'Canes win region title; host opening state playoff round

The Cartersville boys' basketball team won its third straight region championship Saturday night (Feb. 14) at Southeast Whitfield High School in Dalton by knocking off top-seed Heritage-Catoosa in the finals, 68-55. The 'Canes victory avenged a pair of regular season losses to the Generals during regular season play. Cartersville trailed by 7 points at halftime, but Coach Mike Tobin's Hurricanes rallied in the second half to take the region crown and the region's top seed heading into the state tournament. The 'Canes will host the first round of the Class AAAA state tournament Wednesday (Feb. 18) at 7pm and will face North Hall, the number 4 seed from Region 8-AAAA. In other action, Northwest Whitfield's boys easily defeated rival Southeast Whitfield 74-46 to claim the third seed from Region 7-AAAA heading into the state tournament. The girls' Region 7-AAAA title went to Gilmer. The Lady Bobcats held off Northwest Whitfield in the finals, 50-40.