This time the Wildcats came from behind — trailing 20-19 at the half — by putting the clamps on the Grizzlies with a 12-4 third quarter and finishing with an offensive burst in the final period, when they outscored their foe 20-15. Woodland won the second half by a convincing 32-19 margin.
“We played pretty well defensively,” head coach Mike Tobin said. “Creekview is a very good shooting team and made just one 3-pointer. We didn’t shoot all that well, but we had a big second half and got the win.”
Woodland moved to 7-0 in Region 7-AAAA. Chattahoochee has an 8-0 record, having played one more region game. Creekview dropped to 11-8 on the season and is 7-2 in the region, both losses coming over the weekend.
Woodland is ranked No. 7 in the state coaches poll.
Scoring for Woodland were Greg Murphy, 18; Brandon Thompson, 12; Corey Tobin, 10, going 8-of-8 from the free-throw line; R.J. Williams, 5; Xavier Niblet, 5; and Chandler Royal, 1.
Woodland is giving up an average 47 points per outing, lowest in the region.
The Wildcats next turn their attention to Sequoyah.
“They’ve really taken it to us at times,” Tobin said.
He said the team will take off Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. day and then will get three days of practices in before playing Friday.
Creekview 57, Lady Wildcats 28
Woodland fell behind early against region power Creekview and couldn’t catch up in their game Saturday, losing 57-28.
The Lady Wildcats outscored Creekview in the third period and fell just three points short in the final period.
“Our girls never surrendered and played hard,” head coach Colman Roberts stated. “Creekview probably is the best team in our region.”
Creekview turned on the offensive jets early, with a 16-5 run in the first quarter. The Lady Grizzlies picked up the pace a little in the second period, scoring 21 points while allowing 5.
Woodland (4-12, 0-7 in Region 7-AAAA) fired back in the third quarter, scoring 10 points while allowing 9. Creekview (17-2, 9-0) scored 11 in the final period to the 8 scored by the Lady Wildcats.
Scoring for Woodland were Kennedy Robinson, 14 points; Jessie Michaels, 5; Ayrianna Metcalf, 4; Brooke Hummel, 3; and Casey Bucy, 2.
Woodland returns to the hardwoods Friday when it visits Sequoyah.
Meanwhile, the Lady Wildcats JV team defeated Adairsville in the Cass JV Invitational on Saturday morning.
Chattahoochee 65, Cass 60
Cass played state-ranked Chattahoochee toe-to-toe Saturday but came up short and fell 65-60 to the state’s No. 4 ranked team.
The Cougars got off to the faster start, taking a 19-13 lead at the end of a quarter; however the Colonels responded with a 14-8 second quarter to go into halftime tied up at 27-all.
A weak offensive performance in the third quarter, however, doomed the Colonels as they were outscored 21-11 — a 10-point differential. Cass was able to make up half that total in the final quarter but still lost by five points.
The Cougars sank 18 of 24 free throws on the evening, doubling the 9 free throws made by Cass, which took 18 shots at the charity line.
“We played them tough but came up short,” Cass head coach Greg Scott said. “Kadeem [Sutton] had a very solid game inside. Drew [McKaig] and Najae [Jackson] gave us a lot of effort and we got good play off the bench.”
He noted the Colonels were 23 out of 61 from the court while Chattahoochee went 22 out of 51.
“We had 10 more shots but we didn’t cash them in,” Scott said. “This region is a lot like last year in that a lot of teams can beat any other team on a given night. I think this coming region tournament we’re going to see a lot of exciting basketball played in our gym.”
The loss dropped Cass to 11-7 overall and 4-4 in Region 7-AAAA.
Scoring for Cass were Zeke Reed, 20; Sutton, 19; McKaig, 9; Jozelle Payne, 8; and Tony Mitchell, 4. Leading Chattahoochee were Trey Archanbeau, 19; Markus Terry, 17; and Jaron Blossomgame, a Clemson signee, 17.
Cass 64, Northwest Whitfield 56 (Friday)
Cass got into the flow early and that helped it overcome its customary low scoring third quarter and defeat Northwest Whitfield on Friday, 64-56.
The scores at the first three breaks were 17-12, 32-25, 38-39. Cass outscored Northwest 26-17 in the final quarter for the come-from-behind win.
“The kids played very well against Northwest,” coach Scott said. “We shot pretty well in the first half, hitting 13-of-27. Then we lived down to our MO in the third quarter, when we had 6 points. We recovered and had a big fourth quarter, when Jozelle had two big 3’s for us. We also did a good job of shooting free throws, hitting 8-of-12.”
He noted the victory moved Cass at least briefly above Northwest into fourth place in the region but is subject to change depending on how the Bruins did against Lambert on Saturday.
Scott said the Colonels are trying hard with every game.
“They know every game in the region is important and just about anybody can beat anybody else,” he said.
Scoring for Cass were Sutton 9; Jackson 5; Mitchell, 14; McKaig, 2; Payne, 17; Zeke Reed, 17. Daniel Kobin lead Northwest scorers with 18 points.
Cass next plays on Saturday, when it visits Forsyth Central. Tipoff is at 7:30 p.m.