The Piedmont High School girls basketball team had a successful tournament season and now will prepare for West Alameda County Conference play.
The Highlanders beat visiting Sacred Heart Cathedral-San Francisco on Dec. 19, 80-24. They then lost a heartbreaker to Riordan-San Francisco at San Leandro on Dec. 20, 66-64 in overtime. That was part of the Simply Basketball Showcase.
The team then traveled to Sparks for a tournament and swept games against Reed-Sparks and Spanish Springs-Sparks. On Dec. 22, Piedmont beat Reed, 71-26.
Five Highlanders scored in double-figures, led by Savannah Dennig’s 16. Andrea Martin had 15 while Jenelle Solis had 12. Taylor White and Alexa Ba each had 10.
The next night, Piedmont beat Spanish Springs, 63-47. Solis led the way with 24 points while Martin added 15. Aaliyah Vance led the Cougars with 17 points. MacKenzie Chase had 12.
The Highlanders broke open a close game by outscoring Spanish Springs, 29-12 in the fourth quarter.
Piedmont then headed south for the SoCal Holiday Prep Classic in and around San Diego. The Highlanders opened play in the WNBA Gold Division on Dec. 26 with a 53-39 win over Country Day-La Jolla. Martin led Piedmont with 13 points followed by White with 12 and Dennig with 10. White also had 16 rebounds while Dennig had six assists.
Safiyah Sugapong led the Torreys with 19 points. Atlanta Bass-Sulpizio had 15.
On Dec. 27, Piedmont defeated Santa Margarita, 75-36. Martin 29 points to go along with nine rebounds. Solins scored 20 with five assists. White had nine assists and four points.
On Dec. 28, the Highlanders beat Iolani-Honolulu, 48-46. Martin led Piedmont with 19 points. Solis had 15 to go along with six assists.
The next day, the Highlanders fell to the Brentwood School-Los Angeles in the division championship, 55-48. Dennig led the way with 17 points and seven rebounds. White had 12 points, 18 rebounds and six assists. Kelsey Sugar had 18 points for the winners while Mikaella Kawahito had 15.
The Eagles jumped out to a 22-15 lead after one quarter and the teams scored the same number of points in each of the remaining quarters: 13, 10 and 10.
Piedmont is off until Jan. 13 when it will face Bishop O’Dowd at Binks Gymnasium for its WACC opener.