FLOWERY BRANCH — If the defending state champion Buford girls can play better than the display they put on Tuesday night, the rest of Class AAAAA may already be playing for second place.
The No. 1-ranked Lady Wolves forced 20 turnovers, dished out 20 assists, and out-rebounded No. 7-ranked Flowery Branch 34-17 in taking a dominant 69-38 victory to maintain their lead over the Lady Falcons atop Region 8-AAAAA.
And Buford coach Gene Durden even saw plenty for his team to correct.
“Well, what I saw was we weren’t actually that good on the offensive end,” he said. “It’s just one game. We still have five games left. This one will be forgotten in about five minutes.”
The Lady Wolves (18-3, 9-0 Region 8-AAAAA) did most of their damage in the first half, using a 23-2 run to turn a 19-11 lead into a 42-13 advantage. They led 45-16 at halftime in a game that offered the Branch a chance to pull even with Buford at the top of the 8-AAAAA standings. Buford came in with a one-game lead over the Lady Falcons (17-5, 7-2) thanks to a close head-to-head victory last month.
Durden said don't be fooled by Tuesday's final score.
“We played well as a team. We shared the ball well,” he said. “I’m sure we’ll see (Flowery Branch) at least one more time, maybe two. I think they got a little frustrated and that contributed. We know how good they are.”
Buford never trailed as Audrey Weiner drained a long 3-pointer off a feed from Tory Ozment just moments into the contest. Flowery Branch pulled within 5-3 on a three-point play from Taniyah Worth. That’s as close as the Lady Falcons got.
Buford exploded for a 9-0 run in less than two minutes and, after a Lexi Sengkhammee 3-pointer got the Lady Falcons within 14-7, the Lady Wolves closed out the first quarter with a 16-6 burst for a shocking 30-13 lead. The Buford defense took over in the second quarter, holding Flowery Branch to just one Sengkhammee 3-pointer in the period while extending the lead to 45-16.
The 16 points and just six field goals both were first half season-lows for the Lady Falcons.
“Defensively we played well. Our goal is to try and be peaking by tournament time,” Durden said. “Hopefully this is a game we can build on.”
Buford continued the onslaught in the third and led by as many as 31 points. The Lady Wolves biggest lead came at 66-30 late in the fourth quarter.
Weiner paced Buford with 16 points, including four 3-pointers. Ozment finished with 13 points and Preston Reid and Sierra Sieracki each had 9 points for the Lady Wolves.
Worth led Flowery Branch with 12 points. Sengkhammee had 8 points for the Lady Falcons.
BUFORD BOYS 60,
FLOWERY BRANCH 46
The Wolves shook off Saturday’s gut-wrenching loss to Gainesville with a big Region 8-AAAAA win.
It was a crucial game for Buford (17-4, 7-1 Region 8-AAAAA), which was playing without second leading scorer and rebounder David Viti, who suffered a sprained ankle against Gainesville and is expected to miss at least two weeks.
The Wolves opened the game with a 6-0 run and led the entire first half, jumping out to a 22-12 lead late in the second quarter. They took a 23-15 lead into halftime.
The Falcons came flying out in the third quarter, getting two 3-pointers from Myles Janess and one each from Blake Coxworth and Justin Quick to take a 31-30 lead midway through the period. But Buford answered with a 9-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Donell Nixon, to reclaim the lead.
Flowery Branch pulled as close as 39-36 on a Joey Nidoy trey, but the Wolves held the Falcons to just 10 points over the final 10 minutes to pull away for the win.
“Flowery Branch always plays us tough and we’re going to have to find ways to grind out games,” Buford coach Eddie Martin said. “Losing one of your top two players always hurts but that also opens the door for others to step up. I love where we are as a team. We’ve played a tough schedule, so now we’re just trying to get ready for tournament-time.”
Nixon poured in 20 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead Buford. Marcus Watson added 16 and Ashton Young had 11 for the Wolves.
Quick paced Flowery Branch (13-9, 4-5) with 12 points. Janess had 10 points and Coxworth and Nidoy both finished with 8 for the Falcons.
