Colonels win hoops opener, Excel falls on the road

The Cass student section, who like the moniker -- Colonels Crazies -- had some fun and added to the atmosphere Friday night at the Cass gymnasium as the Colonels and Lady Colonels opened their 2016-17 basketball campaigns by defeating Armuchee.

COLONELS SURGE PAST ARMUCHEE IN SECOND HALF

The Cass High School boys basketball team started the 2016-17 regular season Friday night with a solid 57-33 win over visiting Armuchee.

The win completed an opening night sweep. The Lady Colonels won earlier in the evening, 43-38. (Please see separate story on this site.)

Mark Chester led all scorers in the game with 14 points that included three, three-pointers. C.J. Bennett had nine points for the Colonels and a pair of threes.

Cass took a 19-12 lead after one quarter and extended their advantage to 33-21 at halftime. The Colonels then limited the visiting Indians to only one field goal in the third quarter and only 12 points in the second half to pull away with a 24-point, non-region victory.

Ian Whittington added eight points for the Colonels. Tryston Coffman scored seven. Steven Spell chipped in with six points. Ashton Burley added five points — all on free throws. Jacquez Mills contributed four points, while Terrance Foster and Carter Hedden added two apiece for Cass.

Seth Stanley led Armuchee (1-1) with 11 points and Drew Cummings had 10. Tamalachi Lovelace scored five points, followed by Kamen Harris and Eli Brock with 4 and 3 points, respectively.

Cass (1-0) will host South Paulding Monday at 5:30pm and will play Chattanooga’s Notre Dame next Saturday at 4pm in the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Classic.

EAST PAULDING 100, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 27

It is a rebuilding year for the Excel Christian Eagles and coach Eric Collins, but the first-year head coach was upbeat following a one-sided loss at East Paulding Friday night.

“We played with great effort despite the score,” said Collins. “We missed a lot of free throws and turned the ball over too much, but we will learn from this and continue our journey of growth and development. We’ll keep working to build the Excel program brand.”

Jordan Wilkie scored 11 points and Chase Horn five to lead the Eagles in their season opener.

Azer Tidor scored 19 and Caleb Ivey 15 to lead the Raiders.

East Paulding posted 37 points in the first quarter on their way to a 60-20 lead at halftime, then limited the inexperienced Eagles to only seven points in the second half.

The Raiders (1-0) turn their attention to the Dalton Thanksgiving Tournament that begins Monday when they will play Northwest Whitfield at 7pm.

Excel Christian (0-1) will host Adairsville Tuesday at 7:30pm.