The Hiram Hornets had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 12 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They enjoyed a cozy 64-49 victory over Cartersville. Given Hiram's advantage in MaxPreps' Georgia basketball rankings (they are ranked 103rd, while Cartersville is ranked 297th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.
Cartersville's loss came despite a true team effort from the offense, with many players turning in solid performances. Perhaps the best among them was Nas Bennett, who scored 16 points along with five rebounds and two steals. Bennett has been hot recently, having posted two or more steals the last three times he's played. Ced McClinic was another key contributor, scoring 16 points along with six rebounds.
Hiram has been performing incredibly well recently as they've won seven of their last eight matchups, which provided a massive bump to their 16-8 record this season. As for Cartersville, their defeat ended a four-game streak of away wins and brought them to 11-13.
Hiram will square off against Calhoun at 8:30 p.m. on Wednesday. Hiram has been dominant on offense recently, as they've racked up an incredible 553 points over their last eight matches. As for Cartersville, they didn't take long to hit the court again: they've already played their next contest, a 62-49 win vs. Woodland on the 12th.
