The Lady Wolves (5-0), ranked No. 1 in Class AA, used a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the game to grab the lead and then cruised to a surprisingly easy 65-47 win over Columbia Friday night at the Buford gym.
"They are a really good team," Buford coach Gene Durden said. "This was the kind of game we needed to get better. I thought we came out with a lot of energy and that set the tone."
The nearly-packed gym came expecting offensive fireworks from both squads. Buford came into the game whipping its opponents by nearly 40 points a game. Columbia came in beating its opponents by nearly two dozen points a game.
But it was the Buford defense that would steal the show. The Lady Wolves forced 21 Columbia turnovers -- nearly half on steals -- and held the Lady Eagles to less than 20 percent shooting. Columbia's longest scoring run in the game was just six points.
"We didn't do anything different," Durden said of his team's defensive play. "We got some turnovers early and just did a good job overall. We definitely won this game with our defense. I don't think they took us lightly but they may have looked at us as a smaller classification school and didn't know what we had. I don't think they knew what they were walking into."
Columbia scored first on a layup but Buford, behind junior Andraya Carter and sophomore Kaela Davis, cranked up the defense and its fast break offense. Carter and Davis combined for 11 points, five rebounds, three assists, and three steals in the opening quarter as the Lady Wolves opened up a 22-12 lead and never looked back.
"Having those two on our side is nice," Durden said. "They did a good job working together and getting others involved."
After Columbia (6-2) cut the lead to 19-12 in the second quarter, Buford reeled off an 11-4 run for a 30-16 lead. The Lady Wolves would take a 36-22 lead into halftime.
The quicker Lady Wolves put tremendous pressure on the Lady Eagles throughout. Buford pushed the ball on offense at every opportunity and kept the Columbia offense bottled up most of the game forcing long cross-court passes that were either picked off or knocked out of bounds disrupting the Lady Eagles offense.
The third quarter was much like the second with Buford using its defense to extend its lead to 49-32 heading into the fourth quarter. Davis and Carter would then hit back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the fourth quarter to push the lead to 56-36 and Columbia would only get as close as 13 the rest of the way.
Davis finished with a game-high 22 points to lead Buford, including four 3-pointers. She also had six rebounds, four assists and four steals. Carter added 17 points, seven rebounds, four steals, and two assists for the Lady Wolves.
Sheresse Williams had 10 points for Buford. The Lady Wolves sealed the game at the free throw line finishing 21-of-29 for the game.
Columbia was paced by 12 points from Victoria Gonzolez. Destinee Smith added 11 points and Zuri Frost 10 for the Lady Eagles. Columbia was just 3-of-12 on free throws.
Buford will have 10 days off until taking part in the Duluth Christmas Tournament beginning Dec. 27th.
"That's a long time off but we'll put in some hard practices between then and now and try to get ready," Durden said.
Buford's Sheresse Williams / photo: Josh Martindale
http://accesswdun.com/article/2010/12/234623