weatherford’s boys coach in 2015 and 2016, Price has been to the state tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons, all at Carl Albert.
Price and Piedmont will embark on adding an 11th state tournament berth to that ledger Friday as the Lady ‘Cats face Duncan at 6 p.m. in El Reno.
“This is a fun time of year,” he said.
So what’s the secret to Price’s sustained postseason success? There isn’t one, though, he said extra time to prepare can be a benefit.
“You’ve got to have kids that are completely focused on the task at hand,” he said while noting that Duncan is a better team than its 8-15 record might indicate.
“They’ve really been playing well,” he said of the Demons.
The extra prep time could help PHS in its win or go home game with Duncan, but the time off could present problems, too, Price said. When the Lady ‘Cats take the floor tonight, nine days will have passed since Piedmont grabbed an overtime win against Carl Albert in its regular season finale.
“That worries me,” Price said. “I’m afraid we won’t be sharp and we’re going to start slow and dig ourselves a hole. Hopefully that won’t happen.”
That would be a change from the last month of basketball. Piedmont has played well early in games, and the ‘Cats rallied to beat Carl Albert despite an early deficit.
The Lady Wildcats appear to be hitting stride at the right time, just as Price predicted.
Before the season began, he said that Piedmont’s best basketball would come when the calendar turned to February. Despite key injuries to starters Maggie Young and Taylor Clowers and reserve Rain Peyton, he’s been proven correct.
PHS has won four of six and assured itself of at least a .500 record, no small feat for a team replacing four starters.
Guards Melissa Green, Maddy Lee and Abby Detar have stepped up to hit big shots from the outside in the last month to provide more room for leading scorer Maci Attalla to work with inside.
“That definitely gives everyone a lot of confidence,” Attalla said. “I know if people are guarding me heavy that I can count on my girls to hit big shots.”
Now they’ll try to make the program’s third state tournament appearances in four seasons with their third different coach.
“Last year we were expected to go as far as we did. This year, it’s a little bit different,” Attalla said. “We’re going to have to work for everything we get and I think that’s good.”
