PIEDMONT — With just eight players on its roster, Piedmont never has the luxury of depth on any given night.
Playing league rival Bishop O’Dowd on Tuesday night, the Highlanders were even thinner than usual. Ankles were taped. Feet were sore. Minutes were unavoidable.
But for Piedmont, this game was way too important to chalk it up as a scheduled loss.
Despite a furious comeback from O’Dowd late in the fourth quarter, Piedmont found a way to hang on in front of a rowdy home crowd to escape with a 51-47 win to open West Alameda County Conference Foothill Division play.
“Piedmont’s a tough team to play,” Piedmont guard Taylor White said. “We work really hard in practice, so that’s the kind of toughness we showed out there today.”
White finished with a stat-stuffing box score, which included 16 points, 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Sophomore Andrea Martin also had 16 points to go along with seven rebounds and two blocks.
Martin delivered the defining sequence – two clutch free throws in the final 20 seconds followed by a game-sealing block – to deny O’Dowd’s comeback bid.
All three of Piedmont’s stars, including electric point guard Jenelle Solis all had ailing injuries going into Tuesday’s game. White played through a hip bruise, Martin is recovering from a sprained ankle and Solis played in her first game in two weeks after spraining her foot at the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in San Diego.
“O’Dowd did a great job. We weathered the storm just enough to survive and advance,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. “At the end of the day we just had to figure it out. We just had to try to win and get out of here.”
After building an eight-point lead after three quarters, Piedmont quickly went up double-digits after Solis found a soft spot in O’Dowd’s zone and hit a corner 3-pointer.
But for the next six minutes, it was all O’Dowd. With every made basket, the Dragons fed off the intensity of the game and found a way to claw itself back.
The Dragons went on a 11-2 run, capped off by a transition layup from Tenaya Aguilera, which cut Piedmont’s lead to just two. But after two missed free throws from Piedmont, the Dragons could not convert on their possession to tie or take the lead.
Martin’s two made free throws pushed Piedmont’s advantage to four. On O’Dowd’s final possession, the sophomore sent away O’Dowd’s final shot attempt as Piedmont escaped with a victory.
O’Dowd coach Malik McCord said he was proud of his team’s effort, but lapses in the first half ultimately led to the Dragons’ demise.
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O’Dowd freshman guard Tenaya Aguilera led O’Dowd with 15 points. Senior guard Jayla Stokes scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Piedmont (10-2, 1-0) will get six days of rest before playing Priory on Monday at the O’Dowd MLK Classic. O’Dowd (8-7, 0-1) will have a quick turnaround with a game against Alameda at home on Thursday.
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