SUWANEE, Ga. — When Co-Region 8-6A Player of the Year Bella Ragone let her 3-pointer fly with 5 seconds left, all Buford coach Gene Durden could do was watch.
Fortunately for Durden and the Lady Wolves, Ragone’s shot rimmed out, and a stick-back attempt with 1 second left by Ayla Summer also did not fall as Buford survived a tenacious effort by Mill Creek in a 56-54 win Wednesday to capture the Region 8-6A title.
"When (Bella) shoots it, there's a great chance of it going in,” Durden said afterward. “But what was worse than that was the offensive rebound that they missed right there in that situation. So we not only dodged one bullet, we dodged two.”
Buford (23-2) trailed much of the second and third quarters as the Lady Hawks (16-8) held the Lady Wolves to just 21 points in the two quarters combined. But behind Lydia Ledford and E’miah Fields, they mounted one of their best comebacks of the season.
The pair scored 15 of Buford’s 18 fourth-quarter points, with Ledford scoring the final three points of the game over the final 50 seconds. That effort came after Mill Creek’s Ali Champa had given the Lady Hawks a 54-53 lead with 1:15 remaining.
“Lydia is a winner, and she’s done a great job of having to step into the shoes that Ava Grace Watson left last year,” Durden said. “She's done a great job of that, so I'm really proud of her. I can't say enough great things.”
It figured to be a defensive showcase between the two teams, and it didn’t disappoint. Buford came in yielding just under 42 points/game, while Mill Creek was surrendering just over 44 ppg on the season. However, both offenses were able to find traction in the first quarter.
Ledford drained two long 3-pointers to open the game for the Lady Wolves, who led 10-2 midway through the first. But Mill Creek answered back.
The Lady Hawks closed to within 10-8 on a 6-0 spurt and then used a 5-2 run over the final 50 seconds to get within 17-14 despite connecting on just two field goals in the quarter. Mill Creek continued its push into the second.
A three-point play by Ragone pulled the Lady Hawks into a tie at 19 and that ignited an 11-0 spurt that ended with a Ragone 3-pointer for a 27-19 lead.
Buford answered that with a 6-2 run over the final 3:33 and trailed 29-25 at the half.
In the third, Mill Creek pushed its lead to 37-29 on a fastbreak basket by Champa. But Buford answered with a 7-0 run before the Hawks took a 41-38 lead into the fourth quarter.
Ragone opened the final period with a 3-pointer, her fourth of the game, for a 46-41 Mill Creek lead. The Lady Wolves, however, responded with a 3-pointer from Ava Jones, Ledford followed with a three-point play, and Fields hit two free throws to reclaim the lead, 49-46.
For Durden, it was the kind of game he told his team to expect in what will be a very difficult Class 6A playoffs.
“It came out to be a grind game, and we always talk about somewhere in the state tournament, you’re going to have to grind out a game,” he said. “And this was our grind game tonight. So I was very proud of how our girls grinded it out.”
Ledford finished with 24 points, and Fields had 20 points for Buford.
Ragone poured in a game-high 29 points for Mill Creek.
Buford will take the No. 1 seed into next week’s Class 6A tournament, with the Lady Hawks, the No. 2 seed. The Central Gwinnett girls took the No. 3 seed from 8-6A with a 42-36 win over Collins Hill.
