The Region 7-AAAAA girls and boys basketball All-Region teams were released by the league's coaches on Friday. Londaisha Smith of Cass was named the girls Player of the Year. Claire Davis and Haley Johnson of the Lady Colonels were also named to the All-Region First Team. Ariana Hames of Cass and Jordan Thompson of Woodland made the All-Region Second Team. Lehla Thomas and Jamiya Moore of Cartersville were named Honorable Mention along with Keara McDaniel of Cass. The Cass boys placed three players on the All-Region First Team. C.J. Pipkin, Braxton Benham, and Zaylan Chaney were all selected. Kam Callahan and Robert Novak of Cartersville were named to the All-Region Second Team. Kolbe Benham of Cartersville and K.J. Rogers of Woodland received Honorable Mention. 7-AAAAA ALL REGION GIRLS Player of the Year: Londaisha Smith – Cass First Team Imani Smith – Hiram Claire Davis – Cass Sydney Jones – Hiram Britiya Curtis – Calhoun Haley Johnson – Cass Second Team Erial Owens – Hiram Jordan Thompson – Woodland-Cartersville Maura Ryan – Blessed Trinity Lyndi Rae Davis – Calhoun Ariana Hames – Cass Honorable Mention Lehla Thomas – Cartersville Camryn O’Neil – Hiram Jamiya Moore – Cartersville Keara McDaniel – Cass 7-AAAAA ALL REGION BOYS Player of the Year: Jax Bouknight – Blessed Trinity First Team CJ Pipkin – Cass Braxton Benham – Cass Jackson Price – Hiram Dylan Faulkner – Calhoun Zaylan Chaney – Cass Second Team Peyton Law – Calhoun Kam Callahan – Cartersville Robert Novak – Cartersville Jayden Clark – Hiram Jordan Gary – Hiram Honorable Mention Jonathan Franchi – Blessed Trinity Javores Boyd – Hiram Kolbe Benham – Cartersville KJ Rogers – Woodland-Cartersville

After three-peating two weeks ago at the State Duals Championship, the Woodland wresting team is seeking a similar result Saturday at the GHSA Class AAAAA Traditional Championship at the Macon Centreplex. A familiar foe is trailing the Wildcats closely behind. Following Friday’s action, Woodland holds a 172.5 to 171 advantage over second place Cass. Harris County is third with 141 points with Woodward Academy (140.5) and Ola (126.5) rounding out the top five. Cartersville is in 8th place heading into Saturday’s action with 66 points. Woodland will have four wrestlers go for individual state championships Saturday. Caden McCrary (138), Caleb Henson (152), Colby Cochran (160), and Jaxon Smith (195) are all finalists. Wrestlers still alive in the consolation rounds for Woodland include Hayden Santora (106), Carson Bailey (120), Easton Bishop (126), Randy Buchanan (132), William Bishop (145), Charles Higdon (220), and Beau Jernigan (285). Cass will have six wrestlers in the Class AAAAA state finals Saturday. Cole Hunt (120), Bryce Kresho (126), Eli Doolittle (132), Tyler McKnight (138), Zach McKnight (160), and Noah Hoffmeier (220) will all seek individual titles. Wrestlers still alive in the consolation rounds for the Colonels include Jake Crapps (113) and Adan Urizar (145). For Cartersville, Shadre Hurst will wrestle for the state championship in the heavyweight division while Rashun Hurst (220) remains in contention for a possible third place finish in the consolation bracket. SEVEN LOCAL GIRLS COMPETE IN STATE WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS Cartersville had four girls to compete at the GHSA Girls State Wrestling Championships at the Macon Centreplex this week. Elora Waterman went 3-2, Neurexi Montero went 2-2, and Neurimar Montero went 1-2 in the 102-pound division. Paige Nelson finished 1-2 for the Canes in the 152-pound division. Jesse Johnson of Woodland went 3-2 in the 112-pound division. Reese Leighly of Adairsville finished 1-2 in the 122-pound division and Faith Carroll of Cass was 0-2 in the 172-pound division.

Playing in the cold evening with a light drizzle, the Woodland girls soccer team played Kell to a 1-1 draw Friday night in Cobb County. Tiera Feanny scored the Lady Cats’ goal in the 17th minute but the Lady Longhorns knotted the score at 1-1 with 1:40 remaining in the first half. “The girls worked hard,” said Woodland coach Nicole Heiser. “The team worked well together and only had a couple of subs for the game. It was our third game of the week, so I’m proud of the determination and heart that went into this one.” Woodland (2-1-1) hosts Kennesaw Mountain next Friday, February 19.

The Cartersville boys soccer team powered past South Paulding on the road Friday night for the Canes’ third win of the young season. Cartersville led 2-0 at the intermission and scored two quick goals to start the second half on their way to a 6-0 victory. Daniel Abeja opened the scoring 13 minutes into the game, with a hard shot that found its way through the Spartans’ keeper’s hands. The Canes then added to their lead when Antonio Garcia poked a shot across the line. Garcia added to Cartersville’s lead in the second half when he chested a ball over the goal line in the opening minute. Four minutes later, Alex Rios added a goal to make the score 4-0. Garren Jones and Marcel Velasquez added second half goals around the 60-minute mark to round out the Cartersville scoring. Keeper Leo Betancourt earned the shutout in goal for the Canes (3-1)

The 3rd-ranked Cass girls and the 10th-ranked Cass boys closed out the 2020-21 regular season with easy wins at Woodland Friday night while the Adairsville girls upset Rockmart in their regular season finale’, 55-53. CASS GIRLS 67, WOODLAND 35 Londaisha Smith scored 14 points while Claire Davis and Ariana Hames added 10 each in the Lady Colonels win Friday night at Woodland. Mikaela Jackson and Gracie Elkins contributed nine and eight points respectively for Cass. The victory by the Lady Colonels completed an undefeated regular season. Cass led 13-11 after one quarter; 29-21 at halftime; and 48-27 through three quarters. Jordan Thompson led Woodland with 13 points. Abigail Taylor scored nine for the Lady Cats. Woodland (2-19, 1-9) will open the Region 7-AAAAA Tournament Monday at 4 p.m. against Calhoun at Cartersville. Cass (23-0, 10-0) receives an opening round bye and will play Wednesday night at 7 p.m. against Monday night’s Cartersville/Blessed Trinity winner. CASS BOYS 72, WOODLAND 37 The Colonels spread the scoring around Friday night in a 35-point win at Woodland. C.J. Pipkin led the way with 14 points for Cass. Braxton Benham scored 12 and Zaylan Chaney finished with eight points. Jelani Hames contributed eight. Andrew Glaze and Zay Jackson added six points each. Cass raced to a 27-6 lead in the first quarter and was never threatened. The Colonels led 47-16 at halftime and 63-29 after three quarters. K.J. Rogers scored 15 points for Woodland. Tyler Thurman added six. Woodland (3-21, 0-10) opens the Region 7-AAAAA Tournament Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. against Calhoun. Cass (18-6, 8-2) is the top seed in the region tournament, receives an opening round bye, and will face the winner of Monday night’s matchup between Blessed Trinity and Cartersville at the Storm Center. ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 55, ROCKMART 53 The Adairsville girls pulled off one of the bigger upsets of the Region 6-AAA season Friday night when they closed out their regular season slate with a 55-53 win over visiting Rockmart. Rockmart, which will be the 3-seed in the Region 6-AAA Tournament, held leads of 20-16 after one quarter; 27-25 at the intermission; and 40-38 after three quarters. It was the Lady Tigers that outscored the Lady Jackets 17-13 in the fourth quarter, however, to escape with a region win. The win by Adairsville keeps them out of the Saturday play-in round at the region tournament. The Lady Tigers will open the post-season against Murray County Monday night at 6 p.m. In Friday night’s win, Haley Stiles led the Adairsville scoring column with 17 points. YaTorrean Hale scored 10 points. Autumn Henderson chipped in with nine. Lexie Childers totaled eight and Hannah Hollingsworth added eight for the Lady Tigers. Keyarah Berry led Rockmart with 23 points. Megan Little scored 19 for the Yellow Jackets (16-7, 12-4) Adairsville heads into the post-season with a 7-18 overall record after finishing 4-12 in Region 6-AAA. ROCKMART 59, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 57 The Adairsville boys made a late run at visiting Rockmart Friday night, but couldn’t overcome an 11-point deficit heading into the final eight minutes in a narrow 59-57 loss. T.J. Printup, Jr. scored 31 points for the Tigers. Damian Horton led the Yellow Jackets (6-15, 4-12) with 18 points. Adairsville (10-13, 4-12) will begin the Region 6-AAA Tournament Saturday against Ringgold in a 7:30 p.m. start at Sonoraville. MOUNT PARAN CHRISTIAN 58, EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 43 The Excel Christian boys fell behind 10-0 to start the game Friday night and cut the Mount Paran lead to five in the fourth quarter, but failed to convert on some opportunities down the stretch in a 58-43 loss to close out the season. The Eagles trailed 18-12 after one quarter; 32-24 at halftime; and 44-35 heading into the fourth quarter. Rashard Doyal led Excel with 12 points. Kalil Holley scored 10. Blake Bailey finished with nine points. Jakaden Barkley totaled seven and Elijah Payne added five in the loss. Excel Christian finished the season with a 9-15 record.

The Cartersville girls earned an important Region 7-AAAAA win Thursday night at The Storm Center defeating Blessed Trinity, 38-35. The win earns the Lady Canes the No. 5-seed in next week’s region tournament where Cartersville will now rematch with the Lady Titans Monday night in the opening round. Thursday night, Cartersville led 12-6 after one quarter and 20 -14 at halftime, but Blessed Trinity took the lead 29-26 heading into a back-and-forth fourth quarter. Ansley Griffin had a game-high 17 points to lead the Lady Canes. Ari Olotu scored six points. Zoe Casey contributed five and Jamiya Moore had four points for Cartersville. Christa Lair led Blessed Trinity with 14 points. Julia Geis finished with six point for the Lady Titans. The loss drops Blessed Trinity to 5-15 overall and 3-6 in region play. The Lady Titans still have a regular season region game remaining Friday night at 8th-ranked Hiram. Cartersville (6-13, 2-8) opens region tournament play at home Monday night at 7 p.m. against Blessed Trinity. BLESSED TRINITY 63, CARTERSVILLE BOYS 50 The visiting Titans outscored Cartersville 24-5 in the second quarter Thursday night and held off the Hurricanes in the second half for a 63-50 Region 7-AAAAA win at the Storm Center. Blessed Trinity led 14-12 after one quarter; 38-17 at halftime; and 53-37 through three quarters. Jax Bouknight led the scoring for the Titans with 27 points. Ben Hamacher contributed 11 for Blessed Trinity. Kam Callahan led Cartersville with 17 points. Robert Novak scored eight. Kolbe Benham and Jynerieus Stanley had seven each. Amarai Orr added six points for the Canes. Blessed Trinity improved to 16-7 on the season and finished 6-4 in region play. Cartersville (8-11, 3-7) has lost three straight and will open the Region 7-AAAAA tournament Monday night at home as the No. 5-seed. EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 70, ATLANTA JEWISH ACADEMY 46 The Excel Christian boys defeated Atlanta Jewish Academy Thursday night in non-region action, 70-46, in a game played at the Church at Liberty Square. Elijah Payne led Excel with 19 points. Rashard Doyal followed with 13. Blake Bailey and Jakaden Barkley scored 12 points each. Kalil Holley and Trippe Anderson added seven points apiece. LAKEVIEW-FT. OGLETHORPE 73, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 72 Another fourth quarter rally came up just short for the Tigers Thursday night in a one-point loss at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, 73-72. Adairsville led 27-22 after one quarter, but trailed 48-36 at the intermission. LFO extended their lead to 66-53 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Tigers charged back only to come up one point shy. Cameron Gregg led LFO with 29 points. Jamichael Davis scored 23 for the Warriors. T.J. Printup, Jr. scored 39 points for Adairsville. Tucker Deams finished with 20 for the Tigers. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe improved to 12-6 on the season and 10-5 in Region 6-AAA. Adairsville (10-12, 4-11) closes out the regular season at home Friday night against Rockmart.

Adairsville wrestlers Isaac Linley and Dalton Cornett won individual state championships Thursday and led the Tigers to a fifth place team finish at the 2021 GHSA Class AAA State Traditional Wrestling Championship. The 2021 championship tournament is being contested at the Macon Centreplex. Linley in the 120-pound division and Cornett in the 152-pound division won their respective state titles. Adairsville also had a pair of third place finishers. Jaxson Owens finished third in the 106-pound division and Doss Dudley placed third at 126-pounds. Rockmart won the team championship in Class AAA. Sonoraville was second. North Hall and Gilmer also finished just ahead of Adairsville in the top five. Woodland, Cass, and Cartersville hit the mats in Macon Friday and Saturday in the Class AAAAA Traditional Tournament. Woodland qualified a wrestler in all 14 weight divisions. Cass had nine qualifiers and Cartersville seven.

The Woodland girls battled visiting Blessed Trinity to the wire Wednesday night, but couldn’t quite pull out the region win on their home floor falling 47-41. The Lady Cats trailed 10-9 after one quarter, but took a 22-18 lead to the locker room at halftime. The Lady Titans outscored Woodland 15-8 in the third quarter to regain the lead at 33-30 and then held on down the stretch for a six-point, road win. Jaclyn Johns led Blessed Trinity with 10 points. Emaline Rault and Emma Jacobs followed with nine and eight points, respectively. Abigail Taylor paced Woodland with 15 points. Jordan Thompson scored 12. Gracie Styles finished with six points. Ansley Evans finished with four. Dylynn Motes scored two points and Callie Jones added one for the Lady Cats. With the victory, Blessed Trinity (5-14, 3-5) locked up the No. 4-seed for next week’s Region 7-AAAAA tournament to be held at Cartersville. The Lady Titans have remaining regular season region games Thursday at Cartersville and Friday at Hiram. Woodland (2-18, 1-8) is tied with Cartersville for fifth place with a home game remaining Friday at 6 p.m. against 3rd-ranked Cass. BLESSED TRINITY 66, WOODLAND BOYS 25 The visiting Blessed Trinity Titans broke the game wide open in the second period Wednesday night at Woodland by outscoring the Wildcats 29-4 in the period on their way to a 66-25 region win. Blessed Trinity led 9-5 at the end of the first quarter, but built their advantage to 38-9 by halftime. Jax Baknight led all scorers in the game with 27 points for the Titans. Brelace Williams led Woodland with eight points. Alejandro Mays, Jordan Barker, and Roman Niemczeuski added five points each. Blessed Trinity improved to 15-7 on the season and 5-4 in Region 7-AAAAA. The Titans conclude their regular season slate Thursday night at Cartersville. Woodland (3-20, 0-9) plays a final regular season game Friday at home against 10th-ranked Cass.

The Excel Christian Academy boys lost a Region 7-A game at Mount Paran Christian Tuesday night in Kennesaw, 50-39. The Eagles led after one quarter, 17-15, but got into first half foul trouble and went to the intermission trailing 33-23. Mount Paran extended its lead to as much as 44-29 in the second half, but ECA fought back to narrow the deficit to 44-39 in the final minutes. Mount Paran was able to close out the win down the stretch by converting at the free throw line. Elijah Payne led Excel with 11 points. Blake Bailey scored nine. Rashard Doyal and Jakaden Barkley finished with seven points each for the Eagles. Excel (8-13, 1-7) will entertain Atlanta Jewish Academy Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. at the Aubrey Street Lower Gym and will close out the season Friday with a home game against Mount Paran on the Church at Liberty Square campus.

The Woodland girls tennis team dropped its season-opening match Tuesday night at Rockmart, 4-1, and the boys fell 4-0. Woodland girls results: Singles Line 1 — Eryn Gentry lost 4-6, 3-6 Line 2 — Emma Savage lost 0-6, 1-6 Line 3 — Abby Cates won 6-1, 6-4 Doubles Line 1 — Monterya Morrow / Abi Spaulding lost 1-6, 2-6 Line 2 — Jolie Fannin / Jaylee Kilgo lost 3-6, 1-6 Woodland boys results: Singles Line 1 -- Ian Vanorder lost 1-6, 0-6 Line 2 -- Mason Tucker lost 6-4, 5-7, 7-10 (tiebreaker) Line 3 -- default Doubles Line 1 -- Domenic Ciavarro / Javin Bowens lost 0-6, 2-6 Line 2 -- Chandler Verhine / Jack Gore lost 0-6, 0-6 Woodland will host Paulding County Thursday in a 4:15 p.m. scheduled start.

As high school basketball teams across the state of Georgia enter the final week of the 2020-21 regular season, teams in each of the local regions continue to battle for seed positions in their upcoming region tournaments. The Cass girls have secured the No. 1-seed and a state tournament berth already, but the jockeying for position continues for all the other local teams. The Region 7-AAAAA Tournament including Cartersville, Cass, and Woodland will be hosted by Cartersville February 15, 17, and 19. The Region 6-AAA Tournament including Adairsville will be played at Sonoraville and will begin this Saturday and continue through Saturday, February 20. Region 7-A-Private, which includes the Excel Christian Academy boys, will send its top four teams from regular season play to the state playoffs and will not have a region tournament. Below are the current region standings heading into the final week of action and the region tournament schedules for the following week. REGION 7-AAAAA GIRLS REGION 6-AAA GIRLS REGION 7-AAAAA BOYS REGION 6-AAA BOYS REGION 6-A BOYS REGION TOURNAMENT SCHEDULES Region 7-AAAAA Tournament at Cartersville Monday, February 15 4 p.m. — Girls — #3 Calhoun v. #6 seed 5:30 p.m. — Boys — #3 Calhoun v. #6 Woodland 7 p.m. — Girls — #4 seed v. #5 seed 8:30 p.m. — Boys — #4 seed v. #5 seed Wednesday, February 17 4 p.m. — Girls — #2 Hiram v. #3/#6 winner 5:30 p.m. — Boys — #2 Hiram v. #3/#6 winner 7 p.m. — Girls — #1 Cass v. #4/#5 winner 8:30 p.m. — Boys — #1 Cass v. #4/#5 winner Friday, February 19 4 p.m. — Girls Third Place Game 5:30 p.m. — Boys Third Place Game 7 p.m. — Girls Championship Game 8:30 p.m. — Boys Championship Game Region 6-AAA Tournament at Sonoraville Saturday, February 13 6 p.m. — Girls — #8 seed v. #9 Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe 7:30 p.m. — Boys — #8 seed v. #9 Ringgold Monday, February 15 6 p.m. — Girls — #6 seed v. #7 seed 7:30 p.m. — Girls — #5 seed v. #8/#9 winner Tuesday, February 16 6 p.m. — Boys — #6 seed v. #7 seed 7:30 p.m. — Boys — #5 seed v. #8/#9 winner Wednesday, February 17 6 p.m. — Girls — #3 Rockmart v. #6/#7 winner 7:30 p.m. — Girls — #4 Ringgold v. #8/#9/#5 winner Thursday, February 18 6 p.m. — Boys — #3 seed v. #6/#7 winner 7:30 p.m. — Boys — #4 Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe v. #8/#9/#5 winner Friday, February 19 — Semifinals 3 p.m. — Girls — #2 Coahulla Creek v. #6/#7/#3 winner 4:30 p.m. — Boys — #2 seed v. #6/#7/#3 winner (clear gym) 7 p.m. — Girls — #1 Sonoraville v. #8/#9/#5/#4 winner 8:30 p.m. — Boys — #1 seed v. #8/#9/#5/#4 winner Saturday, February 20 2 p.m. — Girls Third Place Game 3:30 p.m. — Boys Third Place Game (clear gym) 7 p.m. — Girls Championship Game 8:30 p.m. -- Boys Championship Game Note: Region standings courtesy MaxPreps.com

The Cartersville boys defeated visiting Central-Carroll Tuesday night, 5-1, to improve to 2-1 on the season. Joel Zazueta put the Canes on the scoreboard in the game’s sixth minute off a feed from Alex Rios inside the 18 yard box. Giovanni Jacobo then gave Cartersville a 2-0 advantage in the 21st minute when he found the back of the net. His unassisted goal came off the rebound of a hard shot. Cartersville put seven of ten first half shots on frame. The Canes’ third goal came in the first two minutes of the second half when Zazueta scored off a long throw from Jackson Brennan. Zazueta later completed his hat trick with a third goal in the 46th minute after taking a ball off a defender. The visiting Lions scored a goal to make the score 4-1, but Rios finished off the Canes’ scoring when he received a cross from Jacobo in the 61st minute. The Hurricanes return to the pitch Friday night at 7 p.m. when they travel to South Paulding. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 0, DALTON 0 The Cartersville and Dalton girls soccer teams played to a 0-0 tie Tuesday night in a non-region game at Dalton. The host Lady Catamounts had the bulk of the scoring opportunities in the contest, but Lady Canes’ keeper Trista Kelly came up big for Cartersville with double digit saves. Cartersville senior center defender Devondria Johnson also had a solid game turning away the Dalton attack on multiple occasions. Cartersville had at least five solid scoring opportunities with shots on frame, but the Dalton keeper kept the Lady Canes off the scoreboard as well. Cartersville (2-0-1) plays at South Paulding Thursday. WOODLAND GIRLS 5, PEPPERELL 0 Tierra Feanny scored three goals Tuesday night and the Woodland Lady Cats scored five goals in the second half for a 5-0 non-region win at Pepperell. Following a scoreless first half, the Woodland offense found a new gear. Feanny scored in the 50th and 52nd minutes for a quick 2-0 second half lead. Hayley Gilbert added a Woodland goal in the 58th minute. Feanny completed her hat trick in the 65th minute and Atlantis Walker rounded out the five-goal barrage with 11:58 remaining. Woodland keepers Chloe Ravis and Abbigail Duncan combined for the shutout in net. The Lady Cats (2-1) play another non-region match at Kell Friday evening. CALHOUN 4, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 2 The Adairsville girls suffered their first loss of the 2021 season Tuesday night in Tiger Valley, 4-2 to Calhoun. Recent Young Harris College signee, Cat Wheeler, gave Adairsville an early 1-0 lead with a goal off an assist from Megan Hardin and the two teams finished the first half tied 1-1, but the second half would belong to the visiting Lady Jackets. “Calhoun took advantage of a few of our defensive miscues in the second half,” said Adairsville coach David Sexauer. “It was a great game and its important for us to play quality teams at the beginning of the season to challenge us.” Adairsville keeper Annie McCormick was credited with several key saves for the Lady Tigers and Ellie McBride was awarded the game ball for her consistent high play throughout the game. The Lady Tigers (2-1) are scheduled to play at Darlington Thursday. ROME 7, CASS GIRLS 1 The Cass girls dropped a 7-1 non-region decision at Rome Tuesday night. The lone Lady Colonels’ goal was scored by Sophie Williams off an assist from Leidi Toribio. Cass (0-2) plays its home opener next Tuesday against Model.