Jackets finish up non-Region schedule
♦ Calhoun goes to Rome Saturday evening in final non-league contest
For the Calhoun High School basketball team, it’s just about go time.
The Yellow Jackets are now less than a week away from tipping off the start of the Region 7-5A schedule with a pair of final non-district encounters this week before the games that really count start next Tuesday night at Cass.
The Jackets are 6-6 on the season after finishing 2022 last Friday with two wins in three games at the Tiger Christmas Classic in Adairsville.
They began the proceedings with a one-sided 89-64 win over Long County last Wednesday, but lost in the second round for the second time this year to South Paulding, 63-44, to drop them out of championship consideration for the tournament.
However, the Jackets bounced back nicely on Friday in the third place game, trouncing Murray County, 6843 to head into the last days of nonleague play.
And they play two teams on opposite ends of the GHSA classification scale this week with a home date Tuesday night against Class A Darlington and then a road trip Saturday evening to 6A Rome.
The Tigers entered Tuesday night’s contest with a stellar 10-2 record and they were off to a 4-0 start in their Class A Region.
They finished last year’s portion of their schedule last week at the 18th Annual Marlin Classic Panama City tournament and won two out of three games. That one loss was a 70-67 setback to Lipscomb Academy out of Nashville, meaning the Tigers are only four points away from being 11-1 on the year. (Details of that CalhounDarlington game were not available
at press time).
Then on Saturday evening, they go to Rome to face a 6A Wolves squad that won eight of their first 10 games to start the year but enters this week on a two-game losing streak after ending play in Panama City with two consecutive losses.
They began action at the Marlin Classic by clubbing Coahulla Creek, 92-37, but then lost a pair of four-point games to close out play. First, the Wolves lost to NCCHS out of Kennesaw, 51-47, and on Friday, they fell to Carrollton Central, 51-47, making them 8-4 on the season.
Besides that, the Wolves are also off to a 2-0 start in their league.
Calhoun and Rome each have one common opponent to this point and that is Cedartown, which Calhoun beat 68-28 about a month ago while Rome also collected a pair of decisive victories over the Bulldogs, defeating them 70-31 just before Calhoun beat them and then toping them 66-49 a couple of weeks later.
For head coach Vince Layson’s team, they are simply trying to find some momentum going into their Regional opener next week.
The Yellow Jackets split their final two games in Adairsville last Thursday and Friday, starting with their second loss of the year to 6A South Paulding.
After a excellent start against the Spartans, the Yellow Jackets were outscored 56-30 over the final three quarters of play in the game.
Calhoun took a 14-7 lead
as the first quarter concluded, but would score just 15 points in the next two quarters while 6A South Paulding seized control.
In fact, SP fought back in the second period to put up 19 points while holding Calhoun to only seven for a 26-21 lead at halftime.
The team from the 7-5A managed just eight markers in the third while South Paulding would double that with 16 of its own for a 4229 lead to begin the fourth.
And the 6A Spartans would see that the Jackets did not make a come back in the 4th by topping them 21-15 in the final eight minutes.
The loss sent them to 5-6 on the season.
But on Friday, the Yellow Jackets used a outstanding defensive effort in the first half to cruise past Murray County.
The team from Region 6-3A would score just 13 points in the first half while Calhoun would hold nearly a 20-point lead at the break and never be pushed.
Getting after it at both ends, Calhoun sprinted out a 20-8 lead after the first period. And even though things slowed down in the second with both teams playing their third game in three days and showing some fatigue, the Yellow Jackets still outscored MC, 11-5, in the second eight minutes of play for a 31-13 bulge at the half.
Calhoun did not take its foot off the gas in the third quarter either, notching 24 points while allowing 14 to hold an insurmountable 5527 advantage moving into the fourth.
Senior postman Dylan Faulkner and junior guard Daniel Streete were both named to the Adairsville All-Tournament team.