Cartersville drops region title game to Sandy Creek

The Cartersville boys basketball team lost at 2nd-ranked Sandy Creek Saturday night 78-64 to finish as runner-up in the Region 5-AAAA championship tournament. The loss means the Hurricanes will be a No. 2-seed and will host an opening round game in the state tournament that begins Friday.

Cartersville (15-13) will square off against the No. 3-seed from Region 8-AAAA, Madison County. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Perignon Dyer (photo) also reached a milestone Saturday during the game. The Canes’ senior guard scored a team-high 22 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark for his career.

Sandy Creek (24-3) beat Cedartown by 46 points Friday night in the region semifinals, but had more difficulty with Cartersville in the finals.

The host Patriots led 20-15 after one quarter, 38-34 at the intermission, and 59-47 after three quarters on their way to the 14-point decision.

T.J. Bickerstaff had a game-high 28 points to lead Sandy Creek. Jabori Smith and Deshon Proctor added 18 and 14 points, respectively. Kolbe Benham followed Dyer with 14 points for the Canes. Isaac Gridley chipped in seven. Micah Tart contributed six. Marquail Coaxum finished with five points. Raylin Royal had three. Taywuan Johnson, Brynen Wilkins, and Austin Cauffman scored two each and Amarai Orr added one point. Sandy Creek will host North Oconee in the opening round.