Lady Tigers, Lady Canes advance to state tourney Sweet Sixteen

The Adairsville Lady Tigers and the Cartersville Lady Canes both won their first-round state playoff games Tuesday night on the road.

Both local teams were 4-seeds knocking off region tournament champions.

In Class AAA, the Adairsville girls won at Sandy Creek 41-36, earning the Lady Tigers' first state playoff win in 66 years.

In Class AAAAA, the Cartersville girls were 53-44 winners at Jefferson.

ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 41, SANDY CREEK 36

NaXyria Roberts led the Lady Tigers with 17 points Tuesday in their state tournament first round win at Sandy Creek.

Adairsville trailed 13-12 after one quarter and 22-21 at halftime before outscoring Sandy Creek 10-7 in the third quarter to grab a 31-29 lead. From there, the Lady Tigers held on down the stretch to escape with a 41-36 win in the first round of the Class AAA state tournament.

The Lady Patriots, who finished their season with a 15-12 record, certainly had their opportunities. Sandy Creek was only 7-for-23 at the free throw line while Adairsville made 4 of 5 free throw attempts.

NaXyria Roberts led the Tigers' scoring attack with 17 points. Analee Morris followed with eight. Darby Adams contributed six. Alissa Winters and Aliya McBryde tossed in four each. Addie Pearson added two points in the win.

Janae Walker paced the Lady Patriots with 14 points. Persia Sanders added 12 for Sandy Creek.

Adairsville (14-14) will play at Dawson County this Friday or Saturday in the Sweet Sixteen. Dawson County (15-14) beat Hart County 41-34 in their first-round game Tuesday night.

CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 53, JEFFERSON 44

Kaytlin Arnold scored a game-high 18 points Tuesday night to help the Lady Canes to a 53-44 win at Jefferson.

The Lady Canes led at each quarter-stop Tuesday night in a 53-44 win over Region 8-5A tournament champ Jefferson.

Cartersville, a 4-seed, led 12-5 after the opening eight minutes; 24-20 at the intermission; and 37-32 through three quarters on their way to a nine-point road win.

Freshman Kaytlin Arnold led the Lady Canes with 18 points. Ansley Griffin scored 10. Jakayah Draughn and Senai Camper chipped in with eight points each while Campbell Rogers added four.

Skyler Brady was the top scorer for the Lady Dragons with 17 points. Eve Knight added 12 for Jefferson (10-18)

Cartersville (17-10) advances to the Sweet Sixteen of the Class 5A State Tournament. The Lady Canes will play at Midtown Friday at 7p.m. The Knights (21-8) defeated Centennial Tuesday night in their first-round game 52-39.