Canes' comeback secures state tourney berth

The Cartersville boys basketball team trailed visiting LaGrange into the fourth quarter Wednesday night at The Storm Center, but rallied down the stretch to secure a 61-55 win.

The victory advances the Hurricanes to the Region 5-AAAA semifinals at Sandy Creek Friday at 5:30 p.m. against Troup County. It also guarantees Cartersville a berth in the Class AAAA state tournament. Cedartown and Sandy Creek will play in the other semifinal Friday night at 8:30 p.m. Wednesday night, the Grangers took a 14-9 lead over the first eight minutes and led by as many as 13 points in the second period. Cartersville recovered late in the first half to narrow the margin to 29-20 at the break. Ogletree led the Grangers in the first half with 14 points. Perignon Dyer scored 9 of his team-high 18 points in the first half.

LaGrange (13-14) took another double-digit lead in the third quarter, but the Canes narrowed the margin to 42-38 by the end of the period.

The Canes took their first fourth quarter lead at 45-44 and led 48-45 when LaGrange took a timeout with 3:30 remaining.

Over the stretch that followed, Cartersville (14-12) extended the lead to 57-50 with 0:54 remaining and held on for a six-point win.

Along with Dyer, Cartersville had three more players reach double figure scoring. Isaac Gridley scored 13, Micah Tart had 12, and Amarai Orr finished with 11 points.

CEDARTOWN 45, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 35

Cedartown broke open a tightly contested Region 5-AAAA quarterfinal game over the final three minutes to eliminate the Cartersville girls 45-35 Wednesday night at The Storm Center.

The victory sends the Lady Bulldogs (16-8) to the region tournament semifinals Friday at Sandy Creek and also secured a state tournament berth. Cartersville was led by senior London Shaw with 10 points. Haley Johnson followed with nine. The Lady Canes finished the year with a 12-14 record.