The Cartersville High School competition cheerleading team won its second straight region championship Saturday and qualified for the Class AAAAA state finals in Macon February 15-16 with a second place sectional finish. Cass, who finished third in Region 7-AAAAA and also competed at Cartersville, qualified for the state finals with an eighth place sectional finish in Class AAAAA. Adairsville placed third in Region 6-AAA and was the sixth qualifier in their Class AAA Sectional at Houston County. Sectional Results Cartersville-AAAAA 1. Greenbrier 2. Cartersville 3. Loganville 4. Calhoun 5. Walnut Grove 6. St. Pius X 7. Eastside 8. Cass Houston County -AAA 1. Mary Persons 2. Pierce County 3. Morgan County 4. Rockmart 5. Ringgold 6. Adairsville 7. Sonoraville 8. Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe

Georgia Highlands started a four-game baseball series with Snead State Thursday with a pair of games at LakePoint in Emerson. The Chargers won 10-0 and 8-1 in the doubleheader. In the opener, Trace Twardoski and Gavin Harmon both homered as the Chargers broke open a 3-0 game through five innings with a seven-run sixth inning. Chase Townsend (5.2 IP, 0R, 3H, 1BB, 2K) and Cason Rich (0.1 IP, 0R, 0H, 1BB) combined for a six inning shutout in Game 1. Twardoski (2 RBIs) and Palmer Sapp had two hits. Harmon’s blast drove in three runs. DH Ben Olson also had a two-hit game. In Thursday’s second game, Ryan Suppa picked up his first pitching win of the year with a five strikeout effort. Caleb Garner (0.2 IP), Matthew Silka (1 IP, 0R, 1H, 1K), and Chandler Wood (1 IP) closed out the game on the mound for the Chargers. Twardoski homered for the second time on the day and drove in three more runs. Joe Sutton had two hits for Georgia Highlands. GHC (4-0) will host Snead State again Sunday in another doubleheader to conclude the series. The games begin at 1 p.m. at LakePoint.

The Cass and Cartersville girls soccer teams won non-region games Friday night. The Lady Colonels won at Cedartown, 3-1 and the Lady Canes blanked visiting Chestatee, 5-0. CASS GIRLS 3, CEDARTOWN 1 The Cass girls soccer team won at Cedartown Friday night 3-1 to begin their 2021 regular season. Leidi Toribio scored twice for the Lady Colonels and Madison Shook added a goal. Toribio, Morgan Tompkins, and Michelle Escobar were all credited with assists. Cass (1-0) travels to Rome for another non-region game Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 5, CHESTATEE 0 The Lady Canes blanked visiting Chestatee 5-0 Friday evening in a non-region contest. Freshman Hattie Williams had two goals for Cartersville. Freshman Maci Nicklas scored a goal and seniors Kendyl Anderson and Devondria Johnson added one goal each. Keila Jiminez assisted on the two Williams’ goals. Johnson and Paola Robledo both recorded an assist. The Cartersville girls (2-0) travel to Dalton Tuesday for a 6 p.m. start.

The Cass girls and boys basketball teams swept a pair of home games Friday night, defeating Calhoun in Region 7-AAAAA action. The 61-43 win by the Lady Colonels locked up a state tournament berth and secured the No. 1-seed in the region tournament that begins February 15 at Cartersville. The Colonels avenged an earlier regular season loss to Calhoun with a 74-59 win over the Yellow Jackets. The Cass girls started slowly and trailed 12-11 at the end of Friday night’s first quarter, but rebounded to take a 30-21 lead by halftime. They maintained the nine-point advantage through three quarter at 41-32 and pulled away in the final eight minutes for an 18-point win. Londaisha Smith scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Lady Colonels. Claire Davis scored 13. Ariana Hames contributed eight points. Haley Johnson and Gracie Elkins chipped in with five each. Keara McDaniel scored four and Mikaela Jackson added three points for Cass. Britiya Curtis led Calhoun with 19 points. Lyndi Rae Davis scored 11 for the Lady Jackets (12-10, 4-4). Cass (21-0, 8-0), ranked 4th in Class AAAAA, takes its unbeaten mark into the final week of the regular season where they will play at Blessed Trinity Monday at 6 p.m. and close out the schedule at Woodland next Friday in a 6 p.m. start. CASS BOYS 74, CALHOUN 59 Senior Braxton Benham scored 19 points and had six steals, five assists, and two rebounds as the Colonels celebrated their Senior Night and avenged an earlier loss to Calhoun, 74-59. Calhoun beat visiting Cass back on January 19, 69-62. Friday night, the Colonels controlled most of the action. Cass led 22-14 after one quarter; 43-30 at halftime; and 54-43 through three quarters on their way to a 15-point win. Zaylan Chaney scored 17 points for Cass with four rebounds and a pair of blocked shots. C.J. Pipkin was next with 15 points, four assists, three steals, and three rebounds. Jelani Hames contributed nine points. Zay Jackson and Ethan McIntyre added seven points apiece. Peyton Law led Cahoun with 15 points. Dylan Faulkner and Jaylan Harris followed with 12 and 10 points, respectively. The Jackets slipped to 10-10 on the season and 4-4 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (17-6, 7-2) can clinch the No. 1-seed and a Class AAAAA state playoff berth next Friday with a win at Woodland. NORTH MURRAY 30, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 24 Tenley Gladson led North Murray with 15 points and Ava Robinette added six as the Lady Mountaineers defeated Adairsville, 30-24. Adairsville trailed 19-16 at halftime and 30-22 after three quarters. Lexie Childers led the Lady Tigers in scoring with seven points — all in the first half. Autumn Henderson, Ya’Torrean Hale, and Makayla Wade finished with four each for Adairsville. North Murray improved to 7-15 overall and 3-11 in Region 6-AAA. Adairsville (6-17, 3-11) plays at LaFayette Tuesday at 6 p.m. and will host Rockmart next Friday at 7 p.m.

The Cartersville girls and boys basketball teams swept home games against Woodland Friday night at the Storm Center. The Lady Canes rallied in the second half for a 37-32 come-from-behind victory and the Hurricanes cruised to a 77-36 win in the nightcap. Lehla Thomas had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cartersville girls. Ansley Griffin followed with eight points. Sequoyah McConnell was next with five points and seven rebounds. Jamiya Moore and Kiera Milline chipped in with three points each. Ari Olotu and Zoe Casey added two points apiece. Jordan Thompson and Ansley Evans led the Lady Cats with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Abigail Taylor finished with four points. Gracie Styles added two. Cartersville (5-11, 1-6) picked up their first Region 7-AAAAA win of the year. The Lady Canes travel to No. 8-ranked Hiram for a 1 p.m. start Saturday. Next week Cartersville travels to Calhoun Tuesday and will finish the regular season at home Thursday against Blessed Trinity. Woodland (2-15, 1-6) hosts Hiram Tuesday, Blessed Trinity Wednesday, and Cass Friday to wrap up the regular season. All three games are 6 p.m. starts. The Cartersville boys led 39-16 by halftime and eased to a 77-36 home, region win. Kolbe Benham led the scoring for the Hurricanes with 19 points. Robert Novak followed with 13. Chaz Henderson and Luke Gambill finished with nine points each. Amarai Orr and Romo Pace chipped in eight apiece. Kam Callahan scored five points. Jynerieus Stanley contributed four points and Chandlier Wise added two. Roman Niemczewski led Woodland with eight points. Tyler Thurman scored six and Brelace Williams had five points for the Wildcats. Woodland falls to 3-18 on the year and 0-7 in Region 7-AAAAA. The Wildcats host home games next week against Hiram Tuesday, Blessed Trinity Wednesday, and Cass next Friday. Cartersville (8-8, 3-4) plays at Hiram Saturday afternoon, at Calhoun Tuesday, and wraps up the regular season next Thursday at home against Blessed Trinity. DARLINGTON 75, EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 55 The Eagles trailed by 20 points at halftime and struggled with foul trouble Friday night in a 75-55 loss at Darlington. The host Tigers (13-6, 6-2 in Region 7-A) led 47-27 at the intermission and were up 62-45 at the end of the third quarter. Elijah Payne and Jakaden Barley led Excel with 16 and 14 points, respectively. Kalil Holley contributed 10 points. Blake Bailey scored seven. Rashard Doyal finished with six and Trippe Anderson added two points for the Eagles. Excel (8-13, 1-6) has a home-and-home Tuesday and Friday with region-foe Mount Paran. The local Eagles will host on Friday. They also have a makeup game next week with Atlanta Jewish Academy.

A youthful Adairsville boys soccer team is off to an 0-3 start this season, but new coach Salvador Grimaldo plans to be patient yet have rising expectations for his young Tigers. “This is a learning year for our team,” said Grimaldo. “We only have a few players returning from last season and the roster will include 14 freshmen.” The Tigers have started the season with three non-region games and have dropped all three, falling to Woodland (10-4), Gordon Central (10-0), and most recently Trion Thursday night, 3-0. “The team is working hard and adapting to the expectations,” noted Grimaldo. “We’ve suffered from some inexperience, but I look forward to turning this adversity around in order to acquire some victories.” In the opening loss to Woodland, Manuel Lopez scored three goals for the Tigers with Edgar Rojas adding another off an assist by Lopez. Adairsville will take much of their younger group to Barron Stadium Friday evening for a JV match with Rome and the next varsity scheduled match is next Thursday (Feb. 11) at Darlington.

The Adairsville girls soccer team blanked visiting Trion Thursday in Tiger Valley, 10-0. The Lady Tigers led 7-0 at the intermission, so the second half was shortened to 20 minutes. Adairsville’s Cat Wheeler, who finished the night with a school record-tying five goals, scored the first three goals for Adairsville in the first, sixth, and eight minutes of the contest. She later added goals on a direct kick at the 23rd minute and the 60th minute mark. Ellie Causby had a pair of assists on the Wheeler goals. Causby scored in the 10th minute for Adairsville off a corner kick from Kaylee Jordan. Megan Hardin added a goal in the 16th minute. Lillie McBride scored a goal in the 27th minute and Maddie Gossett posted two goals in the 44th and 57th minute marks. McBride and Jordyn Hartline had assists on the Gossett goals. “We established ourselves quickly tonight and took control of the game from the very first touch of the ball,” said Lady Tigers’ head coach David Sexauer. “The girls controlled the ball and we were able to get playing time for the entire team. Cat (Wheeler) tied a single-game record tonight and her 36-yard direct kick was beautiful.” Adairsville (2-0) hosts Calhoun next Tuesday.

The Adairsville boys basketball team lost at North Murray Thursday night 63-54 in a makeup game in Chatsworth. Janigious Ress and Dante Tidwell led the Mountaineers (8-11, 3-9) with 20 and 16 points, respectively. The Tigers, who led by six at halftime and at the end of the third quarter, struggled in the final period. T.J. Printup, Jr. was the top scorer for Adairsville with 19 points. Tucker Deams finished with 12 and Zac Postell added eight points for the Tigers. Adairsville (10-9, 4-8) plays at Coahulla Creek Saturday afternoon in another Region 6-AAA game at 4:30 p.m.

The Excel Christian Academy Middle School team won the North Atlanta Metro League 8th grade boys championship Thursday night by defeating Dominion Christian in the championship game, 61-35. Excel jumped out to a 14-0 lead and cruised to an eventual 26-point win. The Eagles led 21-4 after one quarter; 31-9 at halftime; and 46-23 through three quarters. K.D. Baldwin led Excel with 20 points. Josiah Payne followed with 12. Anthony Moreno scored seven points. Jamai McClure finished with six points. Lorenzo McCorvey posted five. Jordan Jarvis contributed four points. Isaiah Moreno had three. Tyrek Hames and Christian Teasley added two points each in the win. Xavier French and Daniel Lewis also saw action for the Eagles. Skye Jackson led Dominion with 14 points. Excel finished the season with a 19-1 record.

The Adairsville girls soccer team went on the road and blanked Gordon Central Tuesday night 6-0 to open the Lady Tigers’ 2021 regular season campaign. Cat Wheeler scored three goals while Megan Hardin, Elle Causby, and Maddie Gosset each scored one goal each. Taylor Rhodes, Kaylee Jordan, Causby, and Wheeler all had assists. Tuesday’s matchup was tight through the first half. “Cold weather and high winds influenced a lot of the play in the first half,” said Adairsville coach David Sexauer. “We were able to pull away in the second half. That allowed us to play some girls in different positions and include the value of our subs off the bench. A key to our team success this year is to have confidence in all our team members and have them gain the skills to contribute on the field.” Adairsville (1-0) hosts a non-region game Thursday with Trion at 5 p.m.

The Woodland girls soccer team dropped its 2021 season and home opener to East Paulding Wednesday evening, 2-1. Tiera Feanny scored the lone Lady Cats’ goal in the fourth minute. Woodland (0-1) travels to Cedartown Monday. In boys action, the Wildcats lost to visiting East Paulding Wednesday 3-2. Chris Sanchez and Cooper Varga scored goals for Woodland (2-1).

The Woodland girls lost a nail-biter Wednesday at Blessed Trinity in a Region 7-AAAAA make-up game in Roswell, 38-37. The Lady Cats trailed 15-5 after one quarter; 19-14 at halftime; and 26-19 heading into the fourth quarter before coming up just one point short. Emaline Rault led the Lady Titans (4-11, 2-2) with 11 points. Woodland’s Jordan Thompson scored a game-high 17 points. Reagan Weightman and Abigail Taylor followed for the Lady Cats with seven and six points, respectively. Woodland (2-14, 1-5) plays at Cartersville Friday in a 7 p.m. start.