MILLEDGEVILLE — In the Class AAA semifinals at Georgia College, Saturday belonged to Buford, as its boys and girls teams coasted to easy wins, with neither team trailing at any point.
The Wolves (27-5) and the Lady Wolves (30-2) will head to the Macon Centerplex on Saturday in the Class AAA title game, with the Lady Wolves playing at 3 p.m. against the winner of Beach-St. Pius, while the Wolves will play at 4:45 p.m. against the winner of Johnson-Savannah and Morgan County.
The boys’ team — led by a dominating performance from Rakim Lubin — marched to a 92-76 win over the Callaway Cavaliers and is seeking the program’s first championship in school history.
Later, the Lady Wolves beat the Pike County Lady Pirates 63-46 and will play for their fourth state title in the past six years.
In the boys’ game, Lubin led all scorers with 37 points and added 15 rebounds — including eight on offense — and five blocks. He energized the crowd with five monster dunks, and with his 6-foot-8, 250-pound frame, was a constant presence in the paint, helping to shut down the Cavs’ inside game while on defense, and creating easy baskets for teammates such as D’Marcus Simonds (30 points).
“I just wanted to do what it took for my team to win,” said Lubin, who signed to play at Connecticut.
“I knew if we were going to win this game, I’d have to get rebounds and blocked shots to execute and finish strong on the offensive end.”
The Wolves were simply too much for a young, undersized Cavs team with three underclassmen in their starting lineup. The Wolves led 39-17 at halftime and withstood a Cavs run that pulled Calloway to within 49-41 with 2:59 remaining in the third.
The Cavs (19-6) were led by sophomore Dre Martin’s 24 points.
In the girls’ game, Pike County stayed with the Lady Wolves through the first quarter as Buford led 17-13. But the Lady Wolves pulled away behind the play of Camille Anderson (20 points, five assists, four rebounds), and Bre Horrocks, a 6-foot-5 senior who committed to Purdue.
Horrocks (14 points, 11 rebounds) is the lone holdover from the Lady Wolves’ last state title in 2011.
“I think we’re playing pretty well right now,” said Anderson, a junior. “I think we can do some things better, but right now we’re doing the best we can. … We’ve just got to win the next game, and that’s all we’re thinking about.”
The Lady Pirates (24-7), who were playing in the program’s first semifinals game, were led by Kristen Beckham (14 points) and Shaineequah Fluellyn (12 points).
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