Buford girls claim Region Championship with dominant performance

BUFORD, GEORGIA – With over 900 coaching wins, it’s safe to say Buford Girls Basketball head coach Gene Durden knows when to call a timeout.

After going down by three points in the first quarter of Wednesday’s Region 8-AAAAAAA Championship against Central Gwinnett, Durden called a timeout with just over two minutes left in the quarter. Seconds after play resumed, Buford’s star Ava Grace Watson tied the game with a three, the first of 19 unanswered points that completely changed the game and allowed the Wolves to bring home the Region Championship, 62-46.

What were the magic words said in that first quarter timeout? The message was actually pretty simple.

“We just need to take care of the basketball better, keep the same intensity of playing fast and just do what we do,” Durden said. “We settled down a little bit, took better shot selection and turned up the intensity.”

This started with Watson, who following the game was named Region Player of the Year. In the midst of Central Gwinnett’s early run, Watson managed to calm her team with her presence, taking control of the game and settling her team as the coach asked. Durden said this is nothing new or surprising.

“With Ava, the respect that she gets from her teammates and with her being in control of everything, it really brings a calming effect and that just shows the faith that her teammates have in her and the faith that she has in herself,” he said. “She’s basically the motor that makes our car go.”

With emphasis on taking care of the ball, the Wolves dribbled down the court and Watson started the motor, sinking a three to tie the score at 11. From there, the Wolves proceeded to step two of the legendary coach’s advice and turned up the intensity on defense, forcing turnovers that led to quick transition buckets and a 10-0 run in the final two minutes of the first quarter. After taking nearly six minutes to score eight points, the switch had officially been flipped.

“In that half-court trap, we were looking to read the lob across the open and a lot of times we anticipated those well and would pick those off for easy buckets,” Durden said. “I think that broke it open on that run.”

Baiting Central Gwinnett players into the trap, the Wolves constantly pinned the Black Knights against the sidelines, taking away all options except a long, cross-court pass. Much like a pack of wolves in the wild singles out an animal from its herd to then attack with numbers, Buford embodied its mascot name and did the same, reading those lobs and intercepting them for easy transition buckets. Desperation soon turned to more mistakes for Central Gwinnett, who finished with 35 turnovers, quickly unraveling a once competitive game.

When not in transition, Buford still managed to score plenty behind 18 points from Watson and 19 from Taylor Romano.

“Ava definitely creates a lot of opportunities for other people,” Durden said. “Taylor Romano shot the ball well and Betty Nguyen drove the ball real well and everybody else chipped in. We try to play team basketball.”

Durden said that his team’s knack for putting up points makes this group different from his championship teams of years past.

“Their ability to score sets them apart,” he said. “They can score in bunches and they can score really, really quick. I’m not a big fan of that, I’m more of a defensive-oriented coach and focus on rebounding and everything, but with the ability that this group has to score, they can be dangerous on any given night.”

Perhaps most dangerous though is what Durden said next, as the coach still feels his team can be better heading into the state tournament.

“We definitely still have room to grow,” he said. “We were talking tonight about our shot selection and things we can do better defensively. This team has not reached its top and we hope that we’ll continue pushing that way.”

With the win, Buford will be the No. 1 seed coming out of Region 8 for the state tournament. Central Gwinnett claims the No. 2 seed with Mill Creek clinching the No. 3 seed with its 41-32 win over Collins Hill in the third place game earlier on Wednesday. Collins Hill will represent Region 8 as the No. 4 seed at state.