Blake Colston
sports@piedmontnewsonline.com
In order for the Piedmont Lady Wildcats to extend their basketball season another game, they’ll have to pass a tough test tonight at Edmond North High School.
Piedmont will play Suburban Conference rival Carl Albert there at 8 and must beat the Titans for a third time this season to advance to Saturday’s Area consolation final, where a state tournament berth will be on the line.
“It’s not going to be easy,” head coach Tim Price said of completing a three-game sweep of his former school. “The more they play us, they’re bound to beat us at some point.”
Piedmont hopes to postpone that possibility into next season in a game that likely won’t feature many surprises from either side. After a pair of regular season meetings, both teams are familiar with one another’s personnel and the way each side prefers to play.
That means execution and preparation will be at a premium.
“You always want to make sure your team and players understand what the defensive game plan is,” Price said. “You don’t want to look back after it’s over and see that they beat you with their best scoring threats.”
Last time the teams played, it took overtime for the Lady ‘Cats to squeak by the Titans on senior night at Collett Fieldhouse. Price thought PHS might’ve overlooked Carl Albert after handling them easily in Midwest City earlier in the season. This time, he expects his team to be more focused.
“I think in a way the last game we played against them could’ve been a good thing for us,” Price said.
Piedmont enters the game off an overtime loss in the regional title game at El Reno. Despite the loss, PHS left the game confident it belonged with the eighth-ranked Indians and any of the other competition PHS could see on its road to state.
“Our kids understand that we’re good enough to beat those teams,” Price said.
Especially when the ‘Cats get outside shooting like they did Monday night. PHS hit 7 of 8 3-point tries during a stretch of play that spanned both halves. That could be important momentum as Piedmont prepares to play against Carl Albert’s zone defense that’s designed to stop the Lady Wildcats leading scorer, post player Maci Attalla.
Senior point guard Melissa Green’s outside shooting touch has been instrumental in opening space up for Attalla late in the season. Green drilled five 3-pointers against El Reno and accounted for 12 of Piedmont’s 17 first-half points.
“No one has improved more from the start of the season,” Price said of Green. “When she hits her first 3-point try in a game, you can see her confidence grow and see her look to score more.”
If Piedmont gets by Carl Albert, it will likely see MacArthur in the consolation final. The Highlanders have beaten Piedmont twice this season, but like El Reno, the Wildcats are confident they can beat Mac if they get a third shot.
“We won’t go into a game like that feeling like big underdogs,” Price said. “We just have to take it one game at a time from here on out.”
