Cass girls lose for first time; Colonels' rally comes up short at Rome

The Cass girls basketball team lost for the first time this season Wednesday night falling at 9th-ranked Rome, 64-54. Rome held a 15-9 lead after the opening eight minutes and 24-22 at halftime. The Lady Wolves then pushed their lead out to 47-38 by the end of the third period and held on for the Region 7-AAAAA victory. Tarrah Gibson led all scorers in the game with 16 points for Rome. Amberly Brown followed with 14 and TaEmmica Nation scored 11 for the Wolves. Londaisha Smith (photo) led Cass with 12 points. Payton Stoddard scored 11 and Claire Davis posted 10 points for the Lady Colonels. Sharia Wade contributed nine points. Amber Brittian and Alexis Ware totaled four points each. Taryn Callahan had three points and Brianna Stephenson added one.

Rome improved to 5-1 overall and 3-0 in region play. Cass (7-1, 3-1) plays at Carrollton Friday night at 6 p.m. and at Woodland Saturday at 3 p.m.

ROME 66, CASS BOYS 61 The Cass boys lost a narrow road decision Wednesday night at Rome, 66-61.

The Colonels stayed close throughout the night and had the Wolves’ lead down to two points with only 0:40 remaining, but failed to complete the comeback. “That was a tough loss,” said Cass head coach Sean Glaze (photo). “We stayed in the game, but just had too many bad offensive possessions throughout the night.” Cass trailed 17-15 after one quarter, 35-24 at halftime, and 48-41 through three quarters before making their late run at the lead. Rome’s Caleb Byrd led all scorers with 30 points. Jaylen Nelson and Justyn Smith added 13 and 10 respectively for the Wolves (3-1, 2-1). Ethan Carter and Jacquez Fountain led the Colonels’ scoring with 19 and 15 points. C.J. Pipkin, Justice Hayes, and Zaylan Chaney scored seven each for Cass. Braxton Benham finished with six points. Cass (3-6, 1-3) plays at Carrollton Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and at Woodland Saturday at 4:30 p.m.