Hart County stops Adairsville in AAA Sweet Sixteen, 68-60

The Adairsville Tigers had their 2022-23 basketball season end Saturday night with a Class AAA Sweet Sixteen home loss to Hart County, 68-60.

Hart County (17-12) built a huge first half lead and held off the Tigers in the second half to advance to the state quarterfinals next Wednesday at Cross Creek

The visiting Bulldogs led 22-6 at the end of the first quarter and were ahead 40-17 at halftime.

Adairsville got back into the game in the third quarter narrowing their deficit to nine points (52-43) by the end of the period and cut the Bulldogs' lead to six at one point in the fourth quarter but could get no closer.

Hart County held on in the final eight minutes for an eight-point win.

Terrance Mitchell scored 24 points and collected 13 rebounds for Hart. Keelan Stowers added 16 points and Tahj Johnson grabbed 13 rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Tay Jackson was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 34 points including 30 in the second half. Zach Postell finished with seven. Tre Winters scored six. Jamarian Pullam and Xavious Nalls chipped in four points each. Ben Abernathy contributed three points and Zach Weaver added two in the loss.

Adairsville’s season comes to an end with a Region 6-AAA championship and a 20-9 record.