With wins over Cherokee County and Talladega County Central last week, Piedmont enters the Class 3A, Area 10 girls tournament with a 15-10 regular season record. The Bulldogs were 6-2 in Area 10 games, losing only to Area 10 winner Glencoe, and are the tournament’s No. 2 seed. They play No. 3 Pleasant Valley, a team they have beaten three times, at Glencoe on Thursday in a game scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.

After a mid-season slump, “I think we’ve come a long ways. We’re just starting to click on all cylinders. Hopefully, we’re starting to come to a peak,” said Piedmont coach Matt Deerman of his revamped lineup.

Even though Piedmont holds three wins over Pleasant Valley, the third game was much closer than the first two.

“We can’t overlook Pleasant Valley. Against us, they play really good half-court defense,” Deerman said, estimating that the Bulldogs scored 80 per cent of their points in transition in each of their first two victories over the Raiders.

At Howell Cove on Friday, Piedmont downed Talladega County Central 61-35. Senior Raven Prater and freshman Breanna Thompson each scored 15 points for Piedmont. Thompson added 11 rebounds and four steals and Prater had five rebounds and five steals. Brea Dixon scored 12 points and had six boards. Shequia Ridley tallied seven points. Jeleca Johnson had six points, four rebounds and three assists and Kayla Allen added four rebounds and three points. Caitlyn Coogler did not score but contributed five assists, four rebounds and four steals.

In their 42-29 Senior Night win over visiting Cherokee County Thursday, the Bulldogs out-rebounded the Warriors 29-20. Piedmont had 11 offensive boards while Cherokee County managed only five. Piedmont outscored Cherokee County 8-3 in the second quarter and led 20-14 at halftime. The third quarter went to Piedmont 11-6. Prater had six points in the fourth quarter and Dixon five to thwart a Warrior rally.

Prater led the Bulldogs with 19 points, six rebounds and three steals. She was 2-for-4 from outside the arc and 5-for-6 at the foul stripe. Dixon and Thompson each had eight points and 10 rebounds. Thompson added three assists.