In a Region 6-AA showdown at Holy Innocents' on Tuesday night, the Wesleyan girls outlasted the Golden Bears 5-4 in penalty kicks. Despite surrendering four goals in a fast-paced, high-scoring battle, Wesleyan goalie Carolina Cannon came up big from start to finish. The senior made 21 saves, including one on Holy Innocents' final penalty kick. The Wolves got a pair of goals from Regan Lochmandy, while Talor Panther and T.J. Anderson also found the back of the net. A 4-4 tie at the end of regulation held up through the overtime periods before the shootout had to decide it. Wesleyan converted its first five kicks and Holy Innocents' capitalized on its first four attempts before Cannon made the clinching save.
            

For a while the Wesleyan vs. Holy Innocents' boys' showdown appeared to be on its way to a similar destination. A 3-3 tie, however, was erased by the Wolves swiftly and decisively. Wesleyan scored five unanswered goals to run away with an 8-3 win.Chandler Marsh and Bryce Cooke scored two goals apiece for the Wolves, who also got five assists from Luke Hedrick and one goal each by William Delk, Nick Eversbusch and Grant Sauer.
            

The Central Gwinnett boys secured the top seed in the state playoffs out of Region 8-AAAAAA by winning at Grayson 4-2 on Tuesday. Jorge Romero notched a pair of goals to lift the Black Knights and Diego Godinez and Eric Garcia each scored once. They can wrap up the outright region title with a victory at South Gwinnett on Friday. Central Gwinnett holds a one-game lead over Parkview, which it defeated 2-1 on March 31. Head coach Cory Morgan's squad is led by Godinez (nine goals on the season), Joel Dominguez (team leader in assists) and goalkeeper Rickie Ortiz-an all-Gwinnett County selection last year.
            

One of the most impressive turnarounds since the 2014-15 campaign has been engineered by the Cedartown girls. After going winless last season, the Bulldogs have been led by new head coach Randall McDowell to a 5-3 record in Region 5-AAA. They maintained position to qualify for the state playoffs by hammering Pepperell 10-0 on Tuesday. Cedartown has clearly benefited from the return of senior Adilene Campos, who missed all of her junior year because of a broken leg. Campos scored 33 goals as a freshman, added 20 as a sophomore and has already surpassed the 30-goal mark this season.

The powerhouse Walton girls brought home the title from last week's Decoturf High School Tennis Championship in Chattanooga, Tenn. The Raiders, who won last year's Class AAAAAA state championship, capped off the tournament with a 7-0 victory over Pine Crest (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.). They had previously scored wins over Ocean Springs (Miss.) via a 9-0 decision, Blessed Trinity by 5-2 and Baylor (Tenn.) in the form of another 9-0 whitewash in the semifinals. Suzanne Zenoni, who is committed to Elon, earned tournament MVP honors. Walton also got contributions from Jessica Cramer, Emily Gaskins, Grace Gaskins, Sophia Guldberg, Johanna Keeline, Bella Kusa, Sheena Mookerji, Kristen O'Brien and Anna Leigh Nielsen.

Cambridge placed fifth in the prestigious event, while Roswell came in eighth, Starr's Mill 10th and Blessed Trinity 12th.
            

Walton's girls are already through to the Region 5-AAAAAA semifinals after beating Lassiter prior to spring break. They are scheduled to face either Wheeler or Woodstock on Wednesday. When the rest of the tournament-for Region 5-AAAAAA and all other regions throughout the state-can be completed is unknown. Rain is schedule from start to finish this week, so the GHSA may decide to extend the region deadline beyond Friday. In a worst-case scenario involving the cancellation of tournaments, the top four seed's from a respective region's regular-season standings would be awarded spots in the state playoffs.
            

In other action last week, Wesleyan's girls blanked Marist 5-0 on Wednesday. Sophia Strickland, Lauren Alexander and Savannah Strickland picked up singles wins for the Wolves. Kaitlin English and Leila Jorda teamed up to prevail at No. 1 doubles, while Elizabeth Bruhel and Katie McLaughlin got the job done in the second doubles slot.

Another girls' showdown last Wednesday saw Lovett-arguably the favorite in Class AA-pay a visit to former region rival Westminster, now one of the favorites in Class AAA. The score was tied at 2-2 with only No. 1 doubles remaining on the court. Westminster's Susie Field and Cyan d'Anjou outlasted Lovett's Mary Bryan Pope and Kate Marino 6-3, 0-6, 6-3 to give the Wildcats' a 3-2 victory.