BUFORD — Buford senior Dawson Wehunt has been to the mountain top. As a freshman, he was part of the Wolves basketball team that earned a rare trip to the Class AAA state title game in 2014.
“It was a really good team,” said Wehunt of a group that featured then-sophomore D’Marcus Simonds (now at Georgia State) out front. “We thought we had a team that could win it. It didn’t work out that way.”
Instead of being able to plant the first-ever flag at the summit for a championship in boys basketball, Wehunt and the rest of the Wolves were violently shoved off the peak by Morgan County in a 69-45 drubbing.
Buford was in the game early, trailing by just three points when now-Georgia Southern standout Tookie Brown ignited a ferocious run with a Houdini-like, one-handed steal, and then C.J. Turmon, who went on to play at Florida Atlantic, shook the Wolves to their core with a thunderous dunk that brought the entire Macon Coliseum crowd to its feet.
It left the Buford bench deflated and sunk.
“Those two plays got them going and we never recovered,” Wehunt said. “The way it ended was embarrassing. I think about that game from time to time.”
It has become so much a part of Wehunt’s basketball journey that he used the experience for a college entrance essay on overcoming adversity.
“It was about pain and regret.” After a brief pause, he added quietly, “Embarrassing.”
This season represents a new time with a new coach, however, and a new roster with only two seniors -- Wehunt and an injured Sahil Patel -- on the roster for the current Wolves.
Juniors Alex Jones and David Viti and sophomore Marcus Watson lead a versatile and talented bunch into the Class AAAAA playoffs. The Wolves dispatched Lithia Springs 75-63 in last week's first round after trailing 13-2 just three minutes into the game.
Buford (25-2) will play host to New Hampstead (18-8) in the second round at 6 p.m. on Thursday at the Buford City Arena. The Phoenix struggled down the stretch of the campaign, going just 4-4 over the final three weeks but held off Union Grove 65-62 in the opening round of the playoffs last week. They start five seniors.
Buford coach Eddie Martin, in his second year at the helm of the Wolves, said there should be no comparisons to this group and the one that fell just short in 2014.
“A totally different kind of team,” Martin said. “We only have a couple of guys that even remember that so we’re not able to really draw on that or use it so we don’t really talk about it. Experience matters but not as much as it did in years past.
“Those guys for (New Hampstead) probably have been playing together a while but once the game starts a lot of times it’s more about matchups. But that is a good team and we’ll need to play well.”
While the current group may not be able to able to remember the disappointing 2014 finish, it certainly remembers last year’s gut-punch when the Wolves, fresh off a Region 8-AAAA title, were dumped in the first round by No. 4 seed Fayette County, 69-62.
Martin said they haven’t dwelled on that much.
“Well, what it means is that no matter what you do in the regular season, once you get in the playoffs it’s a one-game season every round,” he said. “If you don’t come out ready to play you’ll go home. I think that is where this year’s team is different.”
Despite just the two seniors, the Wolves have plenty of playoff experience on the floor at all times. And none may be a bigger impact than one of its smallest players, Alex Jones. The 5-foot-10 junior guard has been a major catalyst down the stretch. He helped turn their early misfortunes against Lithia Springs into fortuitous bounces.
“Alex has really picked up his play the last few weeks and the rest of the team has followed,” Martin said. “We feel we have four or five guys that can carry the team. But when Alex is out there playing defense, dishing the ball off and making shots, we’re a different team.”
The Wolves have shown plenty of balance this season, especially on the offensive end, with five players at or within two points of averaging double-figure scoring. They opened the season with 11 straight wins, but then dropped their only two games during a brutal Arby’s Classic tournament in Bristol, Tenn.
Despite the setback, Martin said it was there that he discovered just what he had.
“We beat Wayne (Ohio), who was the defending Arby’s champ, but lost to to Trinity (out of Louisville, Ky.) and Wing Academy (out of the Bronx, N.Y.) and had chances in both games,” he said. “After that three-game stretch I felt we had something and had a chance to be special.”
They haven’t lost since, reeling off 14 straight wins -- which is tied with Warner Robins for the longest active streak in Class AAAAA. It also included the Region 8-AAAAA crown over last year's Class AAAAA state runner-up Cedar Shoals.
Jones said the key this year has been accepting challenges and embracing the ”family aspect” of the program.
“We were challenged as a group and we have come out and worked hard every day to get better,” Jones said. “This is a very close-knit group. We have fun together off the court as well. It’s like a family here.”
Jones also has taken the personal challenges to heart, especially over the past two weeks. A prime example was the first round game against Lithia Springs when the Wolves fell behind early.
“The coaches challenged me to be more of a leader, and I’m trying to step up more and do that. I like having the pressure on me,” he said. “I told the guys to relax and not worry. We’d been down before and come back. We didn’t panic.”
The Wolves have been ranked No. 1 for most of the season. They know teams will be gunning for them the rest of the way. Jones said they are not taking anyone lightly after last year’s early exit.
“Teams are not going to lay down for us. We know we’re going to get everyone’s best game,” he said. “But, we also feel we’re capable of winning the title this year. I don’t know if we felt that way last year.”
After winning the region title nearly two weeks ago with their third victory of the season over Cedar Shoals, Jones believed the hard work had paid off -- but not in the way you would expect.
“Coach (Martin) did a dance after we won region,” Jones said while trying to hold back a laugh. “No comment on how good it was. But if we win state I’ll be glad to watch him dance some more, no matter how... no comment again.”
While seeing if Martin can channel his inner Michael Jackson may be high on the younger players' list, for Wehunt and Patel, getting that one last chance to make history (Buford's boys have finished as state runner-up five times but never won a state title) -- after coming so tantalizingly close three years ago -- is their motivator.
“All the other sports have titles so we feel a little like (the ugly step-sister),” he said. “It would be great to be on the team that got the first one. We want to start that standard for the boys program. I think we have the right pieces this year to do it. Now we just have to go and do it.”
