By Kevin Eckleberry

kevin.eckleberry@lagrangenews.com

CARTERSVILLE – The Troup Tigers, facing a must-win scenario on Wednesday in the opening round of the Region 5-AAAA tournament, overcame a slow start to beat Cedartown 52-42 at Cartersville High.

With the win, Troup advances to the semifinals, and it will face familiar foe in the LaGrange Grangers.

LaGrange will host the semifinal games on Friday, and it will play Troup at 7:30 p.m., with the winner advancing to the championship game on Saturday.

Troup struggled early against Cedartown, and it trailed by as many as 10 points in the first quarter.

After being limited to six points in the first quarter, though, Troup put 18 points on the board in the second period, with Jarrious Jefferson scoring nine of those points.

Troup scored 28 points in the second half while continuing to shut down Cedartown’s offense.

Jefferson led the Tigers with 16 points.

Montez Crowe and Trey Williams added 12 and 10 points, respectively.