Yesterday, the Dragons made their way up to Southeast Whitfield to take on the Purple Hurricanes of Cartersville in the first round of the 7AAAA region tournament. The winner got a date Friday in the semi-finals with Northwest Whitfield and a spot in the state tournament.Cartersville got off to a fast start in the first quarter. Pickens got some offense going near the end of the quarter, but found themselves down 12-6 after one. The Canes defense was the story of the second quarter as it held the Dragons offense to just 5 points in the quarter while the Cartersville offense poured in 23 to take a 35-11 lead into the break.

In the third quarter, Pickens had it’s best offensive output outscoring the Canes 17-12.During the third, Senior Shannon Brooks scored the 1,000th point in his PHS career. Cartersville held a 47-28 advantage headed to the fourth. The Canes maintained the lead throughout and got the win, 60-29, ending the Dragons season.

Leading the way for Pickens yesterday were:

Shannon Brooks: 14 points, (finishes with 1,004 for his career), 2 assists, 11 rebounds, and 2 steals

Trent Rizoti: 7 points, and a rebound

Walker Lawrence: 3 points

Luke Smith: 2 points, and 2 rebounds

Zack Herman: 2 points, and a rebound

Blake Gorth added 3 rebounds and a steal