Canes enter final week of regular season ranked 7th

The Cartersville boys basketball team continues to be the only local team ranked by any of the GHSA polls as we head into the final week of the regular season.

The Hurricanes (16-4) are currently ranked 7th in Class AAAA by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and 10th by SandysSpiel.com.

The Canes win Saturday over Chapel Hill also secured a state tournament berth for the seventh consecutive year. Cartersville can do no worse than a No. 2 seed in the Region 5-AAAA tournament next week and with a first round bye is already in the tournament semifinals.

The top four teams from each region advance to the state tournament.

Upson-Lee (22-0) currently holds down the top-ranked spot in Class AAAA, with Sandy Creek also in the Top Ten from Cartersville’s Region 5-AAAA at No. 4 (AJC and SandysSpiel.com).

The only other boys team in the Top Ten rankings from a region including other local programs is Villa Rica. The Wildcats are the 10th-ranked team in Class AAAAA

Other boys teams in the Top Ten of their classification from regions that include local programs are: Villa Rica (18-1, #10, Class AAAAA). Villa Rica currently leads Region 7-AAAAA that includes Cass and Woodland.

In the girls polls, Villa Rica (17-1), Rome (19-2), and Carrollton (17-5) hold down spots 7, 8, and 10 in the AJC rankings for Class AAAAA. Those three teams are ranked 6th, 7th, and 8th by SandysSpiel.com and all three are in Region 7-AAAAA with Cass and Woodland.

The girls teams from Haralson County (18-2) and North Murray (16-6) are currently 7th and 10th in Class AAA for the AJC. Haralson is ranked 8th by SandysSpiel.com. Both teams are in Region 6-AAA with Adairsville.

The regular season concludes this weekend with region tournaments and the post-season beginning next week.