The 8U and 10U girls basketball all-star teams representing the Bartow County Parks & Recreation Department at the GRPA State Tournament both lost preliminary round games Friday night at Edwards Park in Dalton. At the 10U boys state tournament in Griffin, Bartow lost a preliminary round game Friday night to Savannah, 43-22. 8U GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT The Bartow County 8U girls basketball recreation all-stars team lost its pool play state tournament opener Friday night to Dekalb County 12-7 at Edwards Park in Dalton. Samantha Gough scored five points for Bartow. Rakhia Pace and Payton Dotson added one point each. Friday night’s loss did not eliminate Bartow. The game was part of the seeding process for the single-elimination championship bracket that begins Saturday morning. The Bartow 8U girls will play Rome at 10AM in a quarterfinal round game. The winner will advance to the semifinals against Whitfield County at 1:45 p.m. The championship game is scheduled for 4:45 p.m. Saturday. 10U GIRLS STATE TOURNAMENT The Bartow County 10U girls all-star team lost its seeding round game Friday night to East Point, 28-20. The two teams were tied 9-9 at halftime, but East Point outscored Bartow 19-11 in the second half to earn the victory. Olivia Woods scored 10 points, Sadi Raughton finished with eight points, and Kaitlyn Evans added two for Bartow County in the loss. Bartow 10U will open single-elimination bracket play Saturday morning at Edwards Park with a quarterfinal game at 11:15 a.m. against host Whitfield County. The semifinals are scheduled for 3:30 p.m. and the finals will be Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. 10U BOYS STATE TOURNAMENT At the 10U boys state tournament in Griffin, the Bartow County all-stars lost a preliminary round game to Savannah, 43-22. The seeding round game puts 10U Bartow in a 9 a.m. quarterfinal game Saturday morning against College Park at Taylor Street Gym in Griffin. College Park beat host Spalding County Friday afternoon in their preliminary game, 49-26. The single-elimination tournament semifinals are scheduled for 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon with the state finals set for 6:45 p.m.

Three Georgia Highlands’ pitchers combined to allow only one earned run and scattered five hits as the Chargers defeated Macomb (MI) CC 8-3 Friday night at LakePoint in Emerson. With the victory, GHC has won five of six and carries a 13-5 overall record into the Chargers’ conference opener Saturday at East Georgia CC in Statesboro. Starting pitcher Travis Kuebler (5 IP, 1R, 0ER, 1H, 1BB, 5K) picked up the win and allowed only one unearned run in five innings of work. Connor Dove (2 IP, 2R, 1ER, 3H, 2BB, 3K) and Dalton Bradford (2 IP, 0R, 1H, 0BB, 3K) also contributed from the mound with a pair of innings each. Bryson Horne drove in one run with a pair of hits for the Chargers. Joey Demasi (double) and Austin Foster had two RBI each and one hit. Skylar McPhee (double) and Willis Kemp had a hit and one RBI each. Blake Brady and Cameron Hearn (triple) also had hits. Georgia Highlands travels to Statesboro Saturday to face East Georgia in a Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association game and will play Macomb (MI) CC again Sunday at 12 noon.

Class 7A North Cobb scored twice in the bottom of the seventh Friday night for a walk-off win over visiting Woodland, 3-2. The Wildcats took a 2-1 lead into the final half inning but the host Warriors got a leadoff single by Trevor Lovett and a sac bunt by Andrew Prather to put the tying run in scoring position. After Matthew Terrill was hit by a pitch, Harry Ford and Gavin Rose delivered back-to-back RBI singles to prevail 3-2. The final inning rally spoiled an otherwise solid pitching performance by the Wildcats’ Koby Stansel (6.1 IP, 3ER, 8H, 0BB, 3K). Rose (7 IP, 2R, 1ER, 3H, 4BB, 8K) tossed a complete game for North Cobb to register the win. Ford led the Warriors at the plate with two hits and one RBI. Zach Lewis drove in the other North Cobb run. Stansel had one hit and one RBI for the Wildcats. Titus Jones and Garrett Cornett had the other base hits. North Cobb improved to 6-4 with their win. Woodland (3-4) plays a doubleheader Saturday at Darlington.

Following Wednesday’s announcement, Adairsville native Vic Beasley will be with the Atlanta Falcons through the 2019 season. The Falcons picked up Beasley’s fifth-year option that will make his 2019 salary in the neighborhood of $13 million. The Falcons have indicated they plan to move Beasley back to defensive end for the 2018 season — a more natural position for the former Clemson All-American. Beasley was utilized at outside linebacker in 2017 and was forced to deal with an early season injury that kept him out of four games. After leading the NFL in in 2016 with 15.5 sacks and six forced fumbles, his numbers dropped in 2017. He recorded 29 tackles this past season with five sacks and one forced fumble.

Jake Gooch hit a second inning, two-run homer and Mason Barnett drove in a run in the third inning Thursday evening as 3rd-ranked Cartersville defeated Rome 3-0 at LakePoint in Emerson. Cartersville utilized five pitchers in their shutout of the Wolves. Starter Levi Ayers (3 IP, 0R, 2H, 2BB, 1K) was credited with the pitching win with four additional Hurricanes tossing one inning each. Cohen Wilbanks (1BB, 3K), J.P. Martin (1H), Gooch (1H, 2K), and Gage Morris (1K) all worked a scoreless frame. Along with his home run, Gooch had a second hit. Barnett and Preston Welchel also had two hits.LaDarius Winburn added a double for the Canes’ seven-hit total. Rome (3-3) had four players with one hit each. Cartersville (6-3) will play two games Saturday at Forsyth Central High School. The Canes will face River Ridge at 1:30 p.m. and the host Bulldogs at 4 p.m. The Hurricanes also now know their first round opponent for the Perfect Game High School Showdown at LakePoint that begins Thursday, March 8. Cartersville will play Seminary (Miss.) at 8:30 p.m. in the first of four games March 8-10.

The Cartersville High School boys basketball team had its state playoff run come to an end Wednesday night in Milledgeville with a 64-52 loss to the Baldwin Braves. Baldwin -- who made a total of 10 three-pointers in the game -- led 17-13 after one quarter and held a 28-24 advantage at halftime. The Braves led by as many as ten points in the second quarter. Brenden Robertson had seven of his 12 points in the first half and Torez Hicks had six in the first 16 minutes. Perignon Dyer scored nine of his 11 points in the first half on a trio of three-pointers. Baldwin took a six point lead after three quarters at 40-34 and the Braves pushed their lead to as much as 11 points with 2:23 remaining in the game. The Hurricanes did not go away easily however. Isaac Gridley buried a three-pointer with 1:36 remaining to pull Cartersville within six at 55-49, but that would be as close as the Canes would come. Donte Justice and Rodney Walker led Baldwin (24-6) with 18 points each. T.J. Horton led four Canes in double figures with 19 points. Jaylon Pugh finished with 12, Perignon Dyer scored 11, and Isaac Gridley added 10 points. Baldwin advances to the Class AAAA Final Four Friday at Fort Valley State at 4 p.m. against St. Pius. St. Pius defeated Carver-Columbus 77-66 Wednesday night. Top-ranked Upson-Lee will face Sandy Creek in the other state semifinal Friday night at 8 p.m. -- also at Fort Valley State. Upson-Lee overpowered LaFayette 70-40 in the quarterfinals Wednesday. Sandy Creek topped Burke County 64-44. Horton, Pugh, JKobe Orr, and Grant Harris are seniors who competed in their final game for the Canes. Cartersville’s season ends with a 21-7 record.

Clemson started spring practice Wednesday evening in its indoor practice facility with former Cartersville High School signal caller Trevor Lawrence one of four quarterbacks competing for the position. Returning starter Kelly Bryant leads the group that also includes redshirt freshman Chase Brice and five-star prospects Hunter Johnson and Lawrence. Coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers have 30 returning seniors and an offense that has plenty of returning fire power to go with a defensive line that was among the country’s best in 2017. Clemson will spread out a total of 15 workout sessions during the spring that will include eight full-contact practices. The 2018 Orange & White spring game will be Saturday afternoon, April 14. Clemson is seeking a fourth-straight appearance in the College Football Playoffs.

The Cartersville boys basketball team travels to Milledgeville tonight to face Baldwin in the Class AAAA state quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. The winner will reach the Final Four on Friday at 4 p.m. at Fort Valley State to face the St. Pius / Carver-Columbus survivor. Baldwin (23-6) won Region 3-AAAA and has state tournament wins over Druid Hills (71-45) and Americus-Sumter (60-57). The Braves are led by region Player of the Year, Rodney Walker. Cartersville (21-6) advanced to the quarterfinals with a 73-35 home win over Heritage-Catoosa and last week’s 58-56 overtime win at Blessed Trinity. The Canes have been led by the scoring punch of guards T.J. Horton and Jaylon Pugh, while the defensive and inside presence of Isaac Gridley, Luke Schiltz, and JKobe Orr have also been impactful. For Cartersville fans not making the trip to Milledgeville, radio coverage will be provided by WBHF-Cartersville (100.3FM / AM1450). For those outside the Bartow County listening area, the game is streamed live via the TuneIn radio app and TuneIn.com. Just search for WBHF. Pregame coverage begins on WBHF at 6:15 p.m.

It was a difficult night Tuesday for Bartow County girls soccer teams. Woodland and Cass were both edged by single goals in Region 7-AAAAA action while Cartersville lost to Class 6A Sequoyah. PAULDING CO. GIRLS 4, WOODLAND 3 The Woodland girls soccer team lost a home match to Region 7-AAAAA opponent Paulding County Tuesday night. The Lady Cats led 2-1 at the intermission on a pair of Tiera Feanny goals. Molly Plott added another goal in the second half for a 3-1 advantage, but Paulding tied the game on a pair of goals with about 20 minutes remaining and scored again late for the win. Woodland (3-3-1, 0-1) travels to Hiram Friday for another region match. CARROLLTON GIRLS 3, CASS 2 The visiting Lady Trojans scored in the game’s final five minutes Tuesday night to edge the Lady Colonels 3-2. Cass led 1-0 at halftime on a Lupita Pineda goal in the opening minutes off an assist by Logan Vermaas. In the second half, Carrollton scored back-to-back goals in the 62nd and 64th minutes to gain a 2-1 lead. Vermaas knotted the score at 2-2 with a goal on a direct kick, but the Trojans got the deciding goal in the final minutes. Cass (2-5) hosts Rome Friday. SEQUOYAH GIRLS 5, CARTERSVILLE 1 Sequoyah took a 2-0 lead in the first half and held off the Lady Canes for an eventual 5-1 win. Marissa Mowry scored the Cartersville goal late in the game. The Lady Canes are now 2-3.

The Adairsville boys soccer team scored in the final 90 seconds of Tuesday night’s home game with Bremen to take the Tigers’ Region 6-AAA opener, 2-1. Gabriel Sanchez scored off an assist from Dani Carillo for the deciding goal. Bremen (3-3, 0-1) had tied the match with less than 20 minutes remaining after Adairsville claimed an early lead in the first half. Miguel Garcia scored the Tigers’ opening goal in the game’s ninth minute. Adairsville goalkeeper Nic Jackson earned the win in net. The Tigers are now 1-1 overall and 1-0 in region play. BREMEN GIRLS 6, ADAIRSVILLE 0 The visiting Lady Blue Devils scored six second-half goals Tuesday evening to defeat Adairsville. Following a scoreless first half, Bremen scored ten minutes into the second half and added five more tallies over the final 30 minutes.

The Cartersville and Woodland boys soccer teams picked up victories Tuesday night while Cass fell to Carrollton. CARTERSVILLE BOYS 3, SEQUOYAH 2 The Canes defeated visiting Class 6A Sequoyah Tuesday night, 3-2. Pedro Ghanem scored two goals and Jonathan Cruz added the other for Cartersville. Cruz and Grant Farmer had assists. Cartersville improved to 4-3 overall. WOODLAND BOYS 6, PAULDING COUNTY 2 Kevin Moreno scored a hat trick for Woodland as the Wildcats picked up their first win of the season. Raul Gonzalez and Trey Jennings added goals for Woodland who also benefitted from a Paulding own goal. Woodland (1-3-1, 1-0 Region 7-AAAAA) travels to Hiram Friday. CARROLLTON BOYS 6, CASS 3 The Colonels lost their Region 7-AAAAA opener to visiting Carrollton, 6-3. Kaleb Speights gave Cass an early 1-0 lead off an assist by Carlos Perez, but the Trojans responded to take a 5-1 lead at halftime. Anthony Robledo scored twice for the Colonels in the second half including one off an assist from Julio Medina. Isai Romero finished with five saves for Cass. The Colonels host Rome in another region match on Friday at Doug Cochran Stadium.

Woodland baseball lost Tuesday night at Pickens County, 4-3. Woodland scored in the top of the second to take a 1-0 lead and had a 3-2 lead going to the bottom of the fourth, but the Dragons scored twice in the fourth and held off the Wildcats down the stretch for the non-region victory. Ben Ammons went all six innings for the Wildcats, allowing only one earned run on three hits and a pair of walks. He fanned five. Unfortunately, a trio of Pickens' pitchers limited the Woodland bats to only three hits -- all in the first three innings. Brady Moore had two hits for the Dragons that included a double and two RBI. Colby James also had a hit for Pickens County (4-2). Bailey Ward, Marco Haro (RBI), and Dylan Webb (RBI) had the Woodland hits. Woodland (3-4) hosts Sonoraville Thursday at 4:30 p.m., plays at North Cobb Friday at 5:30 p.m. and at Darlington Saturday at 1 p.m.