Local boys basketball teams fall Tuesday night
While none of the five local high school boys basketball teams came away with victories Tuesday night, three suffered losses to teams ranked in the Top Ten of their respective classifications.
Excel Christian lost at home to Class A-Private 7th-ranked Christian Heritage. Cartersville lost at Class AAAA 10th-ranked LaGrange and Cass fell at home to Class AAAAA 5th-ranked Kell.
Adairsville dropped a road decision at Ringgold and Woodland lost at home to East Paulding.
CHRISTIAN HERITAGE 73, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY BOYS 49 The visiting and Class A Private 7th-ranked Christian Heritage Lions remained unbeaten and improved to 14-0 on the season with a 73-49 win at Excel Christian Academy Tuesday night. Christian Heritage, now 7-0 in Region 6-A, led 20-5 after one quarter, 38-23 at the intermission, and 55-36 after three quarters on their way to a 24-point victory. Evan Lester and Drew Clements led the Lions with 27 and 25 points, respectively.
Rashard Doyal led ECA with 19 points. Rayshawn Womack scored 18 and Jakaden Barkley added nine for the Eagles. Excel (2-13, 1-4) entertains Gordon Lee Friday night at 6:30 p.m. and travels to Mt. Zion-Carroll Saturday for a 4:30 p.m. tip. LAGRANGE 71, CARTERSVILLE BOYS 56
The Hurricanes dropped a Region 5-AAAA contest at LaGrange Tuesday night, 71-56. The Grangers led 17-14 after one quarter and were ahead 36-27 at halftime. LaGrange extended their lead to 58-40 through three quarters and held on for a 15-point win. Javen Brown led the Grangers with 19 points. He was followed by teammates D.J. Burks with 17 and Kobe Jones with 14 points. Kam Callahan (photo) led Cartersville with 19 points and was followed by six other Canes in the scoring column. Kyler Johnson followed with nine. Robert Novak scored eight. Kolbe Benham finished with seven. Jynerieus Stanley contributed six points. Micah Tart had five and Marquail Coaxum added two points. Class AAAA 10th-ranked LaGrange improved to 16-0 on the season and 3-0 in Region 5-AAAA. Cartersville (5-6, 1-2) hosts a pair of region games this weekend at The Storm Center against top ten teams. The Canes entertain 2nd-ranked Sandy Creek Friday and 5th-ranked Chapel Hill Saturday in a pair of 7:30 p.m. starts.
KELL 81, CASS BOYS 60
Xavier Presley scored a game-high 20 points for Kell Tuesday night at Cass as the Class AAAAA 5th-ranked Longhorns beat the Colonels 81-60.
Scoota Henderson, Jaylon Brown, and Ramir Chester helped lead the Longhorns with 11 points apiece.
Kell led 22-14 after eight minutes, 45-23 at halftime, and 60-40 after three quarters in their eventual 21-point win.
Zaylan Chaney, C.J. Pipkin, and Andrew Glaze reached double figures for the Colonels with 16, 14, and 10 points, respectively.
Kell improved to 13-4 overall and 7-1 in region play.
Cass (10-8, 5-4) plays at Paulding County Friday night at 7:30 p.m. and at East Paulding Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. in a pair of Region 7-AAAAA tilts.
RINGGOLD 44, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 42
In a battle of Region 6-AAA Tigers, Ringgold outlasted the visiting Adairsville boys Tuesday night 44-42. In a back-and-forth tussle, Adairsville led 11-10 after one quarter before Ringgold held leads of 24-22 at halftime and 28-27 after three quarters. Logan Hullender scored a game-high 21 points for Ringgold (5-11, 2-7). He was followed by Jayden Williams with nine points. Gaven Crunkleton led Adairsville with 14 points. Jaxon Welchel scored 13. Malachi Gardner had five. Savaun Henderson contributed four points. Conner Crunkleton, Johnathan Jarrett, and Diego Perez added two points each. Adairsville (7-9, 4-5) hosts North Murray Friday night in an 8:30 p.m. tip and Pickens Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. PHOTO: Jaxon Welchel by Randy Parker/The Daily Tribune News EAST PAULDING 77, WOODLAND BOYS 67 The Woodland boys narrowed East Paulding’s lead to eight points a couple of times late Tuesday night, but the visiting Raiders held on down the stretch for a 77-67 win in the Wildcats’ long anticipated home opener. East Paulding led 17-11 after the opening period, but the Wildcats narrowed the margin to 33-31 at halftime. The visiting Raiders then outscored Woodland 23-11 in the third quarter to take control and hold off the Wildcats for a 10-point win. Woodland struggled at the free throw line — making only 12 of 26 — or it could have been even closer. Nonetheless, the competitive turnaround for Woodland was significant following a 43-point loss at East Paulding in December. The trio of Sean Rutledge, Kristian Ford, and Sebastian Tider led the Raiders with 30, 20, and 15 points, respectively. DiAnthony Heathcock and K.J. Rogers both finished with 23 points for Woodland. Heathcock added 14 boards. Tyler Thurman and Connor McGuire contributed seven points each. Jamison Lawrence and Jaden Johnson chipped in two points apiece and Jonathan Thomas added one. East Paulding improved to 7-10 overall and 3-6 in Region 7-AAAAA. Woodland (2-15, 0-9) returns to region action Friday night at home against Rome in a 7:30 p.m. tip.
