Hoops Highlights: Colonels edge Hiram; Canes fall in top ten region battle
The Cass Colonels edged Hiram in a defensive struggle Tuesday night at home for the only local boys basketball win.
The top-ten battle between Cartersville and LaGrange went the Grangers' way, while Woodland, Adairsville, and Excel Christian Academy also lost region matchups.
CASS BOYS 34, HIRAM 33
Although they trailed by as many as 13 points in the first half Tuesday night at home, Cass’ Ian Whittington made a game-winning free throws with 0.7 seconds remaining to lift the Colonels to a dramatic 34-33 region win over visiting HIram.
Cass trailed 19-10 at halftime in a defensive test, but fought back and made the plays down the stretch to pull out the win. The Colonels outscored Hiram 14-6 in the third quarter to take a 25-24 lead heading to the final eight minutes.
C.J. Bennett led Cass with 11 points. Ashton Burley and Jake Collum scored six each. Whittington finished with five points.
Hiram falls to 8-12 overall and 6-5 in region play with the road loss.
Cass (15-6, 9-3 Region 7AAAAA) has region games remaining with Rome Thursday, Woodland Friday, and two with Carrollton January 31 and February 2. Carrollton and Kell are the current region standings leaders.
No. 3 LaGRANGE BOYS 67, No. 8 CARTERSVILLE 52
LaGrange took a 14-13 lead after one quarter, led 34-26 at halftime, and extended their lead to 53-36 after three quarters in their home win over the Hurricanes.
LaPerion Perry led the Grangers with 15 points, six rebounds and four assists. Teammates Gabe Duckett and Bo Russell followed with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Russell added seven boards.
Jaylon Pugh had a game-high 16 points to lead the Canes. Isaac Gridley scored 12 points. Perignon Dyer followed with seven while T.J. Horton and Trase Fezzia added six points each.
LaGrange improved to 19-2 overall and 8-0 in Region 5AAAA.
Cartersville (14-4, 5-2) hosts 4th-ranked Sandy Creek Friday and Chapel Hill Saturday in two more Region 5AAAA games.
ROME BOYS 53, WOODLAND 45
The visiting Wolves led 12-11 after one quarter and pushed their lead to 13 points at one point in the third quarter, but Woodland hung around. Rome’s lead was 42-34 entering the final quarter.
Justice Hayes and Camden Royal scored 10 points each for the Wildcats.
Rome improved to 7-11 overall and 2-9 in Region 7AAAAA.
Woodland (1-16, 0-11) hosts Hiram Wednesday and travels to Cass Friday night.
CALHOUN BOYS 60, ADAIRSVILLE 48
Calhoun outscored the Adairsville boys 22-11 in the second quarter Tuesday night in Calhoun to make the biggest difference in an otherwise tight contest.
Calhoun led 14-10 after one quarter, but pushed their advantage to 36-21 by halftime.
Followed an even third quarter where both teams posted 12 points each, the visiting Tigers actually outscored Calhoun 15-12 in the final period.
Calhoun improved to 15-4 overall and 10-0 in Region 6AAA South.
Chapin Rierson led Calhoun with 14 points. Rhett Abernathy and Malik Lawrence added 13 each. Kaylan Aker added 12 points and grabbed six boards. Porter Law contributed 11 assists, five steals, and six rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.
Adairsville (12-9, 5-5 Region 6AAA South) plays at Haralson County Friday night and at Christian Heritage Saturday night.
BOWDON BOYS 72, EXCEL CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 34
Bowdon led 20-8 after one quarter and 42-19 at halftime on their way to a one-sided home win Tuesday night.
Taylor McDaniel and Dylan Drew led the Eagles with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Red Devils were led by Octavius Meadows with 26 points and Zach Ledbetter with 11.
Bowdon improved to 9-12 overall and 4-6 in Region 6A play.
Excel (0-14, 0-9) plays at Darlington Thursday and hosts Gordon Lee Friday night.
