BUFORD — For more than 3 1/2 quarters Saturday, Class AAAAA defending state champion Buford looked like the team Gainesville aspires to be.
In the last three minutes, however, the Red Elephants played like the team many think they can be.
In a wild final 8 seconds, Rafael Rubel hit a long 3-pointer to tie the game and then Kajuan Hale sank two free throws with 0.3 seconds left to lift the Red Elephants to a 83-81 win over the Wolves in a battle of No. 1-ranked teams at The Buford Arena.
Rubel, who had missed two 3-pointers earlier, refused to flinch when a pass from Kajuan Hale found him wide open on the wing. He buried the shot over an outstretched defender to cap a 21-11 run in a three-minute span.
“I had missed some earlier but the coaches just told me to keep shooting,” Rubel said through an interpreter afterwards. “As soon as I let it go, I knew it was in.”
On the ensuing in-bounds pass, Hale stepped in front of the pass and then was fouled by a Buford player just before the final buzzer. Hale converted both free throws for the win.
“That was a crazy game,” Gainesville coach Benjie Wood said. “I’m not completely sure how but somehow we won that. The guys just kept fighting despite a lot of adversity. I couldn’t be more proud of them.
“This was a state championship type game and atmosphere against a state champion team. I think we can take from this that no matter the adversity, if you keep fighting there’s always a chance.”
It was a tough call against the Wolves on their home floor. Understandably, Buford coach Eddie Martin did not want to comment afterwards.
The game-winning free throws were most welcome for the Red Elephants, who continued their struggles from the line for most of the game, missing 13 of their first 30 attempts. But they proved clutch at the right time, going 6-for-6 from the line in the final 2:01.
“We’re still struggling overall for some reason, but they hit them when they needed to,” Wood said.
Hale finished with a game-high 22 points, 13 coming in the fourth quarter alone, to pace Gainesville. Xavier Bledson finished with 13 points, nine of his coming in the final period and Griffin Neville added 9 huge points, all on 3-pointers, including one in the big fourth quarter rally. Rubel, KJ Buffen, and Jarred Rosser had 8 points each for the Red Elephants.
Buford (16-4) took what looked to be the ninth and final lead change of the game at 48-47 on a Donell Nixon 3-pointer late in the third quarter. The Wolves built the lead to 70-60 with just over thee minutes left in the fourth quarter on a Marcus Watson basket.
But Gainesville (13-6) which has now won 11 straight, used its full court defensive pressure to force back-to-back Buford turnovers and pull within 72-70 on two Hale free throws. The Wolves again seemed poised to close the game out when Watson slammed home a fastbreak basket following a series of back-and-forth turnovers with just 1:10 left.
But after the Wolves’ Karston Miller drained a pair of free throws with 24 seconds left for a 79-75 lead, Bledson was fouled on a 3-point attempt and hit all three free throws to get the Red Elephants within a point. Bobby Miller pushed Buford’s lead to 81-78 with 14 seconds with two free throws to set up the wild finish.
The Gainesville defense was instrumental in the turnaround. The Red Elephants forced 12 second half Buford turnovers, three in the final minute.
“There was never a circumstance of us not playing hard. We just couldn’t get a lot of shots to fall,” Wood said. “But our defense really stepped up and got us back in the game.”
It was supposed to be Buford’s physicality against the speed and depth of Gainesville. But the Wolves came flying out of the gate to start the game.
Buford jumped on the Red Elephants, quickly taking a 9-2 lead on the strength of a fastbreak, attacking offense capped by layups from Nixon, who poured in 17 points, and Ashton Young. Nixon later made it 15-6 with a driving layup as Buford repeatedly broke down Gainesville’s man-to-man defense.
But Gainesville switched to a full-court press midway through the first quarter and finally got on track. The Red Elephants forced four straight Buford turnovers, capped by a Rubel driving layup off a steal, to grab their first lead at 18-17. Watson, who led Buford with 24 points, closed out the first quarter for the Wolves with a stickback basket at the buzzer for a 19-18 lead.
The teams continued the back-and-forth action, exchanging the lead on four consecutive possessions early in the second quarter before Buford used a 9-2 spurt for a 36-30 advantage. Gainesville answered, closing out the half with a 7-2 run as Rubel drained a long 3-pointer to pull the Red Elephants within 38-37 at the intermission.
Alex Jones had 11 points and David Viti, who left the game in the third quarter with a sprained ankle, had 9 points for Buford.
BUFORD GIRLS 83,
GAINESVILLE 37
The Lad Wolves used a 15-0 first quarter run to take control and then cruised to the victory.
Gainesville opened the game with an 8-5 spurt behind a basket and two free throws from Tija Blackwell. But Buford unleashed its suffocating pressing defense that sparked the big run for a 20-8 lead.
Buford (17-3) led 22-12 after the first quarter but the full court press defense smothered the Lady Red Elephants (6-11). At one point Gainesville had more turnovers (13) than points (12) while the Lady Wolves used a 10-0 run to blow the game open for a 30-12 lead.
Gainesville had 19 turnovers in the first half and trailed 43-22. Buford put the game out of reach with a 23-point third quarter and then held the Lady Red Elephants scoreless in the fourth quarter.
Audrey Weiner led 12 Buford players in scoring with 18 points. Tate Walters added 16 points, Ebony Grant 12, and Tory Ozment 10 for Buford.
Blackwell finished with 12 points to pace Gainesville. Sadie Roach added 11 points, including three 3-pointers, and Tia Shelton had 7 for the Lady Red Elephants.
