BUFORD, Ga. — Buoyed by a ferocious defensive effort, the Buford girls overwhelmed Mill Creek 70-58 Wednesday night at The Buford Arena to clinch the top spot in Region 8-6A.
But Lady Wolves coach Gene Durden said they are far from a finished project.
“We've beaten some good teams this year, and, you know, we’ve got a great record,” he said. “But we’ve got to clean up a lot of details because, in the state tournament, you can't make those mistakes and advance.”
To the average fan, it looked like Buford (19-2, 9-1 Region 8-6A) was dominant over the final 20 minutes of the game. They outscored the Lady Hawks 55-39, forced 23 turnovers for the game, and turned those into 16 points overall.
Lydia Ledford and E’miah Fields, who poured in 28 points apiece, were nearly unstoppable in the second half. The guard duo combined for 36 second-half points (Mill Creek had 43 points as a team in the second half), with Ledford scoring 21 after the break.
However, the rest of the team had just 12, which could be a concern in the postseason.
“They do a lot of things, and they got a lot on their shoulders,” Durden said of Ledford and Fields. “We definitely need to find more offense (from the rest of the group). But like I said, a lot of times, the ball in their hands is pretty good.”
Buford closed out the first half on a 9-0 run and used a 17-5 spurt in the third to blow it open. But after building a 60-41 lead midway through the fourth, Mill Creek (13-6, 7-3 Region 8-6A) pulled within 64-56 with 47 seconds left.
“I thought we played really hard (on defense), but I don't think we played really smart,” Durden said. “We had a chance to slam the door, and we kept leaving that door open. Things like missed box outs on the free throw line, not communicating, not getting back on defense.
“A great win. We’ll take it. But we’ve got a lot of improvement to do before going to the state tournament.”
As expected, it was a defensive slugfest almost from the opening tip. The defenses forced as many turnovers (11) as the offenses had points (14) midway through the first quarter, with the teams tied at 7.
The Lady Hawks’ Isabella Ragone scored 6 points and dished out an assist to spark an 11-4 run as Mill Creek took a 15-9 lead into the second quarter.
The defenses continued their pressure on both sides with Mill Creek holding a 19-15 lead with 3:56 left in the half on a Ayla Summer 3-pointer. But the Buford defense turned it up another notch from there.
The Lady Wolves forced 9 Mill Creek turnovers in the second quarter alone, turning those into 8 points, fueling a 9-0 spurt to close out the half for a 24-15 lead. Fields had 11 of Buford’s points in the period, including a pair of steals and layups.
Ragone had 24 points to pace Mill Creek. Luckiey Williams added 13 points and Danica Taylor 8 points, all in the second half.
BUFORD BOYS 57,
MILL CREEK 47
The Wolves won their 10th straight game and clinched the Region 8-6A No. 1 seed with a solid win in the nightcap at The Buford Arena.
Buford (19-3, 10-0 Region 8-6A) trailed just once, at 5-2 on a 3-pointer from Mill Creek’s Bryce Barracliff, but the Wolves answered with a 9-0 run, fueled by three consecutive fastbreak baskets, including a 3-pointer from Dillon Nixon.
The Hawks never got closer than four the rest of the way. Buford led 18-9 after the first on a 3-pointer from Ben Wilcox and a basket by Nixon, and Torre Costin gave Buford a 23-13 lead early in the second on a 3-pointer.
Another fastbreak basket by Nixon and a 3-pointer from Kyle Carpenter gave the Wolves a 33-18 halftime lead to cap a 10-2 run over the final 5:39 of the half.
Mill Creek (15-8, 7-3 Region 8-6A) opened the third with a 7-0 run to pull within 33-25, but Buford answered that with an 8-2 run, capped by a fastbreak dunk from Carmello Williams.
In the fourth quarter, Buford led by as many as 17 before Mill Creek finished the game on a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Cannon Kiley, his second of the game.
Nixon paced Buford with 15 points. Costin had 14 and Amare Temple 9 for the Wolves.
Barracliff and Braxton Rembert each had 11 points to lead the way for Mill Creek. Kiley had 8 points for the Hawks.
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