Slipped away
- Updated: December 30, 2020
Piedmont had leads in the first quarter and final minute, but Bremen rallied to hand Lady Bulldogs another close loss in Hilburn-Patterson Haralson County Invitational
Wednesday’s girls scores
Heflin Holiday Hoops Tournament
Hokes Bluff 49, Ranburne 40
Oxford 60, Heard County (Ga.) 45
Spring Garden 73, Cleburne County 29
Hilburn-Patterson Haralson County (Ga.) Invitational
East Paulding 70, Faith Christian 22
Bremen 45, Piedmont 43
Championship game: Cedartown def. Haralson County
By East Alabama Sports Today
TALLAPOOSA, Ga. — The start of the girls third-place game in the Hilburn-Patterson Haralson County Invitational Wednesday couldn’t have gone any better for Piedmont. The end couldn’t have gone worse.
The Lady Bulldogs built a big early lead and had another lead with a minute to play only to lose their second nail-biter in as many days, falling to Bremen 45-43.
Piedmont raced to a 16-2 lead in the first quarter, but its fortunes turned in the second. The Lady Bulldogs were outscored 21-5 and trailed by two at halftime and it remained a dogfight the rest of the game. Then they had a five-point lead with 65 seconds to go and couldn’t hold it.
“It was a great start,” Piedmont coach Terrace Ridley said. “We were playing great. We came out and were patient, we were running the offense, getting back door cuts and layups. Emily Farmer hit back-to-back 3s. We just had a good start shooting wise, and then we came back out (for the second quarter) and just started doing things out of the offense. The biggest thing was turning the ball over.
“We were up by five with (1:05) to go and we were still not patient enough. It was like the ball was hot; we were trying to get rid of it. We’ve got to be able to finish that. We can’t panic when the pressure gets put on us because that’s what’s going to happen to us down the road.”
Ava Pope also hit a pair of 3s in the Lady Bulldogs’ big first quarter. But the script flipped in the second quarter. Piedmont managed to hit just one field goal in the quarter, while the Lady Blue Devils got scoring from six separate players.
“We just turned the ball over, we didn’t handle the pressure well,” Ridley said. “They double teamed us and we couldn’t handle the pressure and we kept turning the ball over.”
Still, they had chances to put the game away. They led by five into the final minute, but the turnovers surfaced again. Bremen took a 45-43 lead on Mary House’s three-point play with 28 seconds left. House scored seven of her 16 points in the fourth quarter.
For the second day in a row the Lady Bulldogs had a chance to tie it and force overtime. Pope gave them their best chance when she drove the lane and put up a floater in the closing seconds that rimmed out.
The Lady Blue Devils secured the rebound. Piedmont fouled them on the floor to set up an inbounds play and they knocked the throw-in out of bounds. Bremen threw it in again, this time into the backcourt, and eventually ran out the finial seconds to win.
Pope and Lele Ridley led Piedmont with 12 points apiece.
Bremen 45, Piedmont 43
BREMEN – Ashley Brassell 1 0-0 2, Mabry Cartwright 2 0-0 4, Lazaria Lockett 1 1-2 3, Mary House 7 1-1 16, Ansley Shumake 0 0-0 0, Giana Smith 1 0-0 3, Ella Smith 1 0-0 2, Chloe Smith 5 1-2 11, Scottlyn McCoy 1 1-4 4. Totals 19 4-9 45.
PIEDMONT – Ava Pope 4 0-0 12, Jaycee Glover 2 2-3 7, Lele Ridley 6 0-2 12, Armoni Perry 0 0-0 0, Gracie Naugher 0 0-0 0, Z’Hayla Walker 2 0-2 4, Emily Farmer 2 2-5 8. Totals 16 4-12 43.
Bremen 2 21 9 13 – 45
Piedmont 16 5 10 12 – 43
3-point goals: Bremen 3 (House, G. Smith, McCoy); Piedmont 7 (Pope 4, Glover, Farmer 2). Totals fouls: Bremen 15, Piedmont 8.
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