Colonels top Canes for third place in Region 7-5A; Lady Canes fall to Dalton

Senior guard KJ Rogers scored 32 points to help lead the Colonels to a 67-66 win in the Region 7-5A third place game Friday at Calhoun.

The Cass Colonels held off the Cartersville boys for the third time this season Friday night in Calhoun to claim the Region 7-5A third place game, 67-66.

Cass led 17-12 after one quarter and 29-26 at halftime but Purple Hurricanes stormed back in the third quarter to take a 46-45 lead into the final eight minutes.

Cass emerged on top, however, with the trio of Jelani Hames, KJ Rogers, and Devin Henderson scoring all but one of the Colonels’ 22 fourth quarter points.

Cartersville’s Romo Pace kept the Canes close, scoring 11 of his 17 points in the final stanza.

Rogers led Cass with a game-high 32 points. Hames finished with 13. Jayden Foster followed with 11 points and Henderson scored all six of his points in the fourth quarter.

“KJ Rogers came up big tonight,” said a relieved Kevin Cunningham following the game. “It is so difficult to beat a team three times in a season and we got it done tonight against a really good Cartersville team. We now wait to see if we draw Jefferson or Winder-Barrow in the first round of the state tournament.”

In addition to Pace’s scoring for Cartersville, Jaylen Scott finished with 11 points. DJ Cain tossed in 10. Kaden Baldwin and Ced McClinich added eight and seven points, respectively.

Cartersville (12-15, a 4-seed) will open the Class 5A state tournament next week at Region 8-5A regular season and tournament champion, Winder-Barrow. The Bulldoggs are 19-8 on the year. Winder-Barrow outlasted Jefferson Friday night for the Region 8-5A title, 63-61.

Cass (14-13, a 3-seed) will also play on the road. The Colonels travel to Jefferson (10-17) who was a surprise finalist in Region 8-5A. The Dragons began that region tournament as a 5-seed and beat Flowery Branch and Heritage before falling in the region finals.

Game times and whether teams will play on Tuesday or Wednesday will be announced later this weekend.

DALTON 69, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 38

The Lady Canes lost 69-38 to Dalton in the Region 7-5A third place game Friday afternoon in Calhoun.

Dalton (20-8) will be a 3-seed in next week’s first round of the Class 5A State Tournament and will play at Loganville.

Cartersville (16-10) will be a 4-seed and will visit Jefferson on either Tuesday or Wednesday.