By Alicia Couch Payne
Buford Girls’ Basketball
The Lady Wolves of Buford played two games over the holidays. Both non-region opponents. Their first game was against Banks County on December 21st at the Buford Arena. They dominated Banks with a 63-33 win. In a post-game interview with The North Gwinnett Voice, Buford Head Coach Gene Durden said that his girls had missed several scoring opportunities but overall he thought they played great. “We know we are undersized and when you are undersized you gotta play a full court game. This crew here has done that really really well,” states Durden. He credited several girls with being key playmakers including Sara Viti, Ebony Grant, Preston Reid, Casey Jones, Tate Walters, and Katelynn Klein.
Buford traveled to play Archer High School on December 22nd. The Lady Wolves outlasted Archer beating them 39-30. Tate Walters lead Buford with nine points. Ashyia Willis also put in a strong performance for the Lady Wolves.
The Lady Wolves (11-1) were well rested after their eleven-day break from the court. They played St. Pius at Buford Arena on January 2nd beating them 70-25. Coach Durden believes in rotating his players in and out of the game keeping them from getting fatigued. This is evident in the fact that with such a high winning score, Buford’s top scorers Ebony Grant and Blair Wallis, only had 11 points each. Preston Reid also contributed with 10 points. The score speaks alone on how well Buford played offensively but defensively, Buford excelled, holding St. Pius to only nine points at halftime.
Buford Girls’ plays region foe, Walnut Grove next at 6 p.m. at Buford Arena on Thursday, Jan. 3rd.
Buford Boys’ Basketball
The Buford Wolves were on the road on Christmas as they traveled to compete in the Arby’s Classic Tournament in Bristol, Tennessee. The Arby’s Classic ran from December 26-31, 2018. The tournament featured teams from Georgia, Tennessee, South Carolina, Alaska, Alabama, Virginia, Kentucky, North Carolina, Utah, and the Bahamas.
In their first game of the tournament, Buford knocked off the home team Tennessee High 51-45. The Wolves impressed crowds with their dunking skills causing one reporter to tweet “I hope all these guys from @bufordathletics @Buford_MBB are in the @arbysclassic Dick’s Sporting Goods Dunk Contest … Holy Shesh!”
Game two was played against Cardinal Newman from South Carolina on December 28th. The Wolves lead by 6’6” forward Marcus Watson beat Cardinal Newman 55-44. Watson scored 26 points and had five rebounds and two steals. Donell Nixon also put in a solid performance scoring 17 points.
On the 29th, Buford played Carmel Christian from Charlotte, NC. The Wolves faced their toughest opponent in the No. 1 ranked team in North Carolina and No. 22 ranked team in the USA Today national poll. Buford played a tough game but ultimately lost the game to the Cougars of Carmel Christian 67-62. Buford had even rallied back from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter thanks to a series of powerful drives. With 4:40 left in the game, Marcus Watson gave Buford the lead 58-56 with a one-handed dunk. Carmel Christian was not to be defeated and rallied back. This game was touted as one of the most exciting of the tournament.
Buford took home third place after their 66-59 win over Wenonah (Alabama) on December 31st. In the opening quarter, Buford fell behind 10-0 thanks to Wenonah’s 6’9” post JaDerryus Eatmon. Oklahoma State signee Marcus Watson soon found his stride scoring 32 points in the game. Wenonah coach Audwin Howard had a hard time finding a way to hold Watson back stating, “That’s a grown man. I saw [Watson] on the AAU circuit this summer, so I knew what to expect. We lost him in the transition of the game. [Buford] ran some good stuff and we got kind of lazy on defense.” When Watson was being swarmed with defenders, Donell Nixon would take over and make the plays. He scored 13 points in the game. Nixon played for the entire game in all four tournament games for Buford.
While Watson and Nixon may have grabbed the most attention, Ashton Young snagged the most rebounds for Buford. Young was 5th overall in the tournament for rebounds. He also led the Wolves in assists and steals. Young was 3rd in scoring for the Wolves proving he is a well-rounded team player.
The Arby’s Classic was a tough tournament with high caliber teams. Placing 3rd wasn’t what the Wolves ultimately wanted but they were pleased with how they rallied back. It was a learning experience on the road to their ultimate goal, winning the GHSA Class 5-A State Championship in March.
Up next for Buford is a region game against Walnut Grove at 7:30 p.m. at Buford Arena on Thursday, Jan 3rd.
