Canes fall in Lake City Classic opener
The Cartersville boys basketball team lost for the first time this season Wednesday night in the opening round of the Lake City Classic at Allatoona High School in Cobb County.
The Canes were topped by the host Buccaneers in a defensive struggle, 42-33.
Cartersville, fresh off capturing a holiday tournament title in Rome before Christmas, was held scoreless in the first quarter and never really recovered.
Allatoona took a 9-0 lead after one period and held the Canes scoreless for the games opening 10 minutes and 34 seconds. T.J. Horton broke the ice for Cartersville with 5:26 remaining in the second period to make the score 11-2 at the time.
From there, the Hurricanes battled back into contention and narrowed the halftime margin to 15-12 behind Jaylon Pugh’s five points in the second quarter. Jeremiah Sanabria scored six points with five rebounds and Zare Cooper added four points and three rebounds in the opening half for the Bucs.
Sanabria added eight more points for Allatoona and John Chester drilled a three-pointer at the buzzer as the Buccaneers extended their lead to 29-21 at the end of the third quarter.
The Bucs’ Izaiah Taylor then scored the first four points of the fourth quarter to push the lead to 12 and Allatoona held on from there for a nine-point victory.
Pugh finished with 15 points, three rebounds, and a pair of steals to lead Cartersville. Horton added eight points, five boards, and three assists.
Sanabria led Allatoona with 14 points, seven rebounds, a pair of assists, steals, and blocks. Taylor followed with eight points — all scored in the final period with four rebounds.
The Buccaneers (5-7) advance to play Huffman (AL) Thursday night in the tournament quarterfinals. Huffman edged North Cobb Christian 66-64 in the opening round Wednesday. Cartersville (6-1, ranked 5th in Class AAAA) will play North Cobb Christian (6-3, ranked 8th in Class A-Private) at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in a consolation round game at Allatoona High School’s Auxiliary Gym.
The Lake City Classic continues through Saturday.
-- contributions by Kyle Sandy (@sandysspiel.com)
