The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL: WHICH TEAMS WON TITLES
Wilkinson County, Pelham winners in Class A at UGA.
Buford is best known for its football teams, winners of 10 state titles since 2001.
Now, the city school from Gwinnett County is a full-fledged basketball power, too.
Buford’s boys and girls teams swept the Class AAAAA championships Wednesday at the University of Georgia’s Stegeman Coliseum in Athens. Buford is the 17th Georgia school to accomplish the double, the first since Morgan County last year.
Wilkinson County’s boys and Pelham’s girls won championships in the Class A public division earlier Wednesday in the first of four days of GHSA basketball finals.
Buford’s boys claimed their first-ever championship with a 75-61 victory against Cedar Shoals.
The girls defeated Southwest DeKalb 60-42 and won their fifth championship in nine seasons, all under coach Gene Durden. Buford had not won a basketball state title until 2009.
The boys led Cedar Shoals only 36-34 after the third quarters before putting up 39 fourth-quarter points to Cedar’s 27.
Buford’s Marcus Watson had 27 points and seven rebounds. Alex Jones had 16 points. David Viti had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Buford coach Eddie Martin became the second boys coach in GHSA history after David Boyd to win titles at three schools. Martin also won three at Norcross and four at Greater Atlanta Christian.
“This is their first,” Martin said. “They’d been here five other times and got beat in the state championship. This is their first basketball title and it’s huge for them. … I’ll reflect on what it means later, but this is about them and winning their first.”
Philandrous Fleming, a Charleston Southern signee, scored 30 and had 14 rebounds for Cedar Shoals, which was trying to become the first Athens school to win a boys title since 1941.
Buford’s girls got a quick jump on Southwest DeKalb. Tory Ozment scored five points in a 9-0 run that put Buford in control after Southwest had taken a 2-0 lead. Ozment scored 15 of her game-high 18 points in the first half as Buford built an 11-point lead. She finished with six assists and five steals.
“Tory is just a unique kid, being a 6-foot point guard with her long arms,” Durden said. “She’s so versatile and can do so many things. She’s just a tough matchup no matter what you do.”
Southwest DeKalb’s defeat meant that DeKalb County public schools will be without a boys or girls basketball champion for the first time since 2004. They have claimed 31 titles in that time.
The Class A finals also had a touch of history, too.
Wilkinson County’s boys won their ninth state championship in 19 years, all under Aaron Geter. The Warriors beat No. 1 Calhoun County 66-53.
Wilkinson, a school 30 miles east of Macon, trailed by five at halftime but outscored Calhoun County 20-6 in the third top open a 49-40 lead. Calhoun County didn’t make a field goal in the second half until 35 seconds left in the third quarter.
Wilkinson’s Clarence Jackson and Tylan Grable scored 15 points apiece and had 22 rebounds between them. Wilkinson made 23 of its 26 free-throw attempts.
Geter’s nine titles trail only those of Selby Buck of Lanier, who won 13 from 1925 to 1951.
The No. 1-ranked Pelham girls defeated No. 2 Telfair County 60-42. Mahogany Randall scored 11 first-quarter points and sparked a 15-0 run. She finished with three 3-pointers, all in the first quarter, and a team-high 18 points.
The title capped off a dominant season for the southwest Georgia school, which finished 30-1 and held the No. 1 ranking from start to finish. The championship was Pelham’s second in school history and first since 1997.
They resume today with AAAAAA and AAA championships in Athens. The final two days of finals will be played at Georgia Tech’s McCamish Pavilion.