The Cass boys took a huge step toward securing the No. 1-seed for the Region 7-AAAAA tournament Friday night with a 53-48 road win at Blessed Trinity. Cass had won eight straight games prior to Tuesday night's loss at region-foe Calhoun, but Blessed Trinity also lost at Hiram Tuesday to leave the Colonels with a one-game lead heading into Friday night's contest. The Colonels trailed 18-7 after one quarter and trailed 23-17 into the locker room at halftime. The Colonels rallied in the third quarter to tie the score at 33-all heading into the final eight minutes. Cass outscored Blessed Trinity 20-15 in the fourth quarter to secure the important region victory. Zaylan Chaney paced the Colonels with a 26-point performance. Braxton Benham followed with 11. Andrew Glaze contributed six points. C.J. Pipkin and Zay Jackson finished with four points apiece. Ethan McIntyre added two. Ben Hamacher, Jonathan Franchi, and Jax Bouknight led the Titans (13-6, 3-3) with 16, 14, and 10 points, respectively. Cass (14-5, 4-1) hosts Woodland Tuesday night and plays at Cartersville Friday. Both contests are Region 7-AAAAA matchups. NOTE: The girls teams did not play due to Covid concerns at Blessed Trinity. The girls teams are schedule to make up their game at Blessed Trinity on Tuesday, February 9.

In a makeup game Wednesday at Blessed Trinity, the Woodland boys were limited to only five points per quarter in a 69-20 loss. The game was played eight days after its originally scheduled date due to COVID-19 protocols. The host Titans led 20-5 after one quarter; 36-10 at halftime; and 59-15 through three quarters. K.J. Rogers led the Wildcats with 15 points. Woodland (2-13, 0-3) plays at Hiram Friday.

Woodland and Cartersville split a pair of basketball games Tuesday night on the Wildcats’ home floor. The Lady Cats rallied in the second half to top the Lady Canes in overtime, 56-58 while the Cartersville boys handed the Wildcats their ninth straight loss, 87-32. The Cartersville girls led 13-10 after one quarter and built a 31-19 lead by halftime, but Woodland narrowed the margin to 35-32 by the end of the third period. The two teams were tied at 44 each at the end of regulation. Abigail Taylor had a game-high 22 points to lead the Lady Cats. Jordan Thompson followed with 13 points. Reagan Weightman contributed eight. Gracie Styles scored seven points and Ansley Evans added six for Woodland. Miya Moore and Ansley Griffen led Cartersville with 14 and 11 points, respectively. Kierra Milline and A.J. Davenport tossed in six points each. Woodland improved to 2-10 overall and 1-1 in Region 7-AAAAA. The Lady Cats travel to Hiram Friday night for a 6 p.m. start. Cartersville (4-7, 0-3) hosts Calhoun Friday at 7 p.m. CARTERSVILLE BOYS 87, WOODLAND 32 The Cartersville boys raced to a 21-2 lead in the first quarter Tuesday night and led 52-11 at halftime on their way to an 87-32 Region 7-AAAAA win at Woodland. Kolbe Benham led the Canes with 14 points. Kam Callahan followed with 13. Romo Pace scored 10 points. Chaz Henderson, Amarai Orr, Robert Novak, and Jynerieus Stanley contributed nine points each. Luke Gambill chipped in eight. K.J. Rogers finished with 12 points for the Wildcats. Jordan Barker added nine. The Hurricanes (6-4, 1-2) are scheduled to host Calhoun Friday at 8 p.m. The loss by the Wildcats was their ninth straight. Woodland (2-12, 0-2) plays at Blessed Trinity Wednesday and will travel to Hiram Friday night.

The Cass basketball teams split games at Calhoun Tuesday night in Region 7-AAAAA action. In their first region road games of the year, the Lady Colonels defeated the Lady Jackets 67-47 while the Calhoun boys handed the Colonels their first region loss of the season, 69-62. Londaisha Smith led Cass with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Claire Davis followed with 17 points, seven rebounds, and seven steals. Justice Bennett finished with eight points and Haley Johnson added seven for the Lady Colonels. The loss drops Calhoun to 9-8 overall and 2-2 in region play. Cass (17-0, 4-0) is off until next Tuesday when the Lady Colonels host Woodland. CALHOUN 69, CASS BOYS 62 The Colonels had an eight-game win streak snapped Tuesday night in their first Region 7-AAAAA road game at Calhoun, 69-62. The loss was magnified later in the evening when the Colonels learned Hiram had knocked off Blessed Trinity. A Cass win would have given the Colonels a two-game edge in the region standings. Instead, Cass remains one game ahead in the Region 7-AAAAA standings. Tuesday night, the host Yellow Jackets led at the end of each period. Calhoun was ahead 15-13 after one period; 32-25 at halftime; and 49-45 at the end of the third quarter. Dylan Faulkner scored a game-high 28 points for Calhoun. Peyton Law finished with 18 and Christopher Lewis scored 10 points for the Yellow Jackets. C.J. Pipkin led Cass with 22 points. Zaylan Chaney and Braxton Benham added 13 each. Calhoun improved to 7-8 overall and 2-2 in the region. Cass (13-5, 3-1) travels to Blessed Trinity Friday for an 8 p.m. start. DARLINGTON 72, EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 48 The visiting Darlington Tigers built a 42-28 lead by halftime and cruised to a 24-point win Tuesday night at Excel Christian, 72-48. Braden Bell made eight shots from behind the arc and scored 26 points for Darlington. Patrick Shelley contributed 25 points for the Tigers. Elijah Payne led ECA with 17 points. Blake Bailey followed with 11 for the Eagles. Darlington improved to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in Region 7-A Private. Excel Christian (5-9, 0-3) hosts Mount Paran Christian Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and travels to Atlanta Jewish Academy in Atlanta Saturday night for an 8 p.m. start. SONORAVILLE 65, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 37 The Sonoraville girls continue to lead Region 6-AAA following Tuesday night’s 65-37 win at Adairsville. The visiting Phoenix led 17-6 after one quarter and 36-15 by halftime on their way to a 28-point win. Abby Chambers led Sonoraville (12-3, 8-1) with 24 points. Haley Stiles and Lexie Childers scored 15 and 12, respectively, for the Lady Tigers. Adairsville (5-12, 2-7) entertains LaFayette Friday night at 7 p.m. SONORAVILLE 46, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 43 The unbeaten Sonoraville Phoenix spoiled the Tigers’ Senior Night celebration by holding off a second half surge by Adairsville, 46-43. Sonoraville (15-0, 9-0) built a 28-19 first half lead, but Adairsville narrowed the margin to 32-31 by the end of the third quarter. Orry Darnell and Murray Somers led the visiting Phoenix with 12 and 10 points, respectively. T.J. Printup, Jr. scored 12 for Adairsville. Tre Mitchell followed with 10 points. Adairsville (9-6, 4-5) hosts LaFayette Friday night in an 8:30 p.m. scheduled start.

The Cass basketball teams both remain ranked in the top ten in a pair of recognized statewide polls. The Lady Colonels (16-0) are ranked No. 5 in the most recent Score Atlanta Class 5A rankings and they are ranked No. 6 by this week’s SandysSpiel.com rankings. The Colonels (13-4) are the No. 7 team in Class 5A in the SandysSpiel.com poll and are No. 9 in the Score Atlanta rankings. The complete Class AAAAA polls are listed below. The Hiram girls (8-3) are in the same region with Cass and are ranked 8th in both polls. Blessed Trinity’s boys (12-4) are ranked 9th in the SandysSpiel.com poll and 10th with Score Atlanta. None of the other local teams are currently ranked in their respective top ten rankings although some of their region foes made the cut this week. On the girls side, Coahulla Creek (14-2) and Sonoraville (10-3) are in the top ten in Class AAA and in Adairsville’s region. In boys action, LaFayette (9-0), Sonoraville (13-0), and Murray County are in the top ten in at least one of the two polls out of Adairsville’s Class AAA region. In Class A-Private, Excel’s region-mate Christian Heritage (12-2) is ranked 7th in one poll and 8th in the other. SandysSpiel.com CLASS AAAAA BOYS 1 - Tri-Cities (12-4) 2 - Eagle’s Landing (16-1) 3 - St. Pius X (13-2) 4 - Veterans (12-0) 5 - Forest Park (7-1) 6 - Lithonia (7-2) 7 - Cass (13-4) 8 - Woodward Academy (9-4) 9 - Blessed Trinity (12-4) 10 - Chapel Hill (10-6) Score Atlanta CLASS AAAAA BOYS 1 - St. Pius X 2 - Eagle’s Landing 3 - Tri-Cities 4 - Veterans 5 - Forest Park 6 - Woodward Academy 7 - Lithonia 8 - Jonesboro 9 - Cass 10 - Blessed Trinity SandysSpiel.com CLASS AAAAA GIRLS 1 - Forest Park (11-2) 2 - Woodward Academy (5-1) 3 - Maynard Jackson (11-2) 4 - SW DeKalb (9-2) 5 - Loganville (15-2) 6 - Cass (16-0) 7 - St. Pius X (12-1) 8 - Hiram (8-3) 9 - Griffin (9-4) 10 - New Manchester (10-3) Score Atlanta CLASS AAAAA GIRLS 1 - Forest Park 2 - Jackson-Atlanta 3 - Loganville 4 - Woodward Academy 5 - Cass 6 - St. Pius X 7 - SW DeKalb 8 - Warner Robins 9 - Hiram 10 - New Manchester

The girls and boys high school region basketball standings for local teams. REGION 6A BOYS REGION 6AAA GIRLS REGION 6AAA BOYS REGION 7-AAAAA GIRLS REGION 7-AAAAA BOYS Standings data courtesy MaxPreps.com.

The Adairsville swim team scored 283 points Saturday and finished third overall at the 24-team Northwest Georgia Swim Championships at Calhoun High School. The host Yellow Jackets won the title with 624.5 points. Jefferson was runner-up. Notre Dame (TN), and Pickens were fourth and fifth, respectively. Woodland finished 14th in the meet. Cass was 19th. The Adairsville girls totaled 178 of the Tigers’ points. The Woodland girls scored 66 of the Wildcats’ 96 and the Cass boys scored all 41 of the Colonels team points. Adairsville had five top three individual and relay finishes. Harper Powell was second in both the 50 free and 100 backstroke. Josie Siniard was third in the 500 free. Mallory Cook, Sam Pasley, Siniard, and Powell combined to finish second in the 400 free relay. Andy Barnett was third in the 100 free. Complete event results are shown below:

The Woodland wrestling team won the six-team, Region 7-AAAAA duals championship Saturday at Cartersville High School and remains on track for a possible third-straight state title. With their region win, the Wildcats will now host a four-team state preliminary meet next week with that winner advancing to the eight-team state finals the following week at Locust Grove High School. Saturday, Woodland defeated Calhoun in the region semifinals and Cass topped host Cartersville to set up a highly-anticipated championship match between two of the top squads in Class AAAAA and local community rivals. The Wildcats and Colonels split the first eight matches, but Woodland won each of the final six matches starting at 126-pounds to capture the championship. Meanwhile, Calhoun finished third in the region tournament and Cartersville — who finished 2-2 for the day — was fourth. The Canes had wins over Hiram and Blessed Trinity with losses to Cass and Calhoun. As runner-up, Cass advances to a four-team state preliminary meet next week at the Region 5-AAAAA champion. Cartersville will also be on the road in a similar four-team event at the Region 6 champion. TIGERS RUNNER-UP IN AREA 4-AAA The Adairsville wrestling team finished runner-up Saturday as they hosted the four-team Area 4-AAA Duals Championship. The Tigers will advance, but will now be on the road at the Area 2 champion for a four-team meet. Adairsville head coach Ryan Torrence said Saturday he expected that opponent to be Pike County. The winner of that four-team meet will advance to the eight-team state finals to be held this season at Cherokee Bluff High School in Flowery Branch. In Saturday’s Area tournament, Adairsville defeated Greater Atlanta Christian and Westminster but lost to Rockmart in the round-robin style meet to finish as runner-up. Following the meet, Torrence was excited about his team’s chances in the next round. “Isaac Linley (120) and Dalton Cornett (152) had impressive days,” he noted, “and I’m really happy our seniors are getting their season and enjoying success for the work they’ve put in over the last four years.”

The Adairsville basketball teams split a non-region doubleheader at Pickens Saturday while the Cass boys won their eighth straight game. In Jasper, the Adairsville boys out-dueled the Pickens Dragons for a 71-66 win but the Lady Tigers fell to Pickens, 68-37. The Cass boys — also playing a non-region, home game — defeated Cornerstone, 78-56. PICKENS 68, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 37 Madison Powell scored 14 points; Bella Howell finished with 12; and Cassidy Richards contributed 10 points as host Pickens defeated Adairsville. 68-37. Pickens, who led 19-17 after the first quarter, broke open a tight game in the second quarter by outscoring Adairsville 27-4. From there, the Dragons (12-3) cruise to a 31-point victory. Lexie Childers led Adairsville with 12 points.Haley Stiles finished with eight. Adairsville (5-11) hosts Sonoraville Tuesday at 6 p.m. ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 71, PICKENS 66 The Tigers had three players reach double-figure scoring Saturday as Adairsville held off home-standing Pickens, 71-66. In a close game throughout, Adairsville held leads of 25-24 after one quarter; 43-40 at halftime; and 61-50 by the end of the third quarter before Cass rallied to outscore the Tigers 10-4 in the final period. T.J. Printup, Jr. had a game-high 25 points for Adairsville. Zac Postell scored 16 and Hayden Poarch added 14 points. Owen Moss paced the Dragons with 22 point. Tucker Lowe added 12 points and Will Roland contributed 10. Pickens fell to 7-8 with the loss. Adairsville (9-5) hosts Sonoraville Tuesday as the Tiger return to region play. CASS BOYS 78, CORNERSTONE PREP ACADEMY 56 Saturday afternoon at home, the Colonels led 19-9 after one quarter; 33-24 at halftime; and 54-45 through three quarters as they defeated Cornerstone 78-56. C.J. Pipkin led the Colonels with 26 points. Braxton Benham followed with 18. Ethan McIntyre posted 11 points and Andrew Glaze added 10. Pipkin had three assists; McIntyre contributed 10 boards and Benham grabbed nine rebounds. Glaze and Pipkin combined for seven assists. The loss drops Cornerstone Prep to 10-5 for the season. The Colonels (13-4) travel to Calhoun Tuesday and Blessed Trinity on Friday.

In a Region 7-AAAAA battle of Top Ten ranked girls teams, the Cass Lady Colonels came from behind Friday night to outlast visiting Hiram, 55-48. Hiram, ranked 8th in Class 5A, led at the end of each of the first three periods. The Lady Hornets were up 15-9 after the opening eight minutes; 29-17 at the intermission; and 40-36 through three quarters. But Cass rallied in the fourth quarter. A 13-0 run midway through the final period helped the Lady Colonels outscore Hiram 19-8 over the final eight minutes to pull out a seven-point victory. Londaisha Smith led Cass with 22 points. Ariana Hames followed with a dozen. Haley Johnson contributed eight points. Claire Davis finished with seven. Justice Bennett and Makyera Baldwin added four and two points, respectively. Sydney Jones and Erial Owens combined for 28 first half points for Hiram but the duo was limited to only seven in the second half by the Lady Colonels’ defense. Jones finished with a game-high 23. Owens totaled 12. The loss leaves the Lady Hornets at 8-3 for the season and 1-1 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass, ranked 5th by one statewide poll and 7th in another, improved to 16-0 for the year and 3-0 in region play. The Lady Colonels play at Calhoun Tuesday in another region contest. CASS BOYS 77, HIRAM 59 The Colonels had a balanced scoring attack Friday night with five players reaching double digits in a 77-59 home, Region 7-AAAAA win over Hiram. C.J. Pipkin and Zaylan Chaney scored 16 points each for Cass. Braxton Benham followed with 15 points. Ethan McIntyre contributed 11 and Andrew Glaze had 10. Jelani Hames was next with eight points. The loss drops the Hornets to 6-7 overall and 1-1 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (12-4, 3-0) travels to Calhoun for a 7:30 p.m. start Tuesday. BLESSED TRINITY 47, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 34 The Cartersville girls fell at Blessed Trinity Friday night, 47-34, in Regon 7-AAAAA action. The host Lady Titans led at each quarter stop. Blessed Trinity was up 11-8 after one quarter; 29-15 at halftime; and 36-19 through three periods on their way to a 13-point win. Maura Ryan had a game-high 20 points for the Blessed Trinity. Christa Lair added nine for the Lady Titans (3-10, 1-2). Ansley Griffen paced the Lady Canes with 11 points. Miya Moore totaled nine for Cartersville. The Lady Canes (3-7, 0-2) play at Woodland Tuesday at 6 p.m. BLESSED TRINITY 73, CARTERSVILLE BOYS 67 (Overtime) The Cartersville boys fell behind early Friday night at Blessed Trinity but slowly battled their way back and eventually sent the game to overtime before succumbing to the 9th-ranked Titans, 73-67. Blessed Trinity led 23-7 at the end of the first quarter and held a 40-23 advantage at halftime, but Cartersville narrowed the margin to 50-47 by the end of the third quarter. The two teams ended regulation tied 58-58 before the host Titans outscored the Canes 15-9 in the overtime period for a six-point, region win. Jax Bouknight poured in 38 points for Blessed Trinity. Johnathan Franchi added 10 as the Titans improved to 11-4 for the year and 2-1 in Region 7-AAAAA. Kam Callahan led Cartersville with 23 points. Amarai Orr followed with 16 for the Hurricanes. Cartersville (5-4, 0-2) returns to region action Tuesday at Woodland at 7:30 p.m. CALHOUN 56, WOODLAND GIRLS 28 Abigail Taylor and Jordan Thompson led the Lady Cats with 10 and nine points, respectively, but the visiting Calhoun girls won the Region 7-AAAAA matchup 56-28. Calhoun improved to 9-7 overall and 2-1 in region play. Woodland (1-10, 0-1) hosts Cartersville Tuesday night at 6 p.m. CALHOUN 68, WOODLAND BOYS 27 The visiting Yellow Jackets led 20-9 after one quarter Friday night and carried a 37-13 lead to the intermission on their way to a 39-point Region 7-AAAAA win at Woodland. Peyton Law and Dylan Faulkner paced Calhoun (6-8, 1-2) with 18 and 13 points, respectively. Woodland was led by Alejandro Mays with nine points. K.J. Rogers chipped in with eight and Harlin Morris scored seven for the Wildcats. Woodland (2-11, 0-1) hosts Cartersville Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.

The Cass High swim team defeated Southeast Whitfield 208-57 Tuesday night at the Adairsville High School pool. The Cass girls outscored the visiting Raiders 103-49 and the Cass boys topped Southeast 105-8. Southeast Whitfield was without most of their male swimmers due to COVID restrictions and contact tracing, strongly impacting the final scores. Full individual event results are shown below. Next for the Cass team is the Northwest Region Championship Saturday at Calhoun.

The Cass girls and boys basketball teams beat visiting Cartersville in dominating fashion Tuesday night with the Lady Colonels winning 90-31 and the Colonels adding a 77-41 decision. The Cass girls — who sank 16 three-pointers in the contest — led 20-6 after one quarter; 48-18 at halftime; and 68-26 following three quarters on their way to a 59-point win. More than half of the Lady Colonels’ conversions behind the arc came in the second quarter. Claire Davis, Haley Johnson, and Mikaela Jackson reached double figures for Cass with 14, 13, and 11 points, respectively. Makyera Baldwin and Tatiana Christian followed with nine points each. Londaisha Smith, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career, scored eight. Gracie Elkins also added eight for the Lady Colonels. Ansley Griffen led the Lady Canes with 11 points. Sequoyah McConnell scored eight for Cartersville. Cartersville (3-6, 0-1 in Region 7-AAAAA) had a three-game win streak snapped in the loss. The Lady Canes travel to Blessed Trinity for another region game Friday night at 6:15 p.m. Cartersville will then visit Model Saturday night in a non-region contest. Class 5A, 5th-ranked Cass (15-0, 2-0) will host 8th-ranked Hiram Friday night at 6 p.m. in a showdown between the top two girls teams thus far in the region. In Tuesday’s boys game, the Class 5A, 9th-ranked Colonels got 20 points each from C.J. Pipkin and Braxton Benham along with 13 from Zaylan Chaney to blow past the Hurricanes, 77-41. Chaney added 10 rebounds and Pipkin collected six boards. Benham had three steals. Jelani Hames added eight points and seven rebounds for Cass. Zay Jackson was credited with taking four charges on the defensive end for the Colonels. Kam Callahan scored a team-high 15 points for Cartersville. Jynerieus Stanley added 12 for the Canes. Cartersville (5-3, 0-1 in Region 7-AAAAA) will look to bounce back Friday night in another region game at Blessed Trinity at 8 p.m. Cass (11-4, 2-0) hosts Hiram Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and Cornerstone Christian Saturday at 2:30 p.m. in a non-region matchup.