Cass girls, Cartersville boys win rivalry matchup

CASS GIRLS 46, CARTERSVILLE 45 Yash Bhika, Cass HS student correspondent, contributed to this report.

Lady Colonels’ freshman, Payton Stoddard, made only one shot in the second half at Cartersville Monday night, but it turned out to be a game winner with only nine seconds remaining as Cass edged the Lady Canes 46-45.

Cass led by 11 at halftime, but Cartersville narrowed the lead to 36-32 after three quarters. The Lady Canes’ rally continued into the fourth with Cartersville taking a late lead. Cartersville’s Kai Bolton nailed a three-point shot with 0:30 remaining to tie the game before Stoddard connected on a three-pointer for the Lady Colonels.

Cass’ Jana Morning scored a game-high 17 points, followed by Stoddard with 10. Chanel Clemons totaled eight points, followed by Kyla Michienzi with five. Esmeralda Thomas added four points and Lexy Wallraven two for the Lady Colonels. Monica Matuba led three Cartersville players in double figures with 16 points. Kimora McClinic scored 11 and Madison McKinney 10 for the Lady Canes. Bolton added four points, while Genesis Burks and India Reid rounded out the scoring with two points each.

The win evened the Lady Colonels’ record at 12-12 and gave them a season sweep of their county opponents. Cass will now prepare for the Region 7AAAAA tournament. Cartersville drops to 5-18 for the year and will host Southeast Whitfield Tuesday at 6pm in their final regular season and region game before the 7AAAA tournament.

CARTERSVILLE BOYS 81, CASS 48

Yash Bhika, Cass HS student correspondent, contributed to this report.

The Canes took control of their second meeting of the season with county rival Cass with a strong second quarter.

Cass led 17-16 after one period, but Cartersville outscored the Colonels 24-5 in the second period to carry a 40-22 advantage to the halftime locker room. The Hurricanes controlled the remainder of the game, leading 59-35 after three quarters on their way to a convincing 33-point rout.

Cortney Cooley led the Canes with 15 points, followed by Kobie Whitfield 13 points, Jaylon Pugh 12 points, TJ Horton and Cade Archer with eight points each. The leading scorer for the Colonels was Mike Sims with 12 points. C.J. Bennett scored nine, Ian Whittington eight, and Ed Curtis added seven.

Cass, who lost to a county opponent for the first time this season, plays next in the Region 7AAAAA tournament. The Colonels have a season mark of 9-14. Cartersville (17-6) has an opportunity to clinch the Region 7AAAA top seed and a guaranteed berth in the Class AAAA state tournament with a home win Tuesday night against Southeast Whitfield.