Lady Colonels win Holiday Tourney; Canes sweep Woodland; Tigers rout Southeast Whitfield

The Cass Lady Colonels rallied in the final period to defeat Dade County Saturday night and win the SouthCrest Bank Christmas Tournament in Chickamauga, 51-46. The Lady Wolverines led at each of the first three quarter stops. Dade led 14-9 after one quarter, 27-16 at halftime, and 38-33 through three periods. Cass outscored Dade County 18-8 in the fourth quarter for the comeback win. Londaisha Smith poured in 22 points to lead Cass. Claire Davis followed with nine. Ariana Hames and Keara McDaniel finished with eight each. Mikaela Jackson added six points with a pair of clutch three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Megan Schauer scored 13 for the Lady Wolverines. Tori Williams added ten for Dade County.

Dade County falls to 9-3 on the season with their loss. Cass’ Davis was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Smith and McDaniel were selected for the All-Tournament Team. The Lady Colonels (9-4, 3-4 in Region 7-AAAAA) will participate in the Adairsville Christmas Clash December 27-30 where they will face Lafayette Friday at 1 p.m. in the opening round.

CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 43, WOODLAND 22 The Cartersville Lady Canes utilized a productive third quarter Saturday night in The Storm Center to separate from the visiting Woodland Lady Cats and take a 43-22 non-region win. Cartersville outscored Woodland 16-4 in the fateful third quarter to pull away. The Lady Canes led 10-9 after one period and were ahead 16-12 at halftime. Lehla Thomas led Cartersville in scoring with 10 points. Jada Cunningham followed with eight points and four assists. Ariana Cochran also scored eight points for the Hurricanes. Jakoyah Draughn scored seven. Cio Seigler totaled four. Jimaya Moore had three. Kierra Milline scored two points and Zoe Casey added one. Jordan Thompson had eight points for Woodland. Abigail Taylor scored six. Ansley Evans contributed four points. Gracie Styles finished with three while Lauren Morris added one point for the Lady Cats. The loss drops Woodland to 2-8 on the season while Cartersville improved to 5-4 with their win. Both teams will participate in the Adairsville Christmas Clash December 27-30. The Lady Canes will open the tournament Friday at 10 a.m. against North Cobb Christian. The Lady Cats will play Trion Friday at 4 p.m.

CARTERSVILLE BOYS 76, WOODLAND 46 The Cartersville boys raced to an early lead Saturday night had 10 players in the scoring column as the Hurricanes cruised to a 76-46 non-region win over Woodland. The Canes led 20-6 after the first eight minutes and were ahead 45-24 at the intermission on their way to the 30-point victory. Kam Callahan (five assists, four steals) led Cartersville with 18 points. Micah Tart (seven rebounds, seven assists) and Kyler Johnson (11 rebounds, three steals, four assists) also reached double figures with 17 and 14, respectively. Jynerieus Stanley and Kolbe Benham scored six points each. Kason McLeod contributed five. Marquail Coaxum and Robert Novak (six rebounds, two blocked shots) finished with three points each. Brynen Wilkens and Tyrick Hammock rounded out the scoring with two points apiece. Woodland got 22 points from K.J. Rogers and 17 by DiAnthony Heathcock. Jaden Johson finished with three points. Troy Poche and Jamison Lawrence had two points each for the Wildcats. The loss dropped Woodland to 2-9 on the season. Cartersville improved to 2-3. Both teams will play December 27-30 in the Adairsville Christmas Clash. Cartersville will open the tournament against Walker on Friday morning at 11:30 a.m. Woodland squares off with Adairsville Friday night at 8:30 p.m.

SOUTHEAST WHITFIELD 46, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 31 The Adairsville girls led 6-0 after one quarter and were ahead 16-12 at halftime Saturday afternoon against visiting Southeast Whitfield, but the visiting Lady Raiders outscored the Lady Tigers 24-8 in the third quarter to take control of the game and go on to win 46-31. Jurnee Harns led Southeast Whitfield with 15 points. Lisette Gomez added 13 and Nancy Altamirano five in the Raiders’ win. Adairsville was led by 10 points from Lexie Childers, six by Yatorrean Hale, and five by Ji’Leyah Mitchell. With their win, Southeast Whitfield improved to 3-11 on the season. The Lady Tigers (3-8, 1-5 Region 6-AAA) will host the eight-team AHS Tiger Christmas Clash December 27-30 and will host Walker in their opener Friday night at 7 p.m.

ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 77, SOUTHEAST WHITFIELD 26 The Adairsville boys evened their season record Saturday afternoon with a non-region victory over visiting Southeast Whitfield, 77-26. A dominating defensive effort and balanced scoring propelled the Tigers who led 18-10 after one quarter, 30-14 at the intermission, and 50-21 through three quarters. T.J. Printup and Gaven Crunkleton paced the offense with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Jaxon Welchel followed with 10 points. Diego Perez had nine. Jonathan Jarrett, Tucker Deams, Malachi Gardner, and Conner Crunkleton each contributed six points. Savaun Henderson and William Longmore added two apiece. Job Willis led the Raiders with six points. Southeast Whitfield fell to 0-14 on the season with the loss. Adairsville (5-5, 3-3 Region 6-AAA) will host the AHS Tiger Christmas Class December 27-30 and will open the first round with an 8:30 p.m. tip against Woodland.

STRATFORD ACADEMY 81, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY BOYS 71 The Excel Christian boys took a 20-8 lead after one quarter in Macon Saturday afternoon, but a pair of injuries took their toll on the Eagles down the stretch in an 81-71 loss at Stratford Academy. The most significant of those injuries was the loss of Brendan Quillin who hurt his ankle in the second quarter and had to sit out the remainder of the game. Quillin had scored seven points at the time of his departure. Stratford narrowed the Eagles’ lead to 29-28 at halftime and then took control of the contest in the third quarter by outscoring ECA 26-9 in the period. Isaiah Josey and Ben Baxley led Stratford in scoring with 27 and 20 points, respectively, as they improved to 6-3 on the season. Excel was led by Rashard Doyal with 19 points. Rayshawn Womack was next with 17. Jakaden Barkley finished with 13 points and Kalil Holley added 12. In addition to Quillin’s seven, Jake Murray added three points for ECA. Excel slipped to 2-7 on the season and will return to action next Friday against Pickens at the Dragons’ Christmas Bash.