By Robert Medley
Managing Editor
Piedmont High School’s Lady Wildcats brought home a state title in 2019. And the team was set to make a run to repeat in March, 2020.
But, the big opponent was March, 2020, and all games came to a halt in the pandemic due to COVID-19.
And the Wildcats are yet to tip-off the 2020-2021 season. The girls’ team is a preseason number one in the rankings for Class 5A.
The first game of the year scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 1 was canceled, twice by two different opponents who could not play a home opener in Piedmont.
Coach Eric Carr is in his third season at the helm. This year, his daughter joins him as a sophomore as the quest to defend the title continues.
With a few minutes before a practice this week, Carr said the team is getting a bit tired of practice, and would rather start the season in a regular game.
“We are waiting for our first game, and it is now Tuesday, Dec. 8 at home with Lawton MacArthur,” Carr said.
Last year, the Lady ‘Cats were 22-4 when they qualified for the state tournament. That tournmant was called off as COVID-19 hit and schools did not return after spring break.
The team was restricted from practicing over the summer, but kept up with some strength and conditioning with Coach Blake Abbott.
“Outside of that, (conditioning,) we really didn’t get together until school started again,” Carr said.
“Our kids are tired of practicing and they want to go compete.”
All 16 players were in the gymnasium on Monday, Nov. 30, together with no one quarantined.
“Hopefully we can stay healthy and get some games in,” Carr said.
The first game was going to be Tuesday, Dec. 1 with Western Heights. But Western Heights has canceled games. Harding Charter Prep was going to make up the game but also canceled.
“We didn’t get started like normal,” Carr said.
Returning starters include standout guard/forward, Delanie Crawford, 5 feet 10 inches tall, a senior, who has signed a letter of intent with Tulsa University,
Point guard Maddy Lee, a 5 foot 4 senior, and Triniti Harmon, 6 feet 1 inch forward, are the other returning starters.
Carr has not named the other two starters.
“We will let that happen next Tuesday,” Carr said.
Carr took a minute to reflect on the early end to last season without a state tournament.
“We were defending state champs and I felt like we were playing as good as we had all year and we really felt like we had a great chance,” Carr said.
Piedmont’s girls won a state championship in 1967 and in 2019.
Carr previously coached girls at El Reno and boys at Calumet. His daughter is a shooting guard, Khloe Carr, a sophomore on the team.
The preseason rankings have Piedmont number one in Class 5A.
“We should be a top four or five team all year, and I feel like we are one of the top two or three,” Carr said. He said Sapulpa High School is in Class 5A this year and is expected to be a top contender,
“I like my team, and we’ve just got to go play games and get some experience. We have seven seniors this year and we are excited,” Carr said.
