Adairsville teams advance to tourney semifinals
The Adairsville basketball teams both captured first round wins Thursday night while hosting the Adairsville Ace Hardware Christmas Clash. The Lady Tigers rolled to a 63-42 win over North Cobb Christian while the Tigers garnered a 59-48 win over Excel Christian. As a result, the Lady Tigers and Tigers will play in semifinal games Friday night.
ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 63, NORTH COBB CHRISTIAN 42 The Lady Tigers raced to a 19-6 first quarter lead and never trailed in a first round win at the Adairsville Ace Hardware Christmas Clash Thursday night. Adairsville also held leads of 30-19 at halftime and 51-31 after three quarters on their way to a 19-point victory.
Nakiyah Washington (photo) scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half to lead the Lady Tigers. Aaliyah Applin followed with 16 points while Havyn Issac added 13 — including 11 in the opening quarter.
Alexa Varner and Coriana McDaniel added four points each for Adairsville. Alexia Crisp scored three. Lori Cimino and Breeana Wilson tossed in two points apiece.
North Cobb Christian was led by Jessica Hidden and Landry McCollum with 10 points each. Mary Claire Norman added seven points for the Lady Eagles.
The loss drops North Cobb Christian to 1-7 on the season. The Lady Eagles will play Lafayette in a consolation game Friday afternoon at 1 p.m.
Adairsville (4-10) advances to the tournament semifinals to face Southside (AL) Friday night at 7 p.m. Southside defeated Lafayette Thursday afternoon 41-29.
ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 59, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 48
In a first round battle of two local teams at the Adairsville Ace Hardware Christmas Clash Thursday night, the host Tigers held off Excel Christian 59-48.
Adairsville led 18-12 after eight minutes and held a 29-21 lead at the intermission. The Tigers extended their advantage to 44-31 after three quarters, then held on for an 11-point victory. Gaven Crunkelton had a game-high 21 points to pace Adairsville. Danarous Johnson followed with 16 points for the Tigers. Malachi Gardner posted eight points. Connor Crunkelton scored six. Savaun Henderson and Diego Perez contributed three points each. Derrick Simmons and Courtney Slocum added one point each in the win.
Rayshawn Womack (photo) led Excel Christian with 17 points. Josiah Mosley followed with 11. Evan Lee contributed six points. Doyal Rashard had five. Kalil Holley scored four and Jake Murray added three points for the Eagles.
With the opening round loss, Excel slips to 3-8 on the year and will play Bremen Friday at 2:30 p.m. in a consolation game.
Adairsville (6-8) will face North Cobb Christian Friday night at 8:30 p.m. in the tournament semifinals. North Cobb Christian was a 76-50 winner over Bremen in Thursday’s opening round.
