The Lady Wolves have been busy over the holiday break  recording three wins over region rival Flowery Branch, Grayson, and Morgan County, but suffering their first loss of the season to a powerhouse Collins Hill team this past Thursday night.  

The Lady Wolves started slow vs Flowery Branch in the first period, but woke up to take a double digit win of 58 to 48 to give them the  first place slot in region 8AAAAA.  The Lady Wolves displayed the same first quarter woes the following night vs a 7A Grayson team that they had beaten by 30 points earlier in the season.  Again the Lady Wolves decided to wake up and display their trademark defense and transition offense to take care of the Lady Rams by the score of 66 to 38.  

The Lady Wolves then got to enjoy the comforts of their home gym, the Buford City Arena, as the Lady Bulldogs of Morgan County visited Buford for the first time in their annual meeting.  The Lady Wolves dominated from the tip and when the final horn sounded, they had disposed the visiting team by the score of 64 to 29.  

This past Thursday, the Lady Wolves traveled to Norcross to participate in the Hawks Naismith Classic vs a very talented Collins Hill team.  This would be a clash of two of the states better teams to see who would have bragging rights for the season.  The Lady Wolves again started off sluggish in the first period and gave the Lady Eagles to many easy points from offensive rebounds and  transition layups.  As the second and third quarters ticked by, the Lady Wolves had dug a hole in being down by as many as 15 points.  Then the Lady Wolves decided to turn up the pace and speed of the game and clawed and fought  back to within six points with a couple of minutes left in the fourth period.  A few missed shots and a couple of turn overs later and the Lady Wolves found themselves with their first loss of the season by the score of 56 to 48. 

This game will end the first part of the season for the Lady Wolves and will be a good learning curve for going forward into the second part  and region play.  

See the article below!

Collins Hill girls basketball hands Buford first loss in Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic showdown

NORCROSS — The first quarter of Thursday’s girls basketball game wasn’t the norm for two teams known for their defense.

Powerhouses Buford and Collins Hill battled to a 16-16 draw after the first eight minutes of the matchup at Norcross, which was part of the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic.

“Normally we don’t give up that many points in the first,” Collins Hill girls coach Brian Harmon said. “We’re a pretty good defensive team. We pride ourselves on it and we talk about it every day. If the offense is in rhythm, great. But we want to stop people.”

Harmon’s team did that over the next two quarters of an eventual 56-48 victory, handing Buford its first loss of the season.

Collins Hill (10-1) only gave four second-quarter points and 13 in the two middle quarters, building a 19-point lead early in the fourth before Buford (9-1) made a comeback.

“They execute so well,” Harmon said of Buford. “They got some good looks early and made shots. In the second and third quarters, they didn’t make shots and had a couple of turnovers.”

The Wolves hung tough for a quarter and led 18-16 when Tory Ozment scored to open the second quarter. But they didn’t score again until Ozment made a basket a minute before halftime.

Before Ozment’s second basket, Buford was 1-for-11 in the second quarter. A 9-0 run to close the third quarter pushed the lead to 46-29 heading into the fourth.

Buford was 5 of 23 shooting in the second and third quarters, while Collins Hill made 13 of 26.

“We just knew it was going to be a good game,” Harmon said. “I really didn’t think we would get a 20-point lead on them because they execute so well and they play so tough defensively. I do think we’ve got some high-caliber kids and I knew if they got into rhythm what it would look like, but you never know if that’s going to happen.

“Fortunately enough in that third quarter we got into a good rhythm and we played well defensively.”

Buford, already with wins over Holy Innocents’ and Wesleyan, didn’t go away easily.

Ozment, who had a game-high 19 points along with five rebounds and four steals, led an 11-0 run that got her team within 48-40 with three minutes left. The Wolves got as close as six points in the final minute, the result of more energetic, pressure defense that forced seven Collins Hill turnovers in the fourth — the Eagles had just seven turnovers in the first three quarters combined. But Collins Hill did enough at the line in the waning seconds to finish off the victory.

Bria Harmon had 14 points to lead four Collins Hill double-figure scorers. Jada Rice had 13 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots, Jaron Stallworth had 12 points, five rebounds and three assists and Javyn Nicholson added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Buford also got 12 points from Audrey Weiner, nine points from Tate Walters