In the middle of region play, every team is fighting for a chance at a high seed in the region tournament.

The South Paulding Spartans battled the Murray County Indians Friday in a game that meant more than most. After being defeated by the Indians last year in the first round of the region playoffs, the Spartans were hungry for revenge. Also, with a win, the Spartans became the winningest team in South Paulding boys’ basketball history.

South Paulding accomplished all that with a 72-62 victory.

The game opened with a quick 7-2 start by Murray County; however, the Spartans won the quarter 18-17.

After another quarter of great play by South Paulding’s Donovan Fleming and Tony Daniel, the Spartans were up 33-31 at the half.

Even though the Indians made runs late in the game, the Spartans weathered the storm, winning the third quarter, 51-48, and eventually the game. Donovan Fleming led all scorers with 27 points.

Other boys games

On Jan. 19, the Spartans beat the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets 57-51 but lost to the Allatoona Buccaneers 40-57 Saturday.

Going 2-1 on the week, South Paulding is now 10-10 on the season and 5-4 in the region.

The Hiram Hornets went 3-0 for the week.

On Jan. 19, the Hornets beat the Sequoyah Chiefs 81-66 and defeated the Woodland Wildcats 66-63 Friday. Hiram also bested the Paulding County Patriots at home Saturday, 75-57.

The Hornets’ overall record is 16-3 and their region record improves to 6-2. moving them to fourth place.

North Paulding played three times last week, losing 83-53 o Jan. 19 to the Dalton Catamounts, 86-51 Jan. 20 to the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets, and 82-66 on Friday to the Osborne Cardinals.

The Wolfpack drops to 2-16 overall and 0-9 in the region.

The Paulding County Patriots lost on Jan. 19 to the Rome Wolves 77-68. On Friday, the Patriots lost to the Allatoona Buccaneers 70-40 and fell 75-57 to the Hiram Hornets on Saturday.

At the end of the week the Patriots’ overall record was 1-13 and Paulding County was 0-8 in the region.

Girls basketball

The East Paulding Raiders were also active last week, losing 46-30 to the North Cobb Warriors Jan. 19, 65-48 to the South Cobb Eagles, and 58-47 to the Etowah Eagles.

The Raiders’ overall record became 4-15 on the season and 0-12 in Region 5-AAAAA.

During this week, the Lady Spartans went 1-2.

On Jan. 19, they lost to the Sprayberry Yellow Jackets 55-24. On Friday, the Lady Spartans beat the Murray County Lady Indians 48-33, boosted by Porsha Martin’s 28-point performance, and lost on Saturday 52-47 in a close double overtime game.

With an 11-5 overall record and 3-5 region record, South Paulding is 10th in the region.

The Hiram Lady Hornets took two of three last week, beating the Woodland Lady Wildcats 40-34 on Friday and winning 38-32 against Paulding County Saturday.

Their only loss, 46-22, came against the Sequoyah Lady Chiefs Jan. 19.

The North Paulding Lady Wolfpack fell to 0-19, losing three games this week.

The Lady Wolfpack lost to the Dalton Catamounts Jan. 19, was bested by the Sprayberry Yellow Jacket 52-34 Jan. 20, and lost to Osborne, 67-19 Saturday.

The Paulding County Lady Patriots also had a difficult week, losing 59-28 Jan. 19 to the Rome Lady Wolves. Also, the Lady Patriots suffered a 54-50 loss to the Allatoona Lady Buccaneers Friday and suffered a 38-32 loss to the Hiram Lady Hornets Saturday.

On Jan. 19, the East Paulding Lady Raiders suffered a tough 60-30 loss to the North Cobb Lady Warriors and had a 50-17 loss to the Etowah Lady Eagles.



Schedule

Friday

East Paulding vs. Woostock

Paulding County vs. North Paulding

Hiram vs. Murray County



Saturday

North Paulding vs.Walker