All year long the Buford girls have pressed the opposition into submission. The tactic has helped the Wolves earn a reputation as one of the stingiest defensive teams in Class AAA. But on Monday night coach Gene Durden switched things around, preferring to play a halfcourt game against a very quick Decatur team in the second round.
The move worked out for the Wolves, who prevailed 41-28 in the second-round game. It marked the seventh time in the last eight games that Buford has held the opposition to fewer than 30 points.
“They’ve pressed everyone they’ve played all year, but they didn’t press us once,” Decatur coach Bill Roberts said afterward. “Most teams try to press us.”
But Durden decided that Decatur’s team quickness was worrisome enough to change tactics.
“We knew that as quick as they are, we weren’t going to press them,” Durden said. “We were going to grind it out and play great team defense.”
Things worked great in the first quarter when Buford took an 8-3 lead, but Decatur put together a streak to take a 19-16 lead into the break. Sophomore Jayla Morrow hit a pair of 3-pointers to put the Bulldogs ahead by five points, their largest lead of the game. Morrow wound up with a team-high 15 points, but couldn’t connect on another trey.
“We’ve got some seniors, but we’re really an inexperienced group,” Durden said. “That second quarter got a little rushed and we got out of our game. We got them settled down and got back to playing halfcourt defense in the second half.”
Buford caught up in the third quarter, as Camille Anderson hit a pair of 3-pointers and helped the Wolves take a 27-23 lead at the end of the period.
“I kind of shoot the ball when I’m open,” said Anderson, who scored a team-high 16 points. “We felt some pressure because we were down. I just started shooting the ball the way I know how.”
Decatur was able to tie the game 27-27 with 4:07 remaining, only to have Buford pull away at the free throw line. The Wolves made eight in a row at one stretch and Decatur couldn’t answer. The Bulldogs made only 7 of 21 free throws, something Roberts said has hurt the team all year.
Buford (28-2) also got 10 points and nine rebounds from Chandler Hall and eight points and 14 rebounds from Bree Horrocks. Decatur (22-8), which starts three sophomores, also got nine points and seven rebounds from Kyla Thomas.
“I hate that the score ended up what it did, because that’s not indicative of the game,” said Roberts, whose team has been to the state playoffs for four consecutive seasons. “It was much closer than that.”
Buford will host Woodward Academy on Thursday in the quarterfinals. Woodward beat North Hall 65-62 on Monday.
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