GHSA TOC Semifinal #2: No. 2 Buford vs. No. 3 Forest Park
There are a lot of items on GHSA basketball fans’ wish lists. One that we may never see is a tournament of champions. All eight classification champs grouped together and seeded or even paired at random to set up a bracket to determine the overall champion of the state. With no basketball being played currently, why not breakdown some hypothetical matchups in this new series and let the fan vote determine who will advance to the next round?
We will provide a preview, a thoughtful prediction and let you – the fans – decide the fate of each game.
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<h2><strong>No. 2 <span style="font-size: 10pt">5A</span>Buford vs. No. 3 <span style="font-size: 10pt">6A</span>Forest Park</strong></h2>
Will the size and athleticism of Forest Park overpower Buford?
In what should be a great game, Buford’s system of success will attempt to slow down Gatorade Player of the Year [player_tooltip player_id="118093" first="Sania" last="Feagin"] and the rest of the Panthers. Western Carolina-signee Joi Reid, Jasmine Jacob and Jayda Brown will be key for Forest Park as they will be tasked with handling Buford’s full court press. They will have to limit turnovers and get into their half court sets where the Panthers excel at moving without the ball.
They will need to establish Feagin on the low block, but Buford has had success in the past at limiting the effectiveness of star posts in big games, most notably last year’s championship when they held Deasia Merrill to 11 points.
Forest Park’s defense is no slouch either. Outside of giving up 55 points to Sprayberry in the Sweet 16, the most they allowed was 38 to Valdosta in the Final Four. The Panthers will need to stop the dribble penetration of [player_tooltip player_id="148891" first="Ashyia" last="Willis"] and Furman-signee [player_tooltip player_id="118069" first="Tate" last="Walters"]. When they get into the paint, good things happen for the Wolves. Slasher Tatum Ozment and three-point specialist [player_tooltip player_id="152624" first="Blair" last="Wallis"] will need to be marked at all times.
Against like opponents, Buford beat Valdosta 66-37 while Forest Park won 54-38. The Wolves rallied to beat Holy Innocents’ 47-44 while the Panthers won 59-50.
<em>Vote below to decide who advances to the GHSA Tournament of Champions Championship.
Voting ends on 4/20</em>
https://poll.fm/10536723
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