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Athlete of the week: Buford senior leaves a champion
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Honorable mentions

Basketball

Blake Sims, Gainesville: 17 points against Westover last Saturday.

Juwon Jeffries, Gainesville: 16 points against Westover last Saturday.

Baseball

Scott Chewning, Chestatee: 2-for-5 with two runs scored, pitched a complete game against East Hall last Friday.

Hunter Cash, Buford: 3-for-4 with two RBIs against Providence Christian last Friday.

Will Huff, Riverside Military: Two home runs and a double against Dawson County last Thursday.

Jordan Wilson, Flowery Branch: 2-for-3 with four RBIs against White County last Wednesday.

James Mills, Flowery Branch: 2-for-2 with three runs, won on the mound against White County last Wednesday.

K.J. McAllister, North Hall: Homered, doubled and had three RBIs against Creekview last Wednesday.

Jeff Abernathy, North Hall: 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored against Creekview last Wednesday.

Max Everitt, West Hall: Four hits (two doubles), pitched a complete game against Pickens last Wednesday.

Tyler Ward, Lakeview Academy: Doubled and tripled with one RBI against Mount Pisgah last Wednesday.

Ralston Cash, Lakeview Academy: 10 strikeouts against Social Circle last Thursday.

Drew Adams, East Hall: 2-for-3 with two doubles and five RBIs against West Forsyth last Wednesday.

Sloan Strickland, Gainesville: 2-for-3 with a home run and a win on the mound over two games last week.

Blake Sargent, Lumpkin County: 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, won on the mound against Gainesville last Thursday.

Josh Ford, North Georgia Christian: 5-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs against Mount Zion Christian last Thursday.

Trey Redmond, North Georgia Christian: 4-for-5 with five RBIs against Mount Zion Christian last Thursday.

Ross Liekboll, North Georgia Christian: 4-for-5 with five RBIs against Mount Zion Christian last Thursday.

Soccer

Grayson Ingram, Lakeview Academy: Two goals against Rabun County last Friday.

Ashley Valentine, North Georgia Christian: Two goals against Horizon Christian last Wednesday.

Kaitlyn Hooper, White County: Two goals and one assist against Lumpkin County last Tuesday.

Juan Arbelaez, West Hall: Two goals and one assist against Flowery Branch last Tuesday.

Cassidy Elrod, Flowery Branch: Three goals against West Hall last Tuesday.

Ana Contreras, Johnson: 16 saves in her debut at goalkeeper against Flowery Branch last Friday.

Golf

Austin Booker, Lumpkin County: Shot a 35 against West Forsyth last Wednesday.

Nick Fitts, Dawson County: Shot a 38 to lead Dawson County to a new team record against Jackson County last Wednesday.

Cody Palmer, Dawson County: Shot a 38 to lead Dawson County to a new team record against Jackson County last Wednesday.

Josh Foster, Johnson: Low-medalist with a two-day total of 75 at the Hall County Championship last Tuesday.

Camryn Cole, Gainesville: Shot a two-day total of 85 to win her third straight Hall County Championship last Tuesday.

BUFORD Buford High’s Jocelyn Danley may have saved her best performance of her high school career for her last game.

Luckily, that game was the Class AA State Championship, where the senior scored 21 points to lead the Lady Wolves to their first state championship in last Saturday’s 66-35 against Model at the Macon Centreplex.

In the effort, she was 10-for-13 from the field and pulled down seven rebounds.

"My strategy was to basically give it all I’ve got," Danley said. "It was my last game as a Buford Lady Wolf and I had to give it everything I had, no matter what’s going on in the crowd or on the floor."

What made Danley’s last game for Buford (31-1) even more impressive was what she fought through. Stress fractures in both of her legs had limited her playing time throughout the season, and the pain was still there Saturday.

But playing for a state championship made for an effective pain killer.

"My mind wasn’t on my legs, it was on my game," Danley said. "I didn’t really pay attention to my legs, so I didn’t really feel anything except when I was on the bench."

Danley played through the same injury in December, during the Deep South Classic and like last Saturday, she played well and was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player after scoring 30 points over the span of three games.

"She played limited minutes and was still MVP," Lady Wolves coach Gene Durden said. "From that point on, we figured out which games we needed to play her and which ones to rest her."

With the state championship trophy now solely in the hands of Buford, Danley can take the well-deserved break to completely heal for what lies ahead of her. The rest will be crucial, as she begins her first year of college basketball next fall at Valdosta State University.

"I’m going to rest my legs and make sure my stress fractures heal," Danley said. "Then I’ll come to some workouts with Coach Durden to help me get back in shape,"

Durden believes that once Danley is fully healed and ready for full-time playing minutes, the Lady Blazers will have a dangerous player in the 5-foot-9 forward.

"Jocelyn is a very versatile player," Durden said. "She creates a big mismatch because she can play against girls a lot bigger than her. She can move them around and she also has the ability to take them outside and take them off the dribble."

But before Danley makes the 260-mile trip to southernmost parts of Georgia to join her new team at Valdosta State, she plans to enjoy as much time as she can with her teammates at Buford, who used a close friendship off the court to create chemistry on it.

"I made a lot of best friends on this team," Danley said. "We do a lot of things together that other teams don’t."

Once Danley is ready to play full-time again, she will play travel basketball and begin training with Valdosta in the summer. She plans to major in psychology in the fall.

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