Gwinnett Daily Post

SUWANEE -- When Buford boys coach Allen Whitehart scheduled his team's date with Whitefield Academy in the On The Radar Hoops Invitational immediately on the heels of its Region 6-AA showdown with rival GAC, it was designed to be a test.

Whitehart wasn't quite ready to give the Wolves a failing grade after dropping both ends of the stretch with Saturday's 74-64 loss to Whitefield.

His grade would be more of an 'I' for incomplete.

"We're just not playing very well right now," Whitehart said after the Wolves, ranked No. 1 in the initial Associated Press state poll in Class AA, fell to 11-5 on the season. "Our body language isn't where we want it. The things we pride ourselves on, I just don't think we're doing very well. I'll take part of the blame for that. Maybe we need to refocus on some things we need to do better."

There were some things Buford did well Saturday, including finding standout senior post T.J. Shipes early in the game.

The 6-foot-8 Georgia State signee scored 16 points in the first half as Buford built as much as an 11-6 lead in the first half of the opening quarter, and led 24-21 as late as the 5:36 mark of the second quarter after Shipes' layup.

But as GAC did a night earlier, Whitefield (12-3 and ranked No. 2 in Class A), made an adjustment to try and choke off the passing lanes to Buford's big man, holding him to just a single late basket the rest of the way.

"My big guy, Lorenzo (Carter), a sophomore who's 6-6, we had him three-quartering in the post," said Whitefield coach Tyrone Johnson. "On the touch, we (dug) in off the dribble. That helped us because we didn't put our post player in a precarious situations defensively."

More importantly, Whitefield also picked up its defensive intensity on the perimeter, which allowed the athletic Wolfpack a chance to run.

Two fastbreak baskets by Kenny Gaines and another by Braelen Philips keyed a 10-2 run over a 2:20 span late in the second quarter that vaulted Whitefield to a 33-25 lead following Gaines' coast-to-coast drive off a steal with 3:00 left in the half.

Buford stayed within reach, however, using two transition baskets of their own by Shipes and two Isaiah Williams free throws to end the half on a 6-2 run that pulled the Wolves to within 35-31 by intermission.

But Whitefield was just getting warmed up, especially on the boards.

With their lead at 37-34 early in the third quarter, the Wolfpack ran off 10 straight points -- four each by Carter and Philips, many of which came on second-chance points -- to push their lead to double digits at 47-36 following Carter's stickback and dunk with 3:18 left in the period.

"We knew we had to box out because they're very athletic and physical," Whitehart said of Whitefield, which had a 35-22 advantage on the boards. "That means you've got to keep them from pounding you on the boards."

Shipes led Buford with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots, while Davis added 16, Williams finished 14 and Kellam scored 11.

Harrison 72, South Gwinnett 63

The Comets (7-8) trailed just 17-13 after one quarter, but a 20-6 advantage in the second quarter gave the Hoyas (9-4) a big advantage they would never relinquish.

Harrison, ranked No. 8 in Class AAAAA, started the second quarter on a 16-1 run before a pair of Ray Mobley free throws stopped it at the 2:11 mark, and South didn't manage a field goal in the quarter until Simeon Dennis' jumper with 34 seconds left in the half.

Harrison led by as many as 20 points early in the fourth quarter before South tried to rally behind Logan Adams, who finished with game highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds, and Kyle Wright, who scored all 14 of his points in the second half, including 10 of 15 from the free-throw line.

The Comets pulled as close as eight points at 67-59 on Adams' stickback with 3:37 remaining, but a free throw and a stickback by Marshall Guillmete put the game back into double figures, and the Hoyas were able to hang on.

Harrison's Subby Adetujoye scored 19 points, while the Hoyas also got 16 from Ryan Blumenthal, 11 from Marshall Guillmete and 12 rebounds from Cullen McCrite.

Logan Adams had game highs of 24 points and 19 rebounds to lead South, while Simeon Dennis scored 15.

Alexander 82, Parkview 64

The Panthers fell to 2-18 despite 18 points from Jordan Coleman and 10 points form Jordan Reid.

North Gwinnett 72, McEachern 50

Chris Bolden had a huge night as the host Bulldogs (10-7) built a big early lead and never looked back.

The Georgia Tech-bound senior poured in 22 of his game-high 28 points in the first half as North built an 18-point halftime lead.

Kam Calhoun also had a strong night for North with 17 points, while Danny Crawford reach double-figure scoring with 10 points.

Deonta Patterson scored 12 points -- all on 3-pointers -- to lead the visiting Indians (6-7).