Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
Piedmont head coach Eric Carr didn’t have much of a voice left after Monday’s loss at El Reno, but he’s confident his team has plenty of fight remaining.
The Wildcats pushed sixth-ranked El Reno to the brink before the Indians closed out an 87-86 win in the final seconds of a regional championship game, but there was more good than bad to take from the loss.
Piedmont scored 86 points – to match its previous season high – hit 26 of 30 free throws, shot 53 percent, and had five players score in double figures.
“You can’t be disappointed in your kids,” Carr said. “I think that was probably our best offensive game since I took over and it should give us confidence moving forward.”
Piedmont was as efficient as it had been all season. The Wildcats needed just four 3-pointers to tally the season-high point total. Led by point guard Rylan McDaniel’s 26 points, the ‘Cats opted instead to drive toward the basket whenever possible and it paid off.
“They switched some (screens) defensively so he got some matchups that he liked,” Carr said of McDaniel. “He did a great job of finishing for us. We’ll definitely talk about the success we had with that.”
The Wildcats will need the same kind of offensive production if they’re to win a pair of elimination games to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2013.
First up is a game with Bishop McGuinness Friday night at 8 at Edmond North. Ranked 19th, the Irish have a poor record (6-18) overall, but have played a schedule that included nine games against teams ranked in the Top 10 of their respective class and 14 games against Class 6A competition.
“They’ll be disciplined and well-coached,” Carr said. “They won’t be afraid of anything because of the schedule they’ve played.”
If Piedmont can get past the Irish, they could catch a break in the Area consolation final. Del City upset No. 3 Carl Albert last week, which means the Eagles will face No. 4 Lawton Ike for a berth to state.
Piedmont will play the loser of that game and avoid a third matchup with Carl Albert, which has beaten Piedmont by an average of 32 points in two previous meetings this season.
“We won’t mind seeing someone different,” Carr said.
Whoever Piedmont plays will have just lost a game that would’ve gotten them to state and Carr said sometimes that can be an advantage for the team that won its previous game, which, in this case, would be Piedmont.
“There’s something positive about winning that Friday game then playing someone who lost the night before,” he said. “Sometimes it’s tougher to respond in that position.”
Carr, who’s led a pair of teams to state through the consolation bracket as a girls coach in El Reno, said Piedmont ‘looked loose and had a lot of fun’ in practices leading up to the game with McGuinness. He doesn’t want that to change.
“We just need to go out and have fun and make the right plays,” Carr said.
