david.royal@daily-tribune.com
Cass has drawn the unenviable task of competing against Dalton at the 2010 Lady Tiger Thanksgiving Classic, under way in Adairsville today and Saturday.
Head coach Jamie Horton said the 7 p.m. game will challenge his young basketball team, which is fresh off a 38-34 defeat of Adairsville in the tournament's first round.
Dalton whipped Kennesaw Mountain, 70-36, to advance.
Other matchups today pit Gordon Lee against Calhoun at 2:30 p.m., Adairsville and Kennesaw Mountain at 4 p.m. and Rome versus Darlington at 5:30 p.m.
"Dalton is an extremely experienced team," Horton said. "They've got four returning starters who've played a lot of years together."
Dalton also picked up Quanisha McCurty, a 6-foot-5-inch senior center transfer from Northwest Whitfield, Horton said, and he sees them as state title contenders in AAA basketball.
"They also have a really good point guard who distributes the ball well, too," he added. "We will have our hands full. I think we're capable of putting forth a good effort. We'll see what happens from there."
Horton said the Lady Colonels got a good test Tuesday night against Adairsville.
"My hat's off to Adairsville," he said. "Coach (Michael) Roberson did a really good job with those girls and they were ready to play."
He said the Lady Colonels turned the ball over too much and proved foul-prone, things he attributed in part to the Lady Tigers' preparation.
But Cass had some good things happen and got a big win to start its season.
"We had some girls step up for us," he said. "Myra Russell did a good job coming in and showed she's capable of doing a lot for us."
Russell was the Lady Colonels' leading scorer, with 10 points.
"Tyshika Jackson did her usual game of playing great defense for us, too," he added.
Adairsville vs. Kennesaw
Tournament host Adairsville will entertain Kennesaw Mountain's Lady Mustangs at 4 p.m.
Adairsville coaches also got a good look at the Lady Tigers and areas they need to improve in, their coach said.
The Lady Tigers led early in that contest, 9-8 at the end of the first quarter and 17-16 at halftime before Cass muscled its way into the lead in the second half to take the close game.
Coach Roberson said the game showed Lady Tigers need to handle the trap better and hit a few more shots and layups along the way.
"Still, it was a good effort by our girls," Roberson said. "We're just so young."