February 17, 2024 Woodland baseball earned its first victory of the 2024 season Saturday with a five-inning, 16-6, final at Chapel Hill. The Wildcats bats started quickly putting six runs on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning. Woodland took advantage of five singles and three walks in their productive opening frame. After Chapel Hill narrowed the margin to 7-4 in the bottom of the third inning, the Wildcats exploded for an eight-run fourth inning to build a 15-4 lead. The fourth frame outburst included five singles, one double, two walks, a hit batsman, and a pair of sacrifice flies. Woodland added an insurance run in the top of the fifth and the Panthers scored twice in the bottom of the fifth but the game ended with a 10-run mercy rule. Austin Daves made the start for the Wildcats on the mound and collected the pitching win. Logan Bentley (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 0BB, 1K) and Zach Lambert (1 IP, 2ER, 3H, 1BB, 2K) also pitched for Woodland. Conner Lujan (two RBIs), Connor Stermer, Cam Williams (RBI), and Mason Williams (double, three RBIs) led the Woodland offensive attack with two hits each. Lucas Baker, Ayden Ray (RBI), Brett Good (RBI), and Joshua Hicks (RBI) had one hit each. Ben Turcotte and J Ryan added one RBI each. Woodland (1-1) hosts Gordon Central on Monday.

The Adairsville girls and boys basketball teams won the Region 6-AAA championships on Friday night with convincing victories. The Lady Tigers routed Ringgold 56-26 and the Tigers pulled away from Ridgeland in the second half of the boys’ title game for a 58-45 win and their second consecutive region crown. ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 56, RINGGOLD 26 The Adairsville girls used a balanced scoring attack on Friday night to rout Ringgold in the Region 6-AAA tournament championship game, 56-26. Adairsville built a 14-7 lead in the first eight minutes and led 28-14 at halftime. The hosts extended their lead to 41-19 by the end of the third quarter on the way to a 30-point victory. Alissa Winters led Adairsville with 12 points. Samantha Gough and Darby Adams followed with 10 points each. Aliya McBryde contributed eight. NaXyria Roberts scored seven points and Ziyah Hicks added five. Jersey Rae Loy led Ringgold with nine points. Ringgold (16-12) will host a Class AAA state tournament first round game on Tuesday or Wednesday (TBD) against Saturday’s Dawson County / White County winner. Those two teams will play for the No. 3 seed from Region 7-AAA at Lumpkin County High School at 3 p.m. Adairsville (19-9) will host the Dawson County / White County loser in the Class AAA state tournament opening round. ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 58, RIDGELAND 45 The top-seeded Tigers trailed in the early going but rallied in the second half Friday night to beat the Ridgeland Panthers and win the Region 6-AAA tournament championship. Ridgeland led 13-7 after one quarter and 22-19 at halftime before the Tigers turned the tables. Adairsville outscored the Panthers 22-12 in the third period to take the lead. They then added to the lead in the fourth quarter for a 58-45 victory. Chase Hickman led Ridgeland with 16 points. John Hall and Eron Graham scored 10 each for the Panthers Benjamin Abernathy posted a game-high 20 points for Adairsville. Tayshaun Jackson followed with 13. Xavious Nalls contributed 12 points and Gabe Gomez added 11. Ridgeland (15-13) will host the No. 3 seed from Region 7-AAA in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament on Tuesday or Wednesday (TBD). The opponent will be the winner of the Region 7-AAA consolation game played Saturday at 4:30 p.m. between host Lumpkin County and Dawson County. Adairsville (18-9) will host the Lumpkin / Dawson loser in the state tournament’s opening round.

February 17, 2024 Georgia Highlands College split a doubleheader Friday with visiting Wallace State. The Chargers won the opener 3-0 to improve to 11-0 on the season before falling in the second game to the Lions, 8-7. Pitcher Chandler Anderson tossed a seven-inning, complete game for GHC in the opener. He did not allow a run on three hits and a pair of walks while striking out seven. Luke Orfi (two doubles, two RBIs), Ryan Wideman, and Clay Wiesen (double) had two hits each in the Chargers’ eight-hit attack. Will Cawthon drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Ali Banks and Barrett Eldridge had the other GHC hits. In the second game, the two teams battled evenly for six innings but the Lions pushed across the game-winning run in the seventh inning Hunter Ward (1 IP, 1ER, 2BB, 2K) was tagged with the pitching loss in relief of starter Oliver Wood (4 IP, 4ER, 5H, 1BB, 3K) and middle reliever Andrew Arnold (1.1 IP, 3ER, 2H, 1BB, 2K). Trevor Lovett had three hits for the Chargers. Will Cawthon (home run, three RBIs), and Clay Wisen (RBI) added a pair of hits each. Georgia Highlands (11-1) plays a doubleheader on Saturday at home against Wallace State.

February 17, 2024 The Cass and Cartersville baseball teams both collected non-region wins on Friday. CARTERSVILLE 6, WOODSTOCK 2 Another strong pitching performance by the Class 5A 2nd-ranked Canes’ staff and some timely hitting lifted Cartersville to a 6-2 win Friday at the Class 6A 6th-ranked Woodstock Wolverines. Sawyer Wilson (3 IP, 1R, 0ER, 2H, 1BB, 3K) was credited with the Cartersville pitching win. Nicholas Hruby (2 IP, 1ER, 1H, 3K), Dawson Bishop (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2K), and Andrew Purdy (1 IP, 0R, 0H, 2BB, 2K) also pitched in the victory. Luke Miller had three hits including a triple and one RBI to pace the Canes’ offense. Aidan Larkin followed with two hits and one RBI. Landon Cole (double, two RBIs), Purdy (RBI), Cole Crawford (double), and Tristan McKibben (double) added one hit each. Cartersville (2-0) hosts Forsyth Central on Monday at 1 p.m. and plays at Alexander on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. CASS 14, PAULDING COUNTY 5 Cass baseball bounced back from Thursday’s loss by scoring early and often in a 14-5 home win over Paulding County. The win completed a home-and-home sweep of the Patriots in the first week of the regular season. The Colonels scored in each of the first four innings to build a 12-5 lead then added two more runs in the sixth to complete the victory. All five of the Patriots’ runs crossed in the top of the second when Paulding briefly grabbed a 5-4 lead. Cayden Roberts (4 IP, 5ER, 7H, 1BB, 4K) earned the pitching win. Justin Peace (3 IP, 0R, 2H, 2BB, 5K) worked the final three frames. Nic Wright (three RBIs), Chase Tatum (double, two RBIs), and Caleb Freeman (RBI) had two hits each to pace the Cass offense. Jesiel Moctezuma (RBI), Roberts (two RBIs), Landon Lamb (RBI), and Connor Jenkins added one hit each. Eli Powell drove in one run. Paulding County falls to 0-2 to start its season. Cass (2-1) plays at Norcross on Monday.

With the game on the line and the score tied with 4.8 second remaining Friday night in the Region 7-5A title game at The Storm Center, Cartersville’s Kaden Baldwin took the ball end-to-end and was fouled on a driving layup. He then sank two free throws to help lift the Purple Hurricanes to a 60-58 win over Calhoun. Cartersville led 15-10 after one quarter; 26-25 at halftime; and 45-42 at the end of the third quarter on the way to the Canes’ two-point win. Ced McClinic scored a game-high 23 points for Cartersville. Baldwin followed with 12. Nas Bennett and Reed Ezell added 10 points each. Makadan Griffin led Calhoun with 18 points. Landon Chattam contributed 16 and Emaree Winston 15 for the Yellow Jackets. Calhoun (10-16) will host a Class 5A state tournament game next Tuesday or Wednesday (TBD) against the No. 3 seed from Region 6-5A, Greater Atlanta Christian. Cartersville (14-13) will host North Springs, the No. 4 seed from Region 6-5A, in the state tournament’s opening round. DALTON 59, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 35 The Lady Canes fell behind early and were unable to recover Friday night as the top-seeded Dalton girls won the Region 7-5A championship game at The Storm Center, 59-35. The Lady Catamounts led 15-4 after the opening eight minutes and held a 24-15 lead at halftime. Dalton extended the lead to 42-22 by the end of the third quarter. Grace Ridley led Dalton with 19 points. Emma Hefner scored 15 and Kemara Washington added 10 points for the Catamounts. Ansley Griffin was the top scorer for Cartersville with 11 points. Senai Camper followed with eight points and five rebounds. Nayel Camper contributed six points with eight boards and five assists. KK Arnold added six points and five rebounds. Dalton (18-9) win the Region 7-5A championship and will host the No. 4 seed from Region 6-5A -- Northview -- on Tuesday or Wednesday (TBD) in the opening round of the Class 5A state tournament. Cartersville (15-12) will host the No. 3 seed from Region 6-5A -- Cambridge -- on either Tuesday or Wednesday (TBD) in the first round of the state tournament.

February 17, 2024 The Adairsville girls soccer team rolled to a 5-1 win on Friday evening at Murray County. The Lady Tigers led 4-0 at the intermission and controlled the action for most of the evening. Carly Edwards, Maddie Gossett, Emma Edwards, and Maddie Gossett scored Adairsville’s first half goals. Lizzy LeMay assisted on two of those with Greer Cofield and Emma Edwards also having assits in the first half. The coaching staff also commended their center back play from Piper Tordrup and Jordyn Hartline and for the second game in a row the entire Lady Tigers’ lineup saw playing time. Emma Edwards added the final Adairsville goal in the 58th minute off an assist from Gabi Becerra. The Lady Tigers (4-1) will play at Hiram on Tuesday, February 27.

February 16, 2024 The Cass boys soccer team won at Dalton Academy Friday night by a 4-1 final score. The Colonels led 2-1 at the intermission on a pair of goals by Christian Villela. In the second half, Villela completed his hat trick goal to give Cass a 3-1 lead and Camden Hillhouse rounded out the Colonels’ scoring with another goal. The Pumas slipped to 1-1 with the loss. Cass (4-0-1) returns to action after the Winter Break on Tuesday, February 27 at home against Southeast Whitfield.

The Adairsville High School basketball teams advanced to the Region 6-AAA Championship games with semifinal wins Thursday night on their home court. The Lady Tigers held off the Lady Colts of Coahulla Creek 39-26 and the Tigers overpowered Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, 72-52. ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 39, COAHULLA CREEK 26 The Lady Tigers built a big lead early on Thursday and held off Coahulla Creek late to win their Region 6-AAA semifinal game. The Lady Colts had won both regular-season meetings between the two teams. Adairsville led 13-2 after the opening quarter and held a 23-9 lead at the break. The Lady Colts cut into the Lady Tigers’ lead in the second half but Adairsville pulled away again late for a 13-point win. Aubree Langley and Shea Poe led Coahulla Creek in scoring with 10 and six points, respectively. Aliya McBryde scored 12 points for the Lady Tigers. Alissa Winters followed with eight. NaXyria Roberts and Zariyah Hicks added six points each. Coahulla Creek (17-8) will play top-seeded Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe on Friday at 4 p.m. in the Region 6-AAA third-place game. Adairsville (18-9), who started the tournament as the No. 3 seed, will face No. 4 seed Ringgold (16-11) in the championship game on Friday at 7 p.m. Ringgold defeated LFO in Thursday’s semifinal game, 56-53. ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 72, LFO 52 The Adairsville Tigers took control of their Region 6-AAA semifinal in the early going on Thursday and pulled away in the second half for a 72-52 win over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe. The Tigers led 17-10 after the opening eight minutes and were up 36-24 at halftime. A third-quarter surge gave Adairsville a 60-41 advantage at the end of the third quarter en route to their 20-point win. Parian Keefe scored 13 points for the Warriors. Jared Mitchell finished with 11 points and Champ Bowman added 10. Benjamin Abernathy led Adairsville with 21 points. Zachary Postell and Tayshaun Jackson also reached double-figures for the Tigers scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively. Kaden Scott and Xavious Nalls added seven points each. LFO (9-16) will play Coahulla Creek in the third-place game on Friday at Adairsville at 5;30 p.m. Adairsville (17-9), the top seed in the tournament, will play No. 6-seed Ridgeland (15-12) for the region championship at 8:30 p.m. Ridgeland knocked off No. 2-seed Coahulla Creek (18-8) on Thursday, 66-42.

February 16, 2024 The Woodland High tennis teams collected wins Thursday evening at Gordon Central with the girls winning 3-2 and the boys defeating the Warriors, 3-1. WOODLAND GIRLS 3, GORDON CENTRAL 2 Singles Line 1 — Caleigh Williams lost 3-6, 4-6 Line 2 — Kathryn Kovacic won 6-3, 6-4 Line 3 — Diana Librado won 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 10-8 Doubles Line 1 — Ella Holt and Ella Bridges won 6-0, 6-1 Line 2 — Woodland forfeit WOODLAND BOYS 3, GORDON CENTRAL 1 Singles Line 1 — Peter Heins lost 4-6, 5-7 Line 2 — Domenic Ciavarro won 6-2, 6-2 Line 3 — Jack Gore won 6-0, 6-4 Doubles Line 1 — Kaiden Holbrook and Alex Gerstner won 6-4, 6-0 Line 2 — double forfeit The Woodland teams will host Rockmart on Monday, February 26, and Paulding County on Wednesday, February 28.

February 15, 2024 Cass girls soccer defeated Pickens on Thursday evening in Jasper, 3-0. The Lady Colonels led 2-0 at the intermission and added a final goal in the second half while preserving the shutout. Freshman Malorie Rogers scored a goal and senior Elizabeth Remke added two for Cass. The Lady Colonels (2-2) return to action on February 29 at McEachern. CASS BOYS 10, PICKENS 0 The Colonels built a 6-0 lead in the first half and closed out the contest with a tenth goal at the 15-minute mark of the second half. The loss dropped the Dragons to 0-4 on the season. Cass (4-0-1) plays at Dalton Academy on Friday at 7 p.m. WOODLAND GIRLS 10, PEPPERELL 0 The Lady Cats started their 2024 season with a 10-0 win over visiting Pepperell on Thursday. Woodland built a 6-0 lead in the first half and closed the game with four second-half goals. Libby Morgan scored three goals and added one assist. Reagan Weightman scored two goals and had two assists. Maddie Weightman also scored twice and made one assist. Ansley Burns, who scored Woodland’s first goal, Briona Carver, and Karyme Hernandez added one goal each. Burns had two assists. Ximena Avendano and Allie York added one assist each. The Woodland girls (1-0) play at Paulding County on Friday, February 23. WOODLAND BOYS 7, PEPPERELL 0 provided by coach Phillip Sandifer The Woodland boys soccer team won their home opener against the Pepperell Dragons (1-2) Thursday night at Woodland. The Wildcats dominated possession, securing a solid 7-0 victory to advance to a 2-0 season start. The action kicked off early with Juan Mendoza scoring in the 2nd minute, assisted by Joel Alberto. David Silva added to the excitement with a well-placed shot from outside the box in the 28th minute, again assisted by Alberto. Alberto continued his strong performance, setting up Mendoza for a second goal in the 41st minute, giving the Wildcats a comfortable 3-0 lead at halftime. In the second half, Alberto remained influential, assisting Chris Sanchez for two more goals in the 46th and 55th minutes. He then provided another assist to Milo Gonzalez in the 59th minute. Juan Pineda joined the scoring with an assist from Nick Miranda, bringing the final score to 7-0 in favor of the Wildcats. Goalkeeper Miguel Pineda made 4 crucial saves, while Pedro Montalvo added another, contributing to a shutout with a solid defensive effort from the entire team. The Wildcats look forward to their next match at home against the Paulding County Patriots next Friday, aiming to continue their winning streak.

Cartersville opened the 2024 season Thursday evening with a win over Kennesaw Mountain while Woodland and Cass both dropped non-region home contests. CARTERSVILLE 13, KENNESAW MOUNTAIN 1 Update provided by coach Kyle Tucker By the time Ryan Johnson’s night was over in the third inning of Thursday’s season opener against Kennesaw Mountain, the senior had mowed down the Mustangs’ starting lineup while his teammates built a 12-0 lead. It was more than enough for the UGA signee and top-ranked Canes. Johnson earned the win on only 33 pitches – 22 for strikes – alongside three strikeouts while never allowing a baserunner in a 13-1 Cartersville victory. “It was good to be back on the mound,” said Johnson. “I’ve been waiting on this one for quite a while. It was a lot of fun and I can’t wait to do it again next week. “I’d be lying if I didn’t say I had a little bit of butterflies, it being the first game of the year. I was excited, but feel I went out and performed pretty well.” Fellow future Bulldog Caleb Daniel began the scoring in the bottom of the first with a liner up the middle that scored Luke Miller and Aidan Larkin. Daniel would score later on Landon Cole’s sacrifice fly to center before Julez Pratt drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in the fourth run of the inning. Despite a pitching change in the second inning, the Canes would still go on to score seven runs. The rally began with Daniel’s third and fourth RBIs of the night, courtesy of a two-run centerfield blast that also scored Larkin. Later in the inning, Cam Cochran jumped on his first pitch to drive the ball down the third base line for a two-run double, scoring Andrew Purdy and Tristian McKibben and making the difference 8-0. Cochran would later score on a passed ball to Pratt. After another pitching change, Miller stepped to the plate and launched a shot over the right field wall to push the lead to 11-0. The Canes would put two more across the plate with Cochran’s hard shot past the shortstop in the third that scored Nolan Elrod and Hayden Hames’ fielder’s choice in the fourth that allowed Thomas Peters to score. Logan Shrewsbury pitched the fourth and fifth innings for the Canes, striking out two. An error allowed one run to cross for the Mustangs in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to prevent GHSA mercy rules from taking place. Canes head coach Kyle Tucker was pleased with the start of the season. “You never know until you get out there and play for the first time,” he said. “The guys have put in a lot of work. Luke and Caleb hit home runs. Andrew walked, stole a base and scored some runs. Ryan pitched like we knew he could. Thomas Peters got his first varsity hit. Turner Abernathy got a hit. It was cool to see those guys get in.” Still, there were things to work on. “Our goal as a team is to make one or fewer errors in a game, and we made more than one tonight,” he said. “We walked some people with a big lead and we don’t want to do that. But the first game is good to find out some stuff about yourself, so we can carry that with us.” VILLA RICA 14, WOODLAND 3 Villa Rica built an 8-0 lead through the first five innings Thursday night and added six more in the seventh inning to defeat Woodland, 14-3. Woodland utilized six pitchers in the contest with Ayden Ray (3.1 IP, 4R, 3ER, 2H, 5BB, 6K0) tagged with the pitching loss. Zach Lambert (0.2 IP, 3ER, 2H, 3BB, 1K), JD Trail (2 IP, 1ER, 0H, 1BB), Logan Bentley (6BF, 6ER, 1H, 2BB), Conner Lujan (2BF, 0R, 0H, 1BB, 1K) also taking the mound. Cam Williams had two hits for Woodland. Brett Good (two RBIs), Ray (RBI), and Stermer had one hit each. Villa Rica improved to 2-0. Woodland (0-1) plays at Chapel Hill on Saturday at 1 p.m. SPRAYBERRY 10, CASS 5 The Colonels held a 5-2 lead through the first four innings Thursday night at home but Sprayberry scored in each of the final three frames totaling eight more runs to defeat Cass, 10-5. The Colonels again utilized six different pitchers. Jesiel Moctezuma (1 IP, 4R, 1ER, 3H) was tagged with the pitching loss in relief of Trenton Payne (2 IP, 2ER, 2H, 2BB, 1K) and Jacob Johnson (3 IP, 1ER, 1H, 3K). Chase Tatum (0.2 IP, 3ER, 2H, 1BB, 1K), Jay Sheldon (3 BF, 0R, 0H, 2BB), and Israel Contreras (0.1 IP, 0R, 0H) also pitched in relief. Tatum hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Hunter Lovett (double, RBI), Caleb Freeman (RBI), Nic Wright, Cayden Roberts (double), Payne, and Moctezuma added one hit each. For the Yellow Jackets, it was a win in their season opener. Cass (1-1) hosts Paulding County on Friday at 5:55 p.m.

February 15, 2024 The Cartersville boys won 4-1 while the Adairsville girls won 3-2 in a tennis match played Thursday at Dellinger Park. ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 3, CARTERSVILLE 2 Singles Line 1 — Madison Abernathy (A) d. Chloe O’Banion (C), 7-6, 6-3, 10-7 Line 2 — Adysen Garvey (A) d. Chloe Bush (C), 6-3, 6-2, 11-9 Line 3 — Camdyn Collins (A) d. Katelyn Shook (C), 6-3, 6-3 Doubles Line 1 — Haylee Harris and Riley Huff (C) d. Ella Baker and Stella Rood (A), 6-4, 7-6 Line 2 — Katherine Bowen and Eden Olson (C) d. Allison Potter and Gio Marriquin (A), 6-2, 6-3 CARTERSVILLE BOYS 4, ADAIRSVILLE 1 Singles Line 1 — Walker Cooney (C) d. KJ Bowling (A), 6-1, 6-0 Line 2 — Bryce Summey (C) d. Michael Spinks (A), 6-4, 6-3 Line 3 — Julian Cline (C) d. Bryson Gooden (A), 6-0, 6-1 Doubles Line 1 — Eli Odell and Ben Caswell (C) d. Camden Teems and Carter Collum (A), 6-3, 6-2 Line 2 — Braden Mathis and Jack Baxter (A) d. Andrew Hunt and Hudson Amos (C), 6-0, 6-1 Adairsville’s next match is at home against Gordon Lee on February 27. Cartersville hosts Model on February 29.