Wesleyan-Buford matchup highlights Class 3A girls weekend

An inter-class matchup between ranked teams takes center stage this weekend when No. 2 Wesleyan’s girls travel to Class 7A No. 3 Buford on Saturday.

Wesleyan is 16-2 overall and 8-0 in Region 7-3A play; Buford is 17-2, 6-0 in Region 8-7A play. Wesleyan’s Wolves lost 69-49 to Class 7A No. 1 Grayson (19-0) on Nov. 29 in the team’s only in-state loss. The other was to Florida’s Montverde Academy (18-1) on Jan. 15. Since, Wesleyan has beaten No. 7 Dawson County 71-46, Lumpkin County 64-20 and No. 6 White County 80-43 Tuesday.

Buford has won three consecutive games since losing to Class 6A No. 1 River Ridge 74-67 on Jan. 13. The team lost its season-opener against Sequoyah 52-49 for its other loss. Buford is outscoring teams 1,323-787; Wesleyan is leading opponents 1,171-821.

There are other key 3A region games with a spattering of out-of-class matchups to focus on as the regular season gives way to the upcoming region tournaments:

• In other girls games, No. 3 Pickens (19-1, 6-1) will face No. 7 Dawson (12-8, 5-3) Friday in a key Region 7 game. The Dragons trail No. 2 Wesleyan (16-2, 8-0) in the standings. Pickens rebounded with a 54-20 victory against Gilmer on Jan. 19 after a 62-54 loss to Wesleyan on Jan. 12. Dawson County lost back-to-back games to No. 6 White County (53-46) and No. 2 Wesleyan (71-46) but has won twice since against West Hall (63-15) and Gilmer (61-38).
• On the boys side, top-ranked Sandy Creek (17-2, 2-0) is eyeing the closing stretch of the regular season before the Region 5-3A tournament begins. The Patriots will play at home against Osborne on Saturday and then will travel to Douglass-Atlanta (11-9, 0-2) Tuesday for a Region 5 game. On Feb. 1, Sandy Creek will face Carver-Atlanta (2-11, 0-1) in a league game at home and then will play against its last out-of-class opponent – Class 6A No. 4 Etowah – on Feb. 3 at home. In its final two league games, Sandy Creek will play Carver-Atlanta on Feb. 6 and No. 3 Cedar Grove (14-6, 2-1) Feb. 9.

Class 3A boys top-10

1. Sandy Creek

2. Monroe

3. Cedar Grove

4. Hebron Christian

5. Dougherty

6. Carver-Columbus

7. Cross Creek

8. Douglass

9. Monroe Area

10. Johnson-Savannah

Class 3A girls top-10

1. Hebron Christian

2. Wesleyan

3. Pickens

4. Carver-Columbus

5. Cross Creek