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Piedmont comes up just short against Madison Academy

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Piedmont coach Tommy Lewis busted an age-old sports myth at the post-game press conference, following the Bulldogs’ 57-56 loss to third-ranked Madison Academy in the semifinals of the AHSAA Class 3A Northeast Regional basketball tournament Wednesday afternoon.

“Most of the things that happened, we knew kind of what they were going to do,” Lewis said. “It’s just execution. (No.) 23’s is a very good player and (No.) 20’s a real good player. I think that’s a myth, ‘If you know it, you can stop it’. There’s a lot of athleticism and effort involved in that. You just hope the other don’t make the shot.”

The No. 23 and No. 20 he referred to was Madison Academy eighth-grader Josh Langford and freshman Kerryon Johnson. The duo combined for 43 points as the Mustangs avenged a loss to Piedmont in last year’s regional tournament at Pete Mathews Coliseum.

Langford, all 6-foot-4, 190-pounds of him, scored 21 points and pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds to go along with a pair of assists. His hanging layup in the lane with 1:24 remaining wound up being the game-winner.

Event will that, seventh-ranked Piedmont had a chance to win the game down one with 10 seconds to go, but Sloan Garner couldn’t connect on a contested jumper from short range at the buzzer.

“(Chris) just drove it real good and kicked it to me and I got an open look at the basket,” Garner said, describing the game’s final play. “It felt good coming out of my hand and everything. I don’t know it just didn’t fall.”

Johnson did most of his damage in the first half, scoring 18 of his 22 points, mostly on electrifying drives to the basket as Madison Academy (20-11) built what looked like a commanding 37-29 lead at the half. At 6-foot, he guarded the 6-7 Garner by himself most of the game and limited the North-South game selection to 13 points.

“It was definitely a challenge but whatever my team needs me to do I’m going to do it and I’m not going to complain about it,” Johnson said. “It wears on you but sometimes you’ve got to suck it up for the team. It’s not about how tired you are. It’s about how well you do your job for the team.”

Piedmont (20-12) made an adjustment on how it defended the Madison Academy’s screens to limit Johnson’s effectiveness on offense after halftime. They jumped on the Mustangs to start the second quarter led by the spirited play of Garner.

He scored the Bulldogs first four points off a pair of free-throws and a turnaround jumper and blocked a shot and took a charge on defense. It sparked a 9-2 Piedmont run that pulled the Bulldogs to within one at 39-38 with 4:28 left in the quarter.

“We just chipped in and realized this possibly could be our last game,” Garner said. “We were going to lay it all out on the line.”

The Bulldogs trailed by two after three and fell behind by as many as six in the fourth. They came on strong again late, putting together an 8-1 run highlighted by a jumper from Trevor Ford that gave them the lead at 56-55 to play with 1:45 remaining before Langord’s big bucket.

Ford led the way for the Bulldogs with 19 points on 7-for-16 shooting, including two 3-pointers, and six rebounds. Garner added six boards and a pair of steals to go along with a block while Strott had 10 points and seven rebounds.

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Keywords: Peidmont, basketball, Madison, Academy, regional

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