Sonoraville struggles down stretch in loss to Cedartown
— The Sonoraville girls played their season opener on Tuesday night as they debuted an almost completely new cast of contributors following the loss of a big and talented senior class from last year’s team.
And the Lady Phoenix looked like a team that will have to learn on the fly early in the season as they break in the group as they struggled at times, including being held to just three points in the fourth quarter in a 38-34 loss to Cedartown at Pepperell.
Both teams struggled offensively, but Sonoraville (0-1) held the upper hand at halftime 24-20 thanks in large part to making five first-half 3-pointers.
The Lady Phoenix then built a nine-point lead at 31-22 before Cedartown (1-0) put together the game-defining run. They scored the next 12 points, which spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth. In total, Cedartown outscored Sonoraville 10-7 in the third and 8-3 in the fourth to close out the game.
“I think that at the end of the game when you want to have some experience, we didn’t have a whole lot,” said Sonoraville coach Stephanie Caudell. “We’ve got to learn how to handle those situations better. We haven’t had a lot of practice time, but obviously we need to get better there so we’ll work on that.”
Kolbey Smith was the lone Sonoraville scorer in double figures with 10 points. Harleigh Chastain added nine with seven coming in the first half before she ran into some foul trouble. Emma Garland scored six.
Caudell said that the loss is a tough way to start the season, but her team can only use it as motivation to improve from here on out.
“I think it’s a little bit of our inexperience showing,” said Caudell. “We were forcing things, and I also think we had some first-game jitters. We need to learn from this to get better. When things were going our way tonight, everything was okay, but when adversity hit, we didn’t know how to respond.
“I told the girls after the game that I see them improve every day. We’re not where we need to be, but these early games help with that. It gives us experience and allows us to find out roles and what we’re capable of handling.”
The Lady Phoenix are back at home on Tuesday to host Cartersville at 6 p.m. in another non-region test.
In other recent prep basketball action:
Calhoun girls 55, Allatoona 51
Despite a tough night from the field, the Lady Jackets made up for it at the free throw line, going 22-of-27 from there, to earn a hard-fought victory on Tuesday in their final game at the Rome High Thanksgiving Tournament.
Calhoun (2-1) struggled to make shots from the floor, shooting under 20 percent, but continued to be aggressive and get to the free throw line where they knocked down big shots to earn a bounce-back win.
Jana Johns led the way with 22 points, and Ashlyn Barnes was also in double figures with 12. Calhoun is on the road on Tuesday to play Murray County in a Region 6-AAA crossover matchup at 6 p.m.
Gordon Central girls 57, North Cobb Christian 39
The Lady Warriors built a steady lead throughout the night and then put the game away in the fourth on Monday with a 12-4 advantage in the final quarter to earn a victory and advance to the championship game of the first-ever Lady Warriors Invitational Thanksgiving Tournament.
Cailey Martin had a huge night with 23 points to lead the charge for Gordon Central (2-0). Cara Crump added 12.
Adairsville boys 67, Gordon Central 32
The Warriors fell behind big early and could never get back in the game as the fell in non-region action on the road on Monday.
Gordon Central (1-1) trailed 27-2 after a huge first quarter by Adairsville, and the deficit got even more insurmountable when the Tigers outscored them 20-3 in the third.
Colyn Nix was the Warriors’ leading scorer with seven. Dawson Lackey added six. Gordon Central is back at home on Friday to host Trion at 8:30 p.m.