Infignos Media - Piedmont senior Strott leads Bulldogs to area title game

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Piedmont senior Strott leads Bulldogs to area title game

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Chris Strott kneeled down to grab a towel and cleaned up a wet spot on the floor with the clock stopped and 1:21 remaining in Piedmont’s semifinals matchup against Weaver Friday night, then sprinted toward the sideline to dispose of it.

It exemplified the workmanlike effort the senior put forth in helping the top-seeded Bulldogs defeat the third-seeded Bearcats 71-59 in the Class 3A, Area 9 boys basketball tournament.

Playing power forward at 5-foot-9, 170-pounds, Strott bumped and banged his way to a 19-point performance to help Piedmont extend its season and advance to Monday’s night’s area championship game where it’ll face third-seeded White Plains at 7 p.m. White Plains upset second-seeded Saks 60-57 in overtime in the other semifinal.

“He’s just got tenacity about him. You’ve seen him as a football player,” said Piedmont coach Tommy Lewis of Strott, who started at quarterback and was The Star’s Class 3A Calhoun County Football Player of the Year. “He’s just got a big ‘ole heart and he’s so coachable.”

Strott was moved from the perimeter to the post when starting point guard sophomore Dennard Spears returned from injury. Rather than fold, he focused and took the challenge head on. Friday, he scored four of Piedmont’s first five points and had six in the first quarter as the Bulldogs finished with a 10-0 spurt to take a 17-8 lead into the second.

“He’s been a big asset to our team,” Strott said, referring to Spears. “He (Lewis) told me I was going to play there. So, I just had to man up or quit. I love playing basketball. It’s not what I wanted to play but I’ll help the team out any way I can.”

Piedmont’s victory was its third against the Bearcats this season and 10th in 11 meetings the past four seasons.

The Bulldogs downed Weaver 70-57 at home in their second game of the season on Dec. 2nd. On Jan. 13th, they defeated the Bearcats 69-59 on the road.

Weaver cut what had been a 12-point second-quarter deficit down to four on a layup by point guard Chris English with 1:15 to play.

But as it did whenever Weaver made a run, Piedmont reeled off five unanswered points to take a 32-23 lead into the half.

“You’ve got to stop the bleeding,” Lewis said. “I’ve seen Weaver play a lot. They can go on a 12-2 run quickly. When we got up 10, we knew we were just a spurt away from being down.”

A 6-0 run by the Bearcats (17-12) at the end of the third made it a 46-39 game heading into the fourth but Weaver never got any closer than eight in the fourth.

Sloan Garner led Piedmont with 23 points, 21 rebounds and six blocks. The 6-7 senior manned the paint all night, blocking and altering seemingly countless Weaver shots. He struggled at the foul line but was impressive on defense, finishing the night without fouling.

Trevor Ford had 17 for Piedmont, including three 3-pointers.

Weaver’s Chris English led all scorers with 25 points, adding three 3-pointers late in the fourth and Mike Stephens finished with 14 points in a losing effort.

“We played hard and we played with intensity,” Strott said.

“We wanted to win. We want to go to the final four like last year and the year before. We know what it feels like to be there. We’re taking it one game at a time and we’re playing hard.”

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Keywords: Piedmont,Weaver,Semifinals,senior

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