Friday's hoops roundup: Woodland boys knock off Carrollton, Cass teams sweep Hiram
On a busy Friday night for local high school basketball teams, the Woodland boys upset one of the leaders in Region 7-AAAAA, while both Cass teams defeated visiting Hiram. Meanwhile, the Cartersville teams were swept in Cedartown. The Adairsville girls lost at region-leader Ringgold and the Excel boys dropped a region contest at Christian Heritage in Dalton.
WOODLAND BOYS 76, CARROLLTON 63
The Wildcats picked up their first Region 7-AAAAA win of the season Friday night by surprising visiting Carrollton — one of the top teams in the league — 76-63. Woodland took a 19-14 lead after one quarter and led 34-25 at the half before the Trojans tied the score at 43-all after three periods. The Wildcats then outscored Carrollton 33-20 over the final eight minutes to secure a 13-point win. Woodland converted 13 of 17 free throws in the final period to close out the Trojans. Dawson Wilkins (photo) and Hunter Johnson led Woodland with 25 and 21 points, respectively. Jaylen Ballard scored nine for the Wildcats. D.J. Robinson posted seven. Justice Carter had six points. Kyjuan McLendon scored four and Peyton Roberts added two points in the win. Jeff Hodges led Carrollton with 15 points. Ricky Rodriguez finished with 13 points for the Trojans (8-7, 5-2). Woodland (4-10, 1-5) entertains Villa Rica in another Region 7-AAAAA game Saturday at 4:30 p.m.
CASS GIRLS 64, HIRAM 54
The Lady Colonels won their sixth straight game while defeating visiting Hiram Friday night 64-54 in a Region 7-AAAAA tilt. Cass held leads of 16-9 after one quarter and 32-27 at the intermission before Hiram tied the game at 41 heading into the final eight minutes. The Lady Colonels outscored the visiting Lady Hornets 23-13 in the final period to take a 10-point region win. Lauryn Towns led Hiram with 22 points, including a dozen in the second quarter.
Cass was led by Sharia Wade (photo) with 17 points. Claire Davis tossed in 13 and Payton Stoddard totaled 12 points. Amber Brittian scored eight. Ariana Hames contributed five. Londaisha Smith added four points. Alexis Ware also had four points and snagged 10 rebounds. Taryn Callahan chipped in with one point. The loss drops Hiram to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (13-2, 5-2) travels to Kell Tuesday night for a 6 p.m. tip. CASS BOYS 84, HIRAM 49
The Cass boys enjoyed a balanced scoring attack and had four players reach double figures in an 84-49 Region 7-AAAAA win over Hiram at home Friday night. Ethan Carter led the Colonels with 12 points. Jaylon Johnson followed with 11 while Jacquez Fountain and C.J. Pipken added 10 points apiece. The visiting Hornets led 13-11 after one quarter before Cass gained a 26-21 lead at halftime. The Colonels then took control in the second half outscoring Hiram 58-28 over the final sixteen minutes for a 35-point win. Jauyen Brown led the Hornets with 13 points. Cameron Gilliard added 10. Rounding out the Cass scoring: Jordan Ford had eight; Justice Hayes, Jaquan Heard, and Andrew Glaze each contributed seven points; Braxton Benham and Zaylan Chaney scored five each; and Zay Jackson (photo) added two. Hiram falls to 6-10 overall and 1-6 in Region 7-AAAAA. Cass (8-8, 3-4) has now won five of six and travels to Class 5A, 6th-ranked Kell for another region contest Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. CARROLLTON 66, WOODLAND GIRLS 16 The Class 5A 8th-ranked Carrollton girls built a 31-9 lead by halftime and cruised to an easy win Friday night at Woodland. De’Mauri Flournoy led the Lady Trojans with 21 points. Kehinde Obasuyi and Dyimond Watkins followed with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Morgan Cooper finished with eight points for Woodland. Jordan Thompson had three. Ansley Evans and Lauren Norris scored two points. Abigail Taylor added one point for the Lady Cats. Carrollton improved to 11-5 overall and 6-1 in region action. Woodland (1-12, 1-5) hosts No. 1-ranked Villa Rica Saturday at 3 p.m. CEDARTOWN 49, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 36 The Lady Canes battled with host Cedartown in a tight Region 5-AAAA matchup Friday night before falling 49-36 to the Lady Bulldogs. “It was a close game throughout,” said Cartersville head coach Cindy Moore. “We had to start fouling late in the fourth quarter and they were able to pull away a bit.” Cedartown led 11-6 after one quarter and held a 24-18 advantage at halftime. The Bulldogs maintained a 33-27 lead after three quarters before separating for a 13-point win in the final period. Keke Turner led Cedartown with a game-high 14 points that included a dozen in the final period. Quiana Watson scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half and Maryalle Brumby added 11 for the Lady Bulldogs (7-3, 1-0). London Shaw led Cartersville with eight points. A’mya Davis had seven. Naijah Evans scored six. Kierra Milline posted five points. Ariana Cochran and Haley Johnson added four points each. Cartersville (7-5, 0-1) hosts Central-Carroll Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at The Storm Center. CEDARTOWN 62, CARTERSVILLE BOYS 54 Zahquan Frazier led three Cedartown players in double figures as the host Bulldogs defeated Cartersville Friday night, 62-54. Jeremiah Johnson and Elijah Pace both added 11 points for Cedartown who improved to 7-5 overall and 1-0 in region play. The Hurricanes led 13-12 after one quarter, but Cedartown held leads of 27-24 at halftime and 46-35 after three quarters on their way to an eight point Region 5-AAAA win. Perignon Dyer led Cartersville with 13 points. Kolbe Benham scored 10. Taywuan Johnson and Marquail Coaxum contributed nine points each. Micah Tart and Austin Cauffman scored five while Amarai Orr added three points. Cartersville (6-7, 0-1) had a four-game win streak snapped. The Canes host Central-Carroll Saturday at at 4 p.m. at The Storm Center. CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 74, EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 47 A.J. Kent scored 20 points and Hardin Chambless added 16 as host Christian Heritage beat Excel Christian Friday night 74-47. The win kept Christian Heritage undefeated on the season with a 12-0 mark. The Lions are 5-0 in Region 6-A. Rayshawn Womack led Excel with 18 points. Kalil Holley and Josiah Mosley added nine each. Evan Lee score six. Jake Murray posted four points and Robby Poston had one. Excel trailed by only four points after one quarter, but the Eagles were down by 17 at the intermission. Excel (3-10, 0-5) will look to bounce back Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m. at Gordon Lee. RINGGOLD 51, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 24 The Ringgold girls kept their hold atop the Region 6-AAA standings Friday night by topping Adairsville 51-24 in Ringgold. Sydney Pittman and Shelby Cole led Ringgold with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Coriana McDaniel led Adairsville with seven points. Ji’Leyah Mitchell scored four points. Alexa Varner contributed three. K. McDaniel, Nakiyah Washington, and Havyn Isaac had two points each. Aaliyah Applin added one point for Adairsville. Ringgold improved to 12-3 overall and 7-0 in Region 6-AAA. Adairsville (4-13, 1-8) travels to North Murray Tuesday for a 6 p.m. start.
