CONCORD, CA – Piedmont had to play it’s CIF NCS first round playoff game on the road despite being the #5 seed, but it didn’t matter to the Highlanders as they had no trouble sending Ygnacio Valley packing with a 70-43 rout on Wednesday night.
Nakilah Johnson tallied 18 points and 16 rebounds, and freshman sensation Trinity Zamora added 14 points, 10 rebounds, and four assists for Piedmont (21-6). Ygnacio Valley (17-10), which had the #12 spot but hosted due to their winning the DVAL, received double-digit scoring from Darolonie Sykes, Niamey Guillory, and Lenyiah Fulsom with 15, 13, and 12 points respectively. Sykes also hauled down eight boards.
“It was a hard-fought game,” Piedmont coach Bryan Gardere said. “We came out and made some shots. Your key players have to step up and I thought they stepped up. It was a messy game, but we’ll take the win.”
Sykes scored the first bucket of the game, and then Piedmont rattled off 19 straight. While the first quarter saw lots of speed with sharp shooting from the Highlanders and poor shooting from the Warriors, the rest of the game had a physical, scrambling dynamic with lots of fouls. In the second Ygnacio Valley found a bit of a groove while Piedmont cooled off some. The Highlanders went on another run in the third, from which Ygnacio Valley couldn’t recover.
“It builds up our confidence going into this next game,” Johnson remarked. “You gotta play aggressive. We left it on the floor as much as possible today.”
Maddy Meadows had 13 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals, and Maddie Hill chipped in 12 points, for Piedmont, which moves on to face #4 Lick-Wilmerding on Saturday. The Tigers blasted El Molino 74-40 in the first round.
