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.

It took eleven innings, but the Coosa Eagles held off the Adairsville baseball team Tuesday evening in Rome, 3-2. Tigers’ pitchers Caden Gibbs (3.2 IP, 3H, 3BB, 5K) and Chase Horn (7 IP, 0H, 3BB, 10K) combined to scatter three hits and six walks with 15 strikeouts, but three unearned runs carried Coosa to victory. Coosa pitchers Caleb Shiflett and Jay Hamby were solid also. They limited the Tigers to seven hits and a single earned run while striking out 15. Adairsville scored single runs in the second and sixth innings. Coosa scored twice in the fourth and the decisive, walk-off run in the bottom of the eleventh. Both teams committed a pair of errors. Adairsville left seven runners on base. Coosa left nine. Dylan Callahan had two hits and one RBI for the Eagles. Brooks Moore had the other Coosa hit. Garrett Mishoe (double, RBI) and Hunter Hice had two hits each for Adairsville. Gibbs (double), Trace Still, and Noah Dutton had the other Tigers’ hits. Kyler Pelfrey stole a pair of bases. Halen Huskins also stole a base. Adairsville (4-2) will host Coosa (2-4) Thursday at 5 p.m. and will entertain Armuchee in a doubleheader Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.

Evan Hinton fanned 14 and tossed a complete game as the Cass baseball team won a non-region road game at Class 6A Sprayberry Tuesday evening, 3-1. The win snapped a three game skid by the Colonels. Cass scored two runs in the top of the second inning and one in the top of the seventh for their three-run total. Sprayberry (3-4) picked up a run in the fourth that narrowed the Colonels’ lead to 2-1 at the time. Hinton scattered four hits and did not walk a batter although he did hit one batter. Only one of the hits off Hinton was a double. 71 of his 100 pitches were strikes. Nathan Smith drove in a run for the Colonels with a triple. Gavin Young (RBI), Logan Nelson, Bryson Markley, and Steven Spell had the other Cass hits. Matt Shook drove in a run with a sacrifice fly. Cass (3-4) travels to Rockmart for a 5:30 p.m. game Thursday and will host a doubleheader with Dalton Saturday at 12 noon.

A pair of Etowah pitchers limited Cartersville to only five hits and a pair of seventh inning runs as the Class 7A defending state champion Eagles defeated Cartersville 5-2 Tuesday at Richard Bell Field in Atco. Andrew Shaw (4.2 IP, 0R, 4H, 3BB, 4K) picked up the pitching win for Etowah. Bryant Madden (2.1 IP, 2ER, 1H, 1BB, 1K) took the mound in the fifth and closed out the game. Etowah (3-6) scored three runs in the third inning and added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the seventh to take a 5-0 lead. Niko Cho was the leading hitter for the Eagles with a double and a triple. Jackson Sisk finished with three RBI. Canes’ starting pitcher Mason Barnett was tagged with the loss without allowing an earned run. The Eagles scored three unearned runs in the third. Barnett allowed five hits and a walk. He struck out eight. Gage Morris (2 IP, 1K), Jake Norris (0.1 IP, 2R, 0ER, 2BB), and Curtis Wilkes (0.2 IP, 1K) also pitched for the Hurricanes. Josh Davis doubled and drove in one run. Ian Inaba had an RBI and one hit. Barnett, LaDarius Winburn, and Jordan Wilkie had the other Cartersville base hits. The Canes (5-3) play at Rome Thursday at 5:30 p.m. and will play River Ridge and Forsyth Central Saturday at Forsyth Central High School in Cumming. Saturday’s games begin at 1:30 p.m.

The Adairsville High School girls and boys tennis teams lost Region 6-AAA matches Tuesday to Calhoun at the Calhoun Recreation Department. The losses dropped both Adairsville teams to 1-1 in region play. CALHOUN GIRLS 5, ADAIRSVILLE 0 Lady Tigers’ results: Line 1 — Megan Smith lost 0-6, 0-6 Line 2 — Alexandra Kanturek lost 0-6, 0-6 Line 3 — Brantley Hughes lost 1-6, 1-6 Line 1 — Hannah Adcock / Olivia Long lost 4-6, 3-6 Line 2 — Micaela Pardo / Madison Camp lost 1-6, 1-6 CALHOUN BOYS 4, ADAIRSVILLE 1 Tigers’ results: Line 1 — Houston Medlock won 7-6, 6-1 Line 2 — Jack Bates lost 2-6, 1-6 Line 3 — Cameron O’Neal lost 2-6, 1-6 Line 1 — Landon Swanson / Jason Burdette lost 0-6, 1-6 Line 2 — Cody Kimbrough / Travon Branch lost 1-6, 5-7

Elite Stone Supply, in conjunction with WBHF and Bartow Sports Zone, presents the ELITE ATHLETES OF THE MONTH. Each month, local high schools are provided opportunity to name an Elite Athlete of the Month and present the information on their honoree through Bartow Sports Zone and on 100.3FM and AM1450, WBHF in Cartersville. Recipients for February 2018: Levi Ayers -- Cartersville High School Jordan Lee -- Woodland High School Kyler Pelfrey -- Adairsville High School Logan Vermaas -- Cass High School The Cartersville High School Elite Athlete of the Month for February is senior pitcher, Levi Ayers. Ayers is 2-0 on the mound through the Hurricanes’ first seven games in three relief appearances and one start. He carries a 1.14 ERA through that stretch and has fanned 13 batters while only walking three. Opponents are hitting a mere .150 batting average against him. The son of Gwen and Ed Ayers, he is already taking four college level courses through joint enrollment with Georgia Highlands College and plans to continue his baseball career with the Chargers after high school graduation. Jordan Lee is the Elite Athlete of the Month for February representing Woodland High School. A senior on the Wildcats’ baseball team, the middle infielder recently went 7-for-14 during a one-week stretch that included five RBI. He is the son of Darrel and Tracy Lee, an honor student with a 3.6 GPA, and plans to continue his baseball career next season at Shorter University. “Jordan provides leadership to our team,” said Woodland head coach Colby Coursey. “He’s an outstanding young man and an outstanding baseball player.” Adairsville High School’s February Elite Athlete of the Month is Kyler Pelfrey. A senior pitcher and shortstop on the Tigers’ baseball team, he is the son of Kristi Parker and Victor Pelfrey. Pelfrey is 2-0 on the mound in the early portion of the season with 15 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.58. At the plate he has been just as productive with seven hits, 5 RBI, a .368 batting average, and a slugging percentage of .526. “Kyler is one of our leaders both on and off the field,” said Tigers’ head coach Billy Roper. “He comes to the field ready every day and always gives his best effort. The other players gravitate to him and he continues to lead them in the right direction.” Pelfrey — a three-year baseball starter — has a 3.57 GPA and is a member of the Adairsville Beta Club. He plans to continue his playing career at Georgia College and State University in Milledgeville where he will major in business. The Cass High School Elite Athlete of the Month for February is Logan Vermaas. The daughter of Lourens and Anissa Vermaas, Logan is a junior and a three-year starter for the Lady Colonels’ soccer team. Through seven games this season, the Cass striker has scored 12 goals and has already accumulated more than 30 goals in her career. She is also one of the Lady Colonels’ assists leaders during that same span. A First Team All-Region 7-AAAAA selection as a sophomore, Vermaas has picked up this season right where she left off a year ago while maintaining a 3.9 GPA in the classroom. “Logan is a true example of a hard-working athlete on and off the field,” noted Cass High School Athletic Director Nicky Moore. “She excels academically and athletically.” Editors Note: Photos and bios are supplied to Bartow Sports Zone and WBHF by the respective schools and their athletic departments. Elite Stone Supply, LLC is the monthly sponsor. Athletes receive a plaque along with recognition during a radio feature on WBHF.