Canes top ECA; Woodland, Cartersville girls drop first round games at Adairsville Christmas Clash
The Cartersville boys basketball team was the only local team to pick up a win in the early round of games Tuesday at the Adairsville Ace Christmas Clash. The Canes evened their season record with a 63-45 win over Excel Christian Academy. In other early games at Adairsville, the Woodland and Cartersville girls lost their first round contests. Late afternoon and evening games will include the Cass girls against Gordon Central, the Adairsville girls against Kennesaw Mountain, and an intra-county matchup between the Adairsville and Woodland boys.
CARTERSVILLE BOYS 63, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 45
Kam Callahan scored all of his game-high 19 points in the second half Tuesday to help launch Cartersville to a 63-45 opening round win over Excel Christian Academy at the Adairsville Ace Christmas Clash.
The game was tied after one quarter 10-10 and the Eagles held a 23-21 advantage at halftime before the Hurricanes stormed back in the second half for an eventual 18-point win.
Robert Novak posted a dozen of his 14 points in the second half for Cartersville. Jynerious Stanley also scored 14 in the game. Romo Pace and Chandler Wise added nine and six points, respectively, for the Canes.
ECA was led in scoring by Blake Bailey with 15 points. Jakaden Barkley finished with nine points. Kalil Holley had eight. Elijah Payne contributed seven and Rashard Doyal added six points.
Cartersville (2-2) advances to the tournament semifinal round Wednesday where they will play Rockmart at 11:30 a.m. Rockmart was a 61-39 winner Tuesday over Mount Paran. Excel (4-5) will move into the consolation bracket Wednesday to play Mount Paran at 5:30 p.m.
ARMUCHEE 54, WOODLAND GIRLS 21
Julia Williams and Olivia Moses scored 17 and 16 points, respectively, as the Armuchee girls powered past Woodland Tuesday in the opening round of the Adairsville Ace Christmas Clash. The Lady Indians (7-3) led 14-6 after the opening eight minutes and extended their lead to 29-13 by halftime on their way to a 33-point victory. Jordan Thompson scored eight points for the Lady Cats. Gracie Styles added six. Woodland (1-7) will play a consolation round game Wednesday at 10 a.m. against Cartersville.
ROCKMART 69, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 56
The Lady Canes held a 14-11 lead after one quarter, but Rockmart rallied from behind to defeat Cartersville 69-56 in an opening round game at the Adairsville Ace Christmas Clash Tuesday afternoon.
Rockmart led 34-28 by halftime and took a 51-40 lead into the final eight minutes. Keyarah Berry scored a game-high 31 points to lead the Yellow Jackets. Teammate Megan Little added 19 points including six three-pointers from behind the arc. Ari Olotu paced three Lady Canes in double figures with 11 points while adding six assists. Lehla Thomas and Ansley Griffen added 10 points each. Taff Bradley contributed eight points and eight rebounds. Sequoyah McConnell grabbed eight rebounds and had four points while Kiera Milline finished with five assists and one point. Alexia Henderson and Aujyhnae Davenport rounded out the Cartersville scoring with seven and five points, respectively.
Rockmart improved to 5-3 on the season and advanced to a semifinal game Wednesday against Armuchee at 4 p.m. Cartersville (0-5) slips into the consolation bracket Wednesday at 10 a.m. where they will play Woodland.
Editors Note: The late afternoon and evening games at the Christmas Clash will be updated with a separate story.
