Lady Tigers, Tigers come up short in tourney semifinals

December 29, 2023

Charles Wilson / BartowSportsZone.com

The Adairsville girls and boys basketball teams — hosts of the Adairsville Christmas Clash — both lost their semifinal games on Friday night and will both play for third place on Saturday.

The Lady Tigers led most of the way but were edged by Northwest Whitfield 46-43. The Tigers battled Long County to the wire before falling 63-60.

NORTHWEST WHITFIELD 46, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 43

The Lady Tigers led through three quarters but were outscored 14-9 over the final eight minutes in a three-point semifinal loss.

Adairsville led 12-8 after one quarter; 22-21 at halftime; and 34-32 at the end of the third quarter.

Sloan Pender scored 10 points and Kennedy Baker added nine in a balanced Northwest Whitfield attack. The Lady Bruins improved to 7-2 on the season.

NaXyria Roberts led Adairsville with 11 points. Alissa Winters and Aliya McBryde added eight each for the Lady Tigers.

Northwest Whitfield will play Sonoraville on Saturday at 7 p.m. in the girls' championship game.

Adairsville (6-5) will square off against Cartersville in the third-place game at 4 p.m.

LONG COUNTY 63, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 60

Kaleel Anderson scored 28 points and Keshawn Smith had 13 as Long County outlasted Adairsville Friday night in a semifinal game.

The Blue Tide led 29-22 at the intermission but the Tigers made it tight down the stretch cutting the lead to 42-40 going into the fourth quarter.

Ben Abernathy finished with a double-double for the Tigers. He poured in 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. Tay Jackson followed with 15 points and collected nine boards. Zac Postell and Xavious Nalls added eight points each.

Long County (11-1), led by former Adairsville coach Reggie Wilkes, will play Sonoraville for the tournament championship on Saturday at 8:30 p.m.

Adairsville (5-7) will play Calhoun in the third-place game on Saturday at 5:30 p.m.