As is their habit after each home game, the Buford girls basketball team dispersed throughout the stands after the game to thank the fans for their support. There was plenty for which the fans could be grateful.
The No. 2-ranked Wolves coasted to a 76-49 win over No. 6 Wayne County in the second round of the Class AAAAA playoffs on Wednesday at the Buford Civic Center. It was the sixth straight win for Buford -- coming by an average of 28.5 points – as it pursues a fourth consecutive state championship.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard,” Buford coach Gene Durden said. “I can’t ask for better effort.”
It often appeared as if Buford had six or seven players on the court at the same time. As is their style, the Wolves were trapping and stealing, slapping the ball away, selflessly passing to a teammate who happened to be more open and diving on the floor at the sniff of any 50-50 ball. They caused 27 turnovers.
On offense the Wolves attacked the basket, driving to the hole for a score, or luring the defenders in close before kicking it out for a 3-pointer. Buford had 14 offensive rebounds, often getting two or three second chances at the basket.
“We just try to go out and play our game instead of adjusting to them,” Durden said. “There are still things we’ve got to clean up for hopefully the next three rounds.”
Wayne County had lost both of its two previous games to Statesboro, the last one coming in the Region 2 championship game. That loss forced the Yellow Jackets into the Buford quadrant of the bracket.
“It’s unfortunate that we drew them in the second round,” Wayne County coach Kala Hires Hobbs said. “We kind of talked them down a little bit to our girls. We didn’t want to psych them out, but they’re a great team.”
Buford (27-1) had 12 players who scored points, with Tatum Ozment and Blair Wallis each scoring 14 and Ashyia Willis adding 12.
Wayne County (24-3) got 22 points and nine rebounds from Terren Ward and 13 points from Ajmanni Jefferson.
“We did not play as well as I had anticipated,” Hobbs said. “Our defense has kind of carried us this whole season. We came out and probably played the worst defensive game we’ve played all year. … I don’t think we’ve given up anything over 67 points.”
Boys: Buford 54, Statesboro 34
No. 4 Buford jumped out to an 18-1 lead, extended it to 31-3 and beat Statesboro 54-34 in the second half of the double-header.
“That first quarter (13-1) was about as good we can get,” Buford coach Eddie Martin. “If we could play four quarters like that, we’d win a lot of ball games.”
The Wolves (22-6) got 21 points from Sebastian Augusteve, 14 from Caleb Williams and 10 from Jason Taylor.
Statesboro (22-6) was led by Lesllie Black with 11 and Zarion Griffin with 10.
“We had a good defensive game plan and I thought in the first quarter our kids did a good job of taking them out of what they were trying to do,” Martin said. “Totally frustrated them.”
Statesboro got as close as 13 points in the second half before Buford was able to regain control and put the game away.
“They scored some points in the second quarter. Good teams do,” Martin said. “We knew (Griffin) could score. We just didn’t want the others to beat us.”
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