ATHENS — With all the success over the past decade for Buford sports as a whole, the boys basketball team was almost considered the ugly step-sister.
Five finals appearances in team history. No titles. And three coaches in the past seven seasons.
That all changed Wednesday night at Stegeman Coliseum.
Marcus Watson announced his presence to the rest of Georgia and the Wolves finally captured their long-awaited state title with a 75-61 win over Cedar Shoals in the Class AAAAA finals.
Five times the Buford boys had been denied the sweet taste of ultimate success. The most recent coming in the 2014 Class AAA finals, a 69-45 drubbing at the hands of Morgan County. But there was to be no more waiting after Wednesday.
Watson could not have picked a better time or a bigger stage for a dominant moment. The Buford sophomore poured in 27 points, pulled down seven rebounds, blocked two shots, and for most of three-plus quarters carried the Wolves, who were being stymied by an aggressive and hard-to-crack Jaguars zone defense.
Buford coach Eddie Martin was not shy about his assessment of Watson.
“Marcus is a man in baby’s clothes,” he said. “Marcus was outstanding. He attacked the rim, he rebounded, he played defense. Just a great performance at the best time to have one.
“But really I thought the whole team played well. I’ve told them all year that defense and rebounding are what win you championships. We did both very well tonight.”
Watson, however, said he did not go into the contest looking for a moment.
“It may sound crazy but to me it was just another game,” Watson said. “I play for my team. I just wanted to make sure I did what I was supposed to do. But the game just kind of came to me, and I just tried to make the most of it. It’s a great feeling to help us win that first one. It’s huge for the program.”
Senior Dawson Wehunt, who was just one of two holdovers from the 2014 team that fell short, said it was better than he had imagined.
“It was an emotional moment for me,” Wehunt said. “To go from that horrible (finals) game when I was a freshman to this. It’s how you dream of being able to finish your high school career. Today, I feel like we started a dynasty.”
The first half was everything fans expected. The two teams’ traded the lead five times with four ties.
Cedar Shoals opened the game with a 4-0 run but the Wolves (29-2), behind Watson, took their first lead on a Watson 3-pointer, 12-11, with 2:10 left in the first quarter. Watson had seven points and three rebounds in the first six minutes for Buford.
The Jaguars (27-5) regained a 15-14 lead in the second quarter and extended that to 23-19 on a Phlan Fleming jumper midway through the period. But a Donell Nixon 3-pointer, one of two for the sophomore, brought Buford back within 23-22 and sparked a 10-4 run to close out the half -- capped by a David Viti stickback basket at the buzzer -- for a 29-27 lead at intermission.
Watson displayed his versatility, hitting 3-pointers, throwing down a monster dunk that ignited the Wolves, and swatting a Damarrea Low shot into the second row on defense.
Buford outrebounded Cedar Shoals 16-13 in the first half to control the tempo but seven turnovers to just two for the Jaguars kept Cedar Shoals within striking distance.
The zone defense the Jaguars employed allowed them to neutralize junior point guard Alex Jones and also limited the shooting of Viti, also a junior. The pair combined for just 11 first half points while Watson poured in 10 before intermission.
Buford never trailed in the second half but a Fleming jumper to start the third quarter tied the game at 29-29. A Nixon 3-pointer gave the Wolves a 35-39 lead, their biggest of the game at the time, with 4:12 left in the third quarter. Yet, behind their defensive play, the Jaguars pulled within 36-34 on a Ty’qon Mitchell basket to end the third quarter.
Buford finally coaxed the Jaguars out of their zone with a 6-0 run to start the fourth quarter and extended its lead to as much as 47-36 by taking advantage of the Cedar Shoals man-to-man defense that followed.
“We felt if we could get a lead we could draw them out of the zone. I didn’t feel they could guard all of our guys in man-to-man and that was a big turning point,” Martin said.
Cedar Shoals got within seven twice midway through the fourth quarter, the final time at 53-46. But a Watson three-point play, followed by a controversial blocking call on the Jaguars’ Quenjarvis Hall -- instead of Wehunt being whistled for a charge -- resulted in Hall being called for a technical foul for arguing. The sequence crushed any real shot at a comeback, as Wehunt sank two free throws followed by two technical foul free throws from Nixon and the Wolves blew the game open with a stunning 9-2 run in less than a minute for 62-48 advantage.
Cedar Shoals made one last gasp, pulling within 65-56 on a Fleming stickback, but Watson answered again with another three-point play with 1:06 left. Viti converted a stickback basket moments later, and fittingly, Watson knocked down a pair of free throws with 32 seconds left for the final points.
“We had a lot of guys do a lot of little things. Viti never really found his shot but he had some huge rebounds and played great defense,” Martin said.
Martin is no stranger to hoisting trophies. The title was his eighth as a coach after also winning three at Norcross and four with Greater Atlanta Christian. But none of those were on his mind afterwards on Wednesday.
“We’re celebrating this one,” he said. “It’s special when a school gets its first one, and that’s what we’re going to do. I just feel grateful to able to be a part of it.”
Alex Jones finished with 16 points for Buford, with 11 coming in the second half, including a crucial steal from Fleming to help ignite that early fourth quarter run. Viti chipped in with 10 points to go with a team-high 10 rebounds. Nixon had 13, including a team-high three 3-pointers for the Wolves.
Fleming poured in a game-high 30 points to pace Cedar Shoals. He also pulled down 14 rebounds. Arthur Jones added 10 points for the Jaguars, who got just 13 points from the rest of the starters, who were outscored 71-53 by the Buford starters. Cedar Shoals also sank just two of 21 3-pointers attempted.
Buford did significant damage from the free throw line as well. The Wolves were 25-of-38 from the line while Cedar Shoals was just 9-of-11 for the game.
NOTES: It was the fourth meeting of the season between the two Region 8-AAAAA foes. The Wolves won two on the Jaguars home floor (72-66 and 76-61), one in Buford (75-70 in overtime) and one at a neutral site. ... The Cedar Shoals seniors had a hugely successful run, making the Final Four each of the last three seasons and advancing to the 2017 finals. ... The boys basketball title made it six (6) state titles for Buford athletics this so far this 2016-17 school year (both hoops teams, duals and traditionals for wrestling and softball and volleyball).
