Bartow 10U boys finish as GRPA state runner-up; Bartow 12U girls take third

A pair of Bartow County Parks and Recreation Department youth basketball teams had successful finishes at their respective Georgia Recreation and Parks Association State Tournaments.

The Bartow 10U boys finished as state runner-up at their tournament in Griffin while the Bartow 12U girls placed third at their GRPA state tournament in Dalton.

The Bartow 10U boys lost a Friday night preliminary game to eventual state champion College Park 49-28, but then reeled off wins against Walton County and Smyrna to earn a rematch with College Park in Saturday’s finals. The victory over Smyrna was a narrow one.

Ja’kez Baldwin and Kyron McClendon led the way for Bartow with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jayden Metcalf scored 10 points, including a pair of dramatic three-pointers late in the game to give Bartow the lead. Jabari Burleson added nine points and Christian Teasley totaled seven.

College Park was too much for the locals in the championship game, taking a 57-27 decision.

The Bartow 12U girls defeated South Bryan in the first round of the state tournament Saturday at Edwards Park in Dalton, 38-36, in a back-and-forth struggle.

South Bryan led 13-11 after one quarter and held a 26-25 advantage heading into the fourth quarter. The game was tied at the intermission 17-17.

Kelsey Gleason kept Bartow close in the first half by scoring 10 of her 11 total points. Taff Bradley scored 12 of her team-high 14 points for Bartow in the second half. Hayley Dillow and Makenzie Harris added six and four points, respectively. Jakya Garnigan had two.

Bartow 12U girls’ loss in the state semifinals was 51-15 to Walton County. The locals trailed 25-6 after one quarter and never recovered. Walton extended the lead to 43-11 by halftime.

Bradley and Dillow scored four points each for Bartow County. Harris, Garnigan, and Summer Patterson finished with two points each. Gleason added one point.

Two other Bartow County girls teams played in state tournaments this past weekend at Edwards Park in Dalton.

The Bartow 8U girls and 10U girls both lost a pair of games.

Bartow 8U girls fell 14-12 to DeKalb County in a preliminary game on Friday before being edged by Rome 20-19 in the opening round of elimination play Saturday morning. Bartow 10U girls dropped a prelimary game to South Fulton 36-20 Friday night and lost 41-18 to DeKalb County in the opening round Saturday afternoon.