Canes, Tigers punch state tourney tickets
The Cartersville and Adairsville boys basketball teams both won region quarterfinal tournament games Wednesday night to earn spots in their respective region semifinals. Both teams also qualified for the state tournament.
They both play again Friday for a chance to host a state tournament game in the first round.
CARTERSVILLE BOYS 66, CHAPEL HILL 61
The 9th-ranked Cartersville boys basketball team punched its ticket to the 2017 Class AAAA State Tournament with a hard-fought 66-61 Region 5AAAA tournament win over Chapel Hill Wednesday night at the Storm Center.
The Canes held leads of 18-12 after one quarter and 35-29 at halftime before Chapel Hill rallied to tie the game at 47 through three periods.
Cartersville separated from the visiting Panthers late in the final quarter to win the period 19-14 and take a five-point decision.
JKobe Orr led the Canes with 21 points and 15 rebounds. T.J. Horton scored 13 points. Jaylon Pugh totaled 12 points. Horton and Pugh also combined for 22 rebounds.
Perignon Dyer and JaCorey Johns scored six points each. Isaac Gridley added four points and made his presence known inside with several blocked shots. Marqual Coaxum added three points.
Chapel Hill had its season end with a 4-22 record.
Cartersville (19-5) will face 3rd-ranked Sandy Creek (19-6) Friday in the Region 5AAAA semifinals at LaGrange.
Troup County defeated Cedartown Wednesday night in the other quarterfinal game at the Storm Center. The Tigers will play LaGrange in the other region semifinal Friday.
The semifinal winners will play for the region championship Saturday at 7:30pm at LaGrange. The semifinal losers will play for third place at 4:30pm.
ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 47, RINGGOLD 43
The Adairsville boys basketball team defeated Ringgold Wednesday evening to earn a trip to the Region 6AAA semifinals Friday at Calhoun and a trip to the 2017 Class AAA state tournament.
Cole Hewatt scored 11 points and Hunter Hice 10 to lead the Tigers as they improved to 16-11.
Ringgold’s season ends with the loss. They finished the year with a 10-15 record.
Adairsville, the 3-seed from the South sub-region of 6AAA, will now face the South sub-region’s top-seed Calhoun in the region semifinals Friday at 5:30pm.
The other region semifinal Friday night will feature the 1-seed from the North sub-region Coahulla Creek and the 2-seed from the South sub-region Sonoraville.
The Region 6AAA title game will be Saturday at 7:30pm. The semifinal losers will play for third place at 4:30pm Saturday. All tournament games are at Calhoun High School.
