This time last year, both the Flowery Branch and Buford girls basketball teams were steamrolling toward a showdown in the Class 5A finals. Off the court, they are now in different classifications. On the court, little has changed as both teams have been dominating in the 2019 playoffs.
The Class 5A No. 2-ranked Lady Wolves have crushed their first three opponents -- Chamblee, Carrollton, Veterans -- in the Class 5A bracket by an average of 30.3 points, the most recent a 59-44 win over Veterans to advance to their sixth straight semifinals.
The Class 4A No. 3-ranked Lady Falcons hammered their first two Class 4A opponents (Pickens and St. Pius) by 75 points before surviving a slugfest against No. 2-ranked Henry County, 54-50, in the quarterfinals to advance to their third straight semifinals.
Both teams will now try to advance to the finals once again on Saturday.
Two-time defending Class 5A champion Buford (27-2) will take on Southwest DeKalb (24-6) at 2 p.m. in the Class 5A semifinals at Columbus State. The Lady Wolves are looking for their third consecutive Class 5A state title.
It’s a rematch of the 2017 Class 5A title game, a 60-42 Lady Wolves victory in Athens. Both teams have experienced seniors that saw action as sophomores in that game, though this time around it may be Southwest DeKalb that has the star power.
The Panthers have seniors Lanee Edwards (5-foot-4 guard) and Raven Thurman (5-8 forward), who were integral parts of their run to the title game two years ago. They have rolled into the semifinals beating their three opponents -- Cedar Shoals, Rome, Griffin -- by 18.3 points a game.
Buford counters with seniors Ebony Grant, Casey Jones, and Preston Reid, who saw action in the title game two years ago but came off the bench. However, neither team has a player over 6-feet tall and both rely on quick, pressing defenses to set things up.
Buford coach Gene Durden said it will be their toughest challenge so far this playoff season. He said they cannot duplicate their meager 59-44 win over Veterans in the quarterfinals where they shot just 20-of-72 from the field (27 percent) and 14-of-27 from the free throw line. They also come in with a few nagging injuries that could play a factor.
“Southwest DeKalb has four girls that were part of that title game. They have a lot of experience and are very talented,” Durden said. “We shot the ball very poorly the other night and we can’t do that and expect to win again. We’re a little beat up right now, like most teams I’m sure, but we need everyone we have so we can play our style.
“But our bread-and-butter is defense and we played very well on that end. We’ll have to play good defense again."
Both teams have challenged themselves, though the Lady Wolves have faced virtually every top program in the state this season, including Class A stalwarts Holy Innocents and Wesleyan, Class 4A No. 1 Morgan County, Class 7A No. 1 Westlake and fellow 7A power Norcross and posting a 3-2 record.
“Both teams are very similar in that we’ve played very tough schedules and aren’t the biggest teams around," Durden said. "Edwards and Thurman are outstanding players and we’re going to have to hold them down. It should be a good game for the fans to come and watch.”
The Lady Falcons (27-3) meanwhile, will take on No. 1 Carver-Columbus (30-0) at 6 p.m. at Fort Valley State vying for a second consecutive championship game appearance. They still are looking for their first-ever state title.
There are no injury issues for Branch coach Courtney Newton-Gonzalez to have to worry about. In fact, she thinks her group is just now hitting its stride.
“We’re really clicking right now,” Newton-Gonzalez said. “We played a tough schedule that has prepared us for this and the girls are used to (playoff runs) now so we feel very confident coming into this one.”
The slugfest with 2018 state runner-up Henry County was expected from anyone that had been paying attention in Class 4A. That, however, may have just been a prelude to Saturday.
The Lady Tigers are the only undefeated team left in Class 4A and have been ranked No. 1 for most of the season. Their last loss came in last year’s semifinals to defending state champion Spalding. They were the state runners-up in Class 4A in 2017 and are making their third straight semifinal appearance, the best stretch in their program’s history. The Lady Tigers are led by junior post Olivia Cochran, who is averaging a double-double on the season.
Which could mean that Lady Falcons’ sophomore post Ashlee Locke could once again be a key factor. Locke held Henry County’s Paris Mullins (12 ppg, 8 rpg) to just 6 points and controlled the boards. And with just a 4-point win, that proved crucial.
“Ashlee started in last year’s championship game as a freshman and has really progressed all season,” Newton-Gonzalez said. “She played a great game (against Henry County) and she has it in her to do that again. That will be a key matchup for us.”
However, the pressing style and trapping half-court defense of the Lady Falcons will be the ultimate key. Flowery Branch, which is yielding just 39.7 ppg, held Henry County, the second-highest scoring team in Class 4A (67.6 ppg) to its second-lowest output of the season. Carver-Columbus is the highest-scoring team in Class 4A averaging 80.3 ppg.
“This is going to be a huge challenge for us but we’ve faced teams like this so we know what to expect,” Newton-Gonzalez said. “It will be a great matchup for both teams. They’ll press us but we have good guards (Caroline Wysocki, Ashley Woodroffe, Ashley Scott) that know how to handle that.
“Playing Henry County right before this one, which is a similar style team, plays to our advantage I think. We will need to hold them down from getting fastbreak and transition baskets. If the game gets into the 70s and 80s, however, I think that plays to their strengths.”
But the tone in Newton-Gonzalez’s voice during the interview suggested that she believes this team, which had its doubters early in the season, has arrived at just the right time.
“We felt like this team had (a deep playoff run) in them,” she said. “We felt like the pieces were there once everyone figured out what was expected of them. They have embraced their roles and I think our best basketball is still out there.”
