Lady Colonels repeat as Christmas Clash champions
The Cass girls repeated as Adairsville Ace Home Center Christmas Clash champions Monday night with a 71-44 rout of Trion in the three-day tournament finals. The Lady Colonels sprinted to a 21-7 lead after one quarter and never looked back in their 27-point win. Londaisha Smith, named Tournament MVP, led a quartet of Lady Colonels in double figures with 17 points. Claire Davis, who was selected to the All-Tournament team, and Haley Johnson followed with 13 points each while Justice Bennett scored 11 for Cass.
Ariana Hames added eight points for Cass and was chosen for the All-Tournament team. Keara McDaniel and Amaya Ford finished with three points each. Raziyah Ware and Mikaela Jackson added two and one point, respectively. Davis scored 10 of her 13 points in the opening quarter, Smith scored 11 of her 17 in the second half, and Johnson knocked down 11 of her 13 points — including three shots from behind the arc — in the second half. Cass guard and floor general, Taryn Callahan (photo), was also named to the All-Tournament team for the Lady Colonels. Trion (8-5) was paced by Chloe Murdock who scored 12 points. Tianna Youngblood and Shelby Carlock added nine points apiece for the Lady Bulldogs. Cass had tournament wins over Lafayette and Cartersville to reach Monday’s finals. The Christmas Clash win also comes on the heels of a Gordon Lee Christmas Tournament title December 19-21. The Lady Colonels (13-4) now turn their attention to Region 7-AAAAA action Friday night at Hiram at 6 p.m. CORNERSTONE PREP ACADEMY 61, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 54 The Adairsville boys dropped a back-and-forth, third place game Monday to Cornerstone Prep Academy as the Tigers hosted the 2nd annual Christmas Clash. The visiting Cougars led 19-13 after one quarter and held a 30-26 advantage at halftime before Adairsville grabbed a 45-42 lead by the end of the third quarter. Cornerstone outscored the Tigers 19-9 in the final eight minutes to pull out the victory. Devon Sweat scored a dozen of his game-high 24 points in the first quarter to lead the Cougars. Joshua Greene added nine for CPA as the Cougars improved to 16-3 on the year. Adairsville had four players reach double figures in scoring led by Jaxon Welchel’s 14 points. T.J. Printup scored 13 while Malachi Gardner and Gaven Crunkleton finished with 10 each. Savaun Henderson finished with four points. Tucker Deams added three. Greene and Sweat were selected to the All-Tournament team for Cornerstone Prep Academy. Crunkleton and Welchel were named All-Tournament selections for the Tigers. Adairsville (6-7) returns to Region 6-AAA action this weekend with a trip to Haralson County Friday night and a home game against Murray County Saturday. Both games are 7:30 p.m. tips for the Tigers.
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP (NJ) 40, CASS BOYS 39 The Cass boys, playing in the fifth place game at the KSA Tournament in Orlando, Florida Monday morning, fell to the Washington Township Minutemen of Sewell, New Jersey, 40-39. Cass finished 1-2 in the tournament with a 61-44 Friday loss to Monsignor Farrell (NY) and a victory over Orlando’s Conrad Academy Saturday, 58-32. The Colonels (10-6) travel to Hiram Friday night at 7:30 p.m. as they return to Region 7-AAAAA action.
WALKER BOYS 76, LAFAYETTE 58
Class A-Private third-ranked Walker won the boys championship game of the Adairsville Christmas Clash Monday night by handing the Lafayette Ramblers their first loss of the season, 76-58. Walker, who also won the Paulding County Hoopsgiving Classic back in November, improved to 13-1 on the season behind 22 points by tournament MVP Chandler Baker and 19 by Chris Newell. Omar Cooper and Burke Chabahao were also named to the All-Tournament team. Lafayette (14-1) was led by Jalen Ramsey with 17 points and Aiden Hadaway with 15. Ramsey, Hadaway, and teammate Decameron Porter were selected to the All-Tournament team.
