Buford Lady Wolves 2018-2019 State Championship Season Summary
Forget the three-peat.
Forget championships won.
Forget the trophies held high.
Forget the records broken.
Forget the sacrifices made.
It’s OK. Being forgotten doesn’t scare me.
I want to leave a legacy where the ball keeps bouncing forward.
Where the next generation of Buford Lady Wolves
accomplishes things so great that I am no longer remembered.
Ebony Grant
Class of 2019
Three time State Champion
Buford Lady Wolves Basketball
Legendary John Wooden, perhaps the greatest coach of all time, once made the observation that “Winning takes talent. To repeat takes character.” With high expectations and the pressure of defending two consecutive state championships, the 2018-2019 season for Buford Lady Wolves basketball epitomized the strain of a grueling journey that tested the mettle and heart of each team and coaching staff member.
Led by seasoned, gritty Seniors Preston Reid, Casey Jones and Ebony Grant, the Lady Wolves began the season fast and furious with quality wins against North Gwinnett, Valdosta, Grayson, Newton, Parkview, Archer and Holy Innocents, among others. Two heart breaking losses, one to perennial Georgia girls basketball powerhouse Norcross and another one month later to Westlake proved to be bitter yet season-altering medicine for the Lady Wolves. The Lady Wolves dismantled every 8AAAAA region opponent in convincing fashion to claim the 2018-19 8AAAAA Region Championship. The Region Championship served as a launching pad for the Lady Wolves into the State Tournament. Paced by the strong post presence of Ebony Grant, elite performances by Seniors Preston Reid, Casey Jones and Junior Tate Walters and the elevated “death by committee” play and heavy doses of Junior Katelyn Klein, Sophomores Shy Willis, Blair Wallis, Abbi Perkins, Sara Vitti and Freshman Tatum Ozment, Buford posted quality wins against Chamblee and three perennial Georgia girls basketball powers in Carrollton, Veterans and Southwest Dekalb to earn the right to battle Villa Ricca and their lauded “Purple Rain” in the 2019 GHSA AAAAA State Championship game in front of frenzied massive crowd at the Macon Centreplex Coliseum. Buford’s constant pressure and relentless play would wear down Villa Ricca, and the Buford Lady Wolves would pull away to win 67-59 and capture a coveted third consecutive State Championship, finishing the 2018-19 season with a stellar 29-2 record.
As well as claiming their third consecutive GHSA AAAAA State Championship, the 2018-19 Buford Lady Wolves were named the 8AAAAA Region Champions, 2019 Dacula Tip Off Classic Champions, 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Team of the Year and 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Team of the Month.
Senior Ebony Grant was named to the 2019 8AAAAA All Region Team. Senior Casey Jones was named 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Player of the Month. Senior Preston Reid was named to the 2019 GACA 5A North All State Team, 2019 8AAAAA All Region Team, 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Player of the Month and the 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Recipient of the Joe Marelle Courage Award. Junior Tate Walters was named 2019 Dacula Tip Off Classic MVP, 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club All Gwinnett County First Team, 2019 ATOC All Metro Third Team, 2019 Gwinnett Daily Post All Gwinnett County Second Team, 2019 Gwinnett Tipoff Club Player of the Month, 2019 GACA 5A North All State , 2019 GACA Junior All Star Game Participant, and the 2019 8AAAAA All Region Team. And Junior Katelyn Klein was named to the 2019 Dacula Tip Off Classic All Tournament Team.
The countless hours, blood, sweat and tears exhausted by this special group of young ladies culminated in a goal set and reached. Even more, their ability to lay aside personal gain for team accomplishment will live forever as one more foundational bedrock within the growing and glowing tradition that is Buford Lady Wolves basketball. They loved the game of basketball. They loved one another.
During every 32-minute basketball game there are magical moments when the ball hits the bottom of the net and a basket is scored. When this happens, it means that everything has come together perfectly — the perfect pass, the perfectly timed set play, every player in the right place at exactly the right time — all of this culminating in a moment in which one player scores.
What happens next on the court and in the stands is what transforms a bunch of individual young women into a team. Teammates on the bench and on the court applaud the scorer. The fans in the stands erupt in cheers. It appears that we’re celebrating one specific individual, but what we’re really celebrating is every player, every coach, every practice, every sprint, every doubt and even every failure that this one single basket represents.
Buford Lady Wolves Basketball claims the success of one Lady Wolf as a collective success for all Lady Wolves. Her victory is our victory.
And we celebrate it.
