Friday’s tournament action for local high school teams

February 14, 2025

Friday’s tournament action for local high school teams:

GAPPS Class A State Quarterfinals

EXCEL CHRISTIAN BOYS 91, PRAISE ACADEMY 65

The Eagles cruised to an easy 91-65 win over Praise Academy Friday night and advanced to the GAPPS Class A Final Four.

Evan Chappell, Kaiyu Huffman, and Carter May scored 18 points to lead Excel Christian.

The Eagles led 22-14 after one quarter, 55-26 at halftime, and 80-50 at the end of the third quarter.

Hunter Ivey led the Lions in the scoring column with 24 points. Daniel Foote and Josh Ridge added 13 for Praise Academy (12-14).

Excel Christian (18-8) will play Trinity Prep (14-10) of Loganville in the state semifinals on Tuesday at Gordon College in Barnesville.

Region 7-AAA Semifinals

ADAIRSVILLE BOYS 62, NORTHWEST WHITFIELD 50

The Adairsville Tigers advanced to a region championship game for the fourth straight year with a 62-50 win over the Northwest Whitfield Bruins at Calhoun High School.

The Tigers led 22-11 after one period and 29-21 at halftime. Adairsville extended that lead to 50-35 by the end of the third quarter and held on for a 12-point victory.

Xavious Nalls poured in 30 points for the Tigers. Ben Abernathy followed with 13 points, and Tre Winters scored eight points.

Akendris Douglas led the Bruins with 16 points. Caden Ramsey scored 10 for Northwest Whitfield (18-7).

On Saturday, Adairsville (17-9) will play Calhoun for the Region 7-AAA championship. The host Yellow Jackets (18-3) beat LaFayette on Friday night 57-27 in the other region semifinal.

Region 7-AAAA Championship Game

DALTON 54, CARTERSVILLE GIRLS 32

The seventh-ranked Dalton Lady Catamounts split regular season games with the Lady Canes but won the region tournament championship game Friday night at Allatoona 54-32.

Aubriyana Camp led Dalton with 21 points. Jolie Wingfield contributed 12, and Wisdom Kent added eight for the Lady Catamounts.

Dalton led 16-8 after one quarter, 25-15 at the intermission, and 41-23 at the end of the third period.

Senai Camper scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds for Cartersville. KK Arnold finished with eight points, five boards, and four assists. Jayda Cothran contributed six points and four rebounds. Zoe McCurry and Trinity Montgomery added four points each.

Both teams will host Class AAAA State Tournament first-round games on Tuesday.  Dalton (24-3) will host Westminster (13-12). Cartersville (17-9) will entertain Cambridge (9-16).

Region 7-AAAA Third Place Game

CARTERSVILLE BOYS 66, CEDARTOWN 59

The Purple Hurricanes held off a pesky Cedartown Bulldogs team Friday at Allatoona High School in the third-place game of the Region 7-AAAA tournament for a 66-59 win.

Nas Bennett led four Canes in double figures with 20 points. He also had seven rebounds and four assists. Wyatt Thomason contributed a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kaden Baldwin scored 12 points with five steals, and Will Bishop scored 11 for Cartersville.

Cedartown (15-14) will be a 4-seed on Wednesday and play a first-round state tournament game at Westminster (17-6).

Cartersville (17-11) advances as a 3-seed and will visit Kell (20-7) on Wednesday.

Region 7-AAAA Third Place Game

CASS GIRLS 56, HIRAM 44

The Lady Colonels avenged two regular-season losses to the Hiram Lady Hornets by winning the Region 7-AAAA tournament third-place game on Friday afternoon, 56-44, at Allatoona High School.

Cass (13-14) will open the Class AAAA State Tournament on Tuesday at Blessed Trinity (9-15).

Hiram (12-15) travels to Kell (21-5) on Tuesday to open the state tournament.