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February 21, 2025 Cameron Cochran’s first-inning, three-run homer gave the Hurricanes an early lead Friday night at Class 6A No. 1-ranked Etowah, but Cartersville managed only one more hit and did not score again in a 5-3 loss to the Eagles. Carson Moore hit a solo home run for Etowah in the second inning, and Deion Cole smacked a three-run homer in the third to give the Eagles their first lead. Later, Etowah took advantage of an infield error, a walk, and two ground balls to add an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth. Avery Shiflett made the pitching start for Cartersville and was tagged with the loss. He allowed four earned runs on four hits and one walk while fanning one. Logan Shrewsbury pitched the final two innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit and one walk with two strikeouts. Tristan McKibben had the other Canes’ base hit — a two-out single in the second inning. Etowah improved to 6-0. Cartersville (2-2) visits Ringgold on Saturday for a 1 p.m. start. BREMEN 9, CASS 0  Nic Wright had the only Cass base hit in the Colonels' five-inning 9-0 loss to Bremen on Friday night in the Georgia Dugout Challenge at LakePoint in Emerson. The Blue Devils (2-2) posted three runs in the third inning, one in the fourth, and five more in the bottom of the fifth inning to close the game. Jacob Johnson (2.1 IP, 3ER, 1H, 6BB, 1K) made the pitching start for Cass and took the loss. Wright (1.2 IP, 1ER, 1H, 1BB, 1K), Trenton Elario (0.2 IP, 5ER, 1H, 4BB, 1K), and Joshua Churchwell (1H, 1BB) took the mound in relief. The Colonels (1-2) are scheduled to face Cambridge and Osborne at 10 a.m. and noon Saturday at LakePoint.

February 21, 2025 The Cartersville Lady Canes cruised to a 66-37 second-round win Friday night in the Storm Center, defeating Pace Academy and advancing to the Class AAAA state quarterfinals. In Fairburn, the Cass Lady Colonels were not as successful in a 73-29 loss to the No. 1-ranked Creekside Seminoles. GHSA Class AAAA Round of 16 CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 66, PACE ACADEMY 37 Senai Camper poured in 25 points Friday night to lead the Lady Canes in a 66-37 victory over Pace Academy. The Lady Canes made five first-quarter shots from behind the arc and led 24-5 at the end of the opening period Friday night in the Storm Center en route to an easy 66-37 win over Pace Academy in the second round of the Class AAAA state playoffs. Cartersville maintained a 34-15 advantage at the intermission and extended the lead to 46-24 by the end of the third quarter before winning by 29 points. Senai Camper scored a game-high 25 points, delivered seven assists, and added four steals to lead the Lady Canes. KK Arnold scored 17 points with three steals and two assists. Bayley Stanley and Zoe McCurry contributed seven points. Stanley collected six rebounds and four steals. McCurry contributed five rebounds and six assists. Blakely Morris finished with six points, and Trinity Montgomery added four for the Hurricanes. Lawson Monroe scored 13 points for the visiting Knights. Kate Grice added 11 points in a losing cause. Pace Academy finished the year with a 13-12 record. Cartersville (19-9) will travel to Atlanta on Tuesday night to play Marist in a 6 p.m. tip. GHSA Class AAAA Round of 16 CREEKSIDE 73, CASS GIRLS 29 The Cass girls fell behind early and never recovered against unbeaten Creekside. The No. 1-ranked Seminoles used a relentless pressure defense on the ball, depth, and speed to defeat the visiting Lady Colonels 73-29 Friday night in the second round of the Class AAAA state tournament. Creekside raced to a 23-10 lead by the end of the first quarter and led 39-20 at halftime. Cass fell off the pace in the second half and managed only nine points in the final two quarters. CeCe Dennis led the Seminoles with 27 points. Maliha Harris and Sydnee Hunter followed with 14 and 12 points, respectively. Cass was led in scoring by KK Evans, who scored 16 points. Cadie Paez scored six. Darianna Sosa tossed in four points. Kiana McDaniel finished with two points, and Lily Powell added one. Creekside improved to 29-0 for the year and will play at Ware County on Tuesday in the state quarterfinals. Ware defeated East Forsyth on Friday night, 57-46. The season ends for Cass with a 13-14 record.

February 20, 2025 The Cartersville High School gymnastics team opened the 2025 season on February 15 by hosting a quad-meet with Cherokee, Lassiter, and Allatoona. Lassiter won the competition with 98.175 points. Cartersville (93.85) finished second, followed by Cherokee (93.8) and Allatoona (81.7). Freshman Layla Poole led the Lady Canes with an all-around score of 36.750. Poole scored 9.35 on vault, 8.75 on bars, 9.25 on beam, and 9.4 on her floor exercise. Emerie Elrod scored 8.7 on floor and 8.9 on vault. Sydney Jackson contributed an 8.45 on vault. Other Cartersville contributions included Laney Saunders on vault (8.05) and beam (7.3). Kyndal Shook scored 6.9 on bars and 8.2 on floor. Katy Grace Wolfe scored 7.4 on vault, 8.1 on beam, and 7.1 on floor. Adalynn Weir contributed an 8.3 on floor. The next home meet for the Lady Canes is March 1 at the Cartersville Twisters facility.

February 20, 2025 Use this link -- https://www.podomatic.com/podcasts/bartowsportszone/episodes/2025-02-20T11_20_04-08_00 -- to listen to interviews with local high school basketball coaches Karisma Boykin (Cartersville girls), Brandan Harrell (Cass girls), and Evan Black (Excel Christian Academy boys).

February 19, 2025 Kyron McClendon The Cartersville Hurricanes only trailed seventh-ranked Kell 19-18 following the first eight minutes Wednesday night in Marietta, but the Longhorns built a 20-point lead by halftime and held off their challengers 84-70 in the opening round of the Class AAAA state tournament. Kell led 66-40 after three quarters and improved their season mark to 21-7. The Longhorns will play at Pace Academy in the second round on Saturday. Pace defeated Central-Carroll 66-31 in the opening round. Connor Staphylans scored 28 points for the Longhorns on Wednesday. King Jones finished with 12 points. Zach Graves and Ben Lee contributed nine points. Kyron McClendon led Cartersville with 27 points. Nas Bennett followed with 21, and Wyatt Thomason added nine points for the Canes. “We battled hard, and they proved why they have been a top-five team in the state most of the year,” said Cartersville coach Mike Tobin. “Our goal was to take care of the ball and not give up easy baskets against their pressure. Unfortunately, we had too many turnovers. I’m proud of our guys for finishing the season strong. We were 7-2 over the final nine games.” The Purple Hurricanes’ season ends with a 17-12 record. “We are thankful to our seniors Jake Johnson and Kaden Baldwin and look forward to the remaining players returning next year with abundant experience and confidence,” added Tobin. GHSA Class AAA State Tournament First Round LUELLA 69, ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 62 The Luella Lions opened the Class AAA state tournament Wednesday night with a 69-62 win at Adairsville. The Tigers trailed 14-10 after one quarter and 39-33 at halftime before knotting the score heading into the fourth quarter at 50-all. Jordan Smith scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Lions. Kai Wood followed with 13 points. Xavious Nalls led three Tigers in double figures with 16 points. Ben Abernathy scored 14 points, and Jamarian Pullum finished with 10 points. Tre Winters added eight. Luella improved to 19-9 on the season and advanced to face No. 1-ranked Cedar Grove on Saturday in the Sweet Sixteen round.  The Saints defeated Harlem on Wednesday in their first-round game, 61-48. The season ends for the Tigers with a 17-11 record.

February 19, 2025 Jordan Johnson fires a jump shot Wednesday in the Chargers' overtime loss to Central Georgia Tech. Georgia Highlands College men’s basketball forced overtime with visiting Central Georgia Tech on Wednesday night in Rome but lost in overtime 74-69. Central Georgia Tech led 29-26 at halftime and outscored GHC in the extra session 9-4. Kaden Douglas led the Titans with 17 points. Christian Torres scored 16 for Central Georgia Tech, and Christian Watkins added 14 points. Chi Shannon scored 18 points off the Chargers’ bench. Cameron Baldwin finished with 14 points, and Marquin Thompson scored 11. Central Georgia Tech improved to 12-8 overall and 4-6 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association. Georgia Highlands (14-10, 6-6) hosts conference co-leader Albany Tech on Saturday at 3 p.m.

February 19, 2025 The Georgia Highlands Chargers completed a doubleheader sweep of USC Salkehatchie on Tuesday with pitching shutouts and plenty of offense. Nic Kane tossed a seven-inning, no-hitter for GHC in the first game and struck out 14. He issued only one walk or would have completed a perfect game on the mound. Kaiden Krak pitched a one-hitter in Game 2 with no walks and three strikeouts. He also faced only one batter over the minimum in the five-inning victory. Grayson Godbee had three hits, including a home run, one double, and five RBI in the doubleheader. Ryan Martin also homered, doubled, and had one RBI. Heath Whitlock (double, RBI), Andrew Bishop (home run, three RBI), and Wyatt Gatlin (home run, double, four RBI) had two hits on the day. Ali Banks, Kenskey Thomas (double, RBI), and Tyler Phillips added one hit. Alex Karst contributed one RBI. The two losses left USC Salkehatchie at 0-10 to begin the season. Georgia Highlands (12-1) carries a six-game winning streak into the weekend. The Chargers will host Macomb CC (MI) and Wabash Valley College (IN), playing each team once daily. GHC plays at noon and 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

February 19, 2025 The Georgia Highlands College softball team extended its current win streak to nine games on Tuesday with a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland State CC. The Chargers won 4-3 and 8-1. Emma Darrow hit a walk-off, inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift GHC in the opening win. Ahmani Green had two hits in the game, including a home run and three RBI. In Game 2, the Chargers scored five runs across the first three innings and added three more runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Cayden Warren paced the Georgia Highlands’ offense with two hits and three RBI. Grace Kendrick pitched a seven-inning, complete game in Game 2. She allowed one earned run on six hits with no walks while striking out four. Maci Andrews and Hannah Mounce combined in Game 1 to limit the Cougars to three earned runs on seven hits with no walks. Andrews recorded two strikeouts. The losses left Cleveland State with a 2-6 record. Georgia Highlands (13-1) hosts USC Union for four games this weekend at Carol Brown Field. Friday’s doubleheader begins at 3 p.m. Saturday’s games start at noon.

February 19, 2025 Pitcher Nate Russell is greeted between innings by catcher Julez Pratt and first baseman Cameron Cochran in the Hurricanes' 3-0 win Tuesday over the Alexander Cougars. Cartersville pitching dominated the day on Tuesday as the Purple Hurricanes defeated visiting Alexander 3-0 and Adairsville 11-0. Nate Russell, Logan Shrewsbury, and Andrew Purdy combined on the mound to shut out Alexander. Russell worked the first three innings, yielding only one walk with three strikeouts. Shrewsbury scattered two hits and one walk in three frames and fanned four. Purdy walked two batters and struck out one in a scoreless seventh inning. Maddox Frazier and Nolan Elrod combined for ten strikeouts in the shutout of Adairsville. Frazier allowed two hits and one walk with four strikeouts in the first two innings. Elrod gave up one hit and two walks with six strikeouts over the final three frames.  Cartersville broke open a scoreless game with Alexander with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Tristan McKibben reached base on a Cougars’ infield error to begin the Hurricanes’ sixth. Purdy followed with a walk and was lifted for courtesy runner Clint Hosea. Cameron Cochran followed with a ground ball double into left field to score McKibben and send Hosea to third. Cooper Graves was then entered as a runner at second base for Cameron Cochran. Casen Cochran and Thomas Peters followed with back-to-back RBI singles, giving the Canes a 3-0 lead. The loss left Alexander with an 0-5 start to their season. In the Canes’ win over Adairsville, Cartersville led 4-0 through three innings and put the game away with a seven-run fourth innings. Peters (double, three RBI), Casen Cochran (two RBI), David Vargas (RBI), and McKibben (double) produced two hits against the Tigers. Cole Crawford and Julez Pratt finished with one hit and one RBI. Purdy and Avery Shiflett drove in one run. Jarrett Scott, Harrison Cole, and Matthew Cook had one hit for the Tigers. Adairsville utilized four pitchers in the abbreviated game. Scott (2.1 IP, 4R, 1ER, 5H, 1BB, 2K) made the pitching start and was saddled with the loss. Hudson Parr (0.2 IP, 3ER, 2H, 1BB, 2K), Kaiden Coker (0.1 IP, 4ER, 0H, 3BB), and Ethan Long (0.2 IP, 1BB) made pitching appearances for the Tigers. Adairsville (1-2) has a doubleheader at Darlington on Saturday at noon. Cartersville (2-1) visits Etowah on Friday for a 5:55 p.m. first pitch and will play at Ringgold on Saturday at 1 p.m.

February 19, 2025 The Woodland High School soccer teams dropped non-region matches Tuesday afternoon in Acworth to the North Cobb Warriors. NORTH COBB 5, WOODLAND GIRLS 2 The host Lady Warriors scored first half goals in the third and 39th minute of the first half to build a 2-0 lead at halftime and outshot the Woodland Lady Cats 10-3 in the match for a 5-2 victory on Tuesday afternoon. North Cobb scored a third goal in the opening minutes of the second half to extend their lead. Ansley Burns scored unassisted in the 46th minute for Woodland, but North Cobb answered six minutes later to make the score 4-1 in favor of the Lady Warriors. Carlie Forman found the net in the 68th minute off an assist from Burns to narrow the margin to 4-2, but North Cobb (1-1) added a final goal in the 78th minute for a 5-2 final score. Woodland (1-1) hosts Kennesaw Mountain on Tuesday in a 6 p.m. kickoff. NORTH COBB 3, WOODLAND BOYS 1 The host Warriors scored the game’s only first half goal in the 18th minute and took a 2-0 lead in the 56th minute before Woodland cut that lead in half. Deiby Sanchez scored off a Connor Henderson assist in the second half for the Wildcats.  In the final minute of the game, North Cobb (2-1) secured an insurance goal, concluding the match with a 3-1 score. Wildcats’ goalkeeper Pedro Montevaldo had 10 saves in the loss.  Woodland (1-1) entertains Kennesaw Mountain on Tuesday at 8 p.m.

February 19, 2025 The Excel Christian Academy boys advanced to the GAPPS Class A State Championship game by blowing past Trinity Prep of Loganville on Tuesday evening, 93-65. The win sends the Eagles to Saturday’s title game against Notre Dame Academy. GAPPS State Tournament Semifinals EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 93, TRINITY PREP 65 Evan Chappell poured in 27 points for ECA in their state semifinal victory over Trinity Prep. The Eagles sprinted to a 25-10 lead in the first quarter and maintained a comfortable lead throughout the game to advance to the GAPPS Class A state championship game with a 93-65 win over Trinity Prep of Loganville at Gordon State College. Excel led 43-31 at halftime and 66-46 at the end of the third quarter. Evan Chappell led the Eagles with 27 points. Kamarrion Profit scored 17 points. Kaiyu Huffman and Connor Garland contributed 11 each. Beau Blocker scored a game-high 35 points to pace Trinity Prep (14-11). Gerald Layne finished with 11 points. Excel Christian (18-8) will face Notre Dame Academy (18-9) of Duluth for the state title on Saturday at 3 p.m. at Ace Academy in Macon.

February 18, 2025 Cass coach Brandon Harrell goes over instructions with the Lady Colonels during a timeout at Blessed Trinity. There was plenty of high school basketball state tournament action on Tuesday night involving local teams. In GHSA first-round girls’ games, the Cartersville Lady Canes and the Cass Lady Colonels advanced to Friday’s Sweet Sixteen round in Class AAAA. Cartersville bounced visiting Cambridge 56-24 and Cass outlasted Region 6-AAAA runner-up Blessed Trinity, 44-41. In Milledgeville, the Adairsville Lady Tigers ended their season with a narrow loss to top-ranked Baldwin, 60-52. GHSA Class AAAA State Tournament First Round CASS GIRLS 44, BLESSED TRINITY 41 Nakayla Evans scored 11 points in the Lady Colonels' 44-41 win Tuesday at Blessed Trinity. The Lady Colonels went on the road to Roswell Tuesday night and outbattled the Blessed Trinity Lady Titans 44-41. In a tight contest for four quarters, Blessed Trinity led 8-7 after one quarter and 22-20 at halftime. The Lady Colonels pulled ahead 33-26 to end the third quarter and held on down the stretch with some solid defense to win by three points. “Our kids did a nice job of getting stops late in the game,” said Cass coach Brandon Harrell following the win. “It certainly wasn’t our best performance of the year, but our kids really gutted it out.” Cadie Paez led Cass with 12 points. Nakayla “KK” Evans followed closely with 11 points. Kiana McDaniel finished with eight points — all in the first half. Summerlyn Smith and Anizah Taylor added six and five points, respectively. Addie Spak scored 17 points for Blessed Trinity (9-16). Abby Woodward added nine points. Cass (13-13) travels to face Region 4-AAAA champion and No. 1-ranked Creekside on Friday night in Fairburn. The Seminoles (28-0) defeated Griffin in Tuesday’s opening round 65-24. GHSA Class AAAA State Tournament First Round CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 56, CAMBRIDGE 24 Senai Camper scored 10 points with six rebounds and five assists Tuesday in the Lady Canes' 56-24 win over the Cambridge Bears. The Lady Canes shutout visiting Cambridge in the second quarter Tuesday night at The Storm Center  and cruised in the second half for a 56-24 win in the first round of the Class AAAA state tournament. The Bears trailed 12-10 after the opening eight minutes but did not score in the second quarter as Cartersville took a 23-10 lead to the intermission. The Lady Canes expanded their advantage to 40-16 by the end of the third quarter in their 32-point win. Blakely Morris led the scoring column for the Lady Canes with 15 points. She added four rebounds and one steal. KK Arnold totaled 11 points, seven steals, and three assists. Senai Camper finished with 10 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Zoe McCurry score six points. Trinity Montgomery and Zoie Shiflett contributed five points. Gabi Johnson led Cambridge (10-17) with nine points. Cartersville (19-9) will host Pace Academy in the second round on Friday night in the Sweet Sixteen. Pace Academy, a 4-seed, knocked off Region 3-AAAA champ Harris County in Tuesday’s opening round 54-44. GHSA Class AAA State Tournament First Round BALDWIN 60, ADAIRSVILLE GIRLS 52 Ziyah Hicks The Adairsville girls trailed for most of the final three quarters Tuesday night in a 60-52 loss at No. 1-ranked Baldwin, but narrowed the Lady Braves’ lead to four points with less than 90 seconds remaining. Baldwin held on, however, for a 60-52 first-round win in the Class AAA state tournament. Adairsville led 13-12 at the end of the first quarter before Baldwin grabbed a 30-21 halftime edge. The Braves maintained a 40-27 advantage by the end of the third period. “That was a very physical Baldwin team,” noted Adairsville coach Melissa Winters. “They had four girls that were 6’0” to 6’2” and they simply out rebounded us. We cut their lead down to four late, but didn’t get over that hump.” NaXyria Roberts led Adairsville with 17 points in the Lady Tigers' narrow loss to No. 1 Baldwin. Adairsville made eight three pointers and did not allow a three-pointer by Baldwin. Janaye Walker led the Braves with 22 points. Suri Clark and Kassidy Neal finished with 16 points. NaXyria Roberts paced the Tigers with 17 points. Rihanna Crittenden scored 10 points. Ziyah Hicks contributed eight points and Lily Roberts finished with seven points. “We played scrappy and pushed the paced of the game effectively,” added Winters. “We ran the floor well and their team wasn’t used to that or our pressure. I felt like we had a great effort and energy.” Baldwin improved to 22-6 on the season and will host White County in the second round on Friday. White County beat Bainbridge 74-34 Tuesday night. Adairsville had its season end with an 11-16 mark.