Class AAAAAAA

1. Wheeler (0-0)
2. Pebblebrook (1-1)
3. Westlake (1-0)
4. Newton (2-0)
5. Norcross (2-0)
6. McEachern (1-0)
7. Tift County (2-0)
8. Berkmar (1-0)
9. Shiloh (1-1)
10. Collins Hill (2-0)

Class AAAAAA

1. Jonesboro (0-0)
2. Gainesville (1-0)
3. South Paulding (1-0)
4. Langston Hughes (0-1)
5. Allatoona (0-0)
6. Heritage-Conyers (3-0)
7. Dacula (1-0)
8. Alpharetta (2-0)
9. Alexander (0-0)
10. Brunswick (0-0)

Class AAAAA

1. Columbia (1-0)
2. Cedar Shoals (1-0)
3. Buford (1-0)
4. Miller Grove (0-1)
5. Warner Robins (1-0)
6. Eagle’s Landing (0-1)
7. New Hampstead (2-0)
8. Fayette County (1-0)
9. Southwest DeKalb (2-1)
10. Riverwood (2-0)

Class AAAA

1. Sandy Creek (2-1)
2. Upson-Lee (2-0)
3. Thomson (0-0)
4. North Clayton (0-0)
5. Henry County (0-2)
6. LaGrange (0-0)
7. St. Pius X (0-1)
8. Richmond Academy (2-0)
9. Westover (0-1)
10. Stephens County (0-0)

Class AAA

1. Pace Academy (0-0)
2. Westside-Macon (0-0)
3. Liberty County (2-0)
4. Jenkins (0-1)
5. Morgan County (0-0)
6. Cedar Grove (0-0)
7. Greater Atlanta Christian (1-0)
8. Lovett (3-0)
9. Redan (3-0)
10. Islands (0-1)

Class AA

1. South Atlanta (1-0)
2. Thomasville (0-1)
3. Dublin (0-0)
4. Monticello (2-0)
5. Vidalia (1-0)
6. Callaway (0-0)
7. Swainsboro (0-0)
8. Butler (1-1)
9. Chattooga (0-0)
10. Banks County (1-1)

Class A-Private

1. Greenforest (1-0)
2. North Cobb Christian (1-0)
3. Southwest Atlanta Christian (0-1)
4. St. Francis (2-0)
5. Holy Innocents’ (0-1)
6. Lakeview Academy (1-0)
7. Tattnall Square (0-0)
8. Aquinas (0-0)
9. Whitefield Academy (0-0)
10. Christian Heritage (0-0)

Class A-Public

1. Wilkinson County (0-0)
2. Crawford County (0-0)
3. Turner County (0-0)
4. Calhoun County (1-0)
5. Taylor County (0-0)
6. Hancock Central (0-0)
7. Manchester (0-0)
8. Quitman County (2-0)
9. Lincoln County (0-0)
10. Hawkinsville (2-0)

 

Week 1 is in the books and Class AAAAAAA has already seen a few teams make some statements, but no one has been more impressive than No. 4 Newton who leaps over an impressive in their own right, No. 5 Norcross. The Rams have throttled opponents, blitzing Class AAAA Preseason No. 1 Henry County 83-67 and trouncing Class A-Private No. 3 Southwest Atlanta Christian, 91-60. Jacksonville-signee JD Notae went on a scoring binge against SACA, dropping in 41 points. Norcross scored a nice 66-51 win over Class AAAAA No. 6 Eagle’s Landing. No. 2 Pebblebrook beat Dillard, FL 49-40, but then lost to Montverde Academy, FL, 81-63. They won’t be punished however and retain their No. 2 spot after No. 3 Westlake won 107-94 against a rebuilding Douglas County team. No. 7 Tift County rises three spots after abusing Class AA Preseason No. 1 Thomasville, 75-40. Undersized senior forward PJ Horne, now 100% from an ACL injury, ate up 6-foot-8 Arkansas-commit Reggie Perry, hanging 25 points, 12 rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Alabama State-signee Micah Johnson torched the Bulldog backcourt with 23 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and six steals.

Class AAAAAA was treated to a potential late February matchup as No. 2 Gainesville blew past No. 4 Langston Hughes, who drops a spot after their 74-57 loss. KJ Buffen was too much, going for 22 points, nine rebounds and three steals. No. 6 Heritage-Conyers won two nail biters, beating Class AAAAA No. 9 Southwest DeKalb 51-47 and Lithonia 70-66 before drilling Brookwood 90-67. No. 8 Alpharetta leaps inactive No. 9 Alexander. The Raiders have looked the part of a Top 10 team, defeating North Forsyth 67-47 and Creekview 78-47.

No. 1 Columbia rolled Stephenson 76-61 in their season opener after scheduled Arlington Country Day, FL decided not to show up. Miller Grove tumbles to No. 4 after an 84-69 loss to Class AAAAAAA No. 6 McEachern. The Wolverines didn’t look all that great in their preseason scrimmage against Gainesville either, dropping 84-65. Miller Grove isn’t void of talent, but the majority of their roster hasn’t seen varsity minutes behind senior guard Tae Hardy, meaning it will take some time for them to become a finished product. No. 8 Fayette County knocked off Class AAAA No. 2 Sandy Creek 75-69, but move up just one spot. No. 7 New Hampstead retains their slim advantage over Fayette County thanks to an 83-76 win over Class AAA No. 10 Islands.

Here we are. Just one week into the season and already the crapshoot classification known as Class AAAA has seen Preseason No. 1, No. 2, No. 4, No. 8, No. 9 and No. 10 all drop games. Henry County limps out of the gates after earning the No. 1 ranking. They were steam rolled by Newton and then dropped an eyebrow raising game to Arabia Mountain 73-71 to start the year 0-2 and sink to No. 5. Sandy Creek suffered a tough loss to Fayette County but got back on track by blowing out Forest Park 101-62 and scoring a very strong resume building W against Peachtree Ridge 56-40 to take ahold of the No. 1 spot. The versatility and size of 6-foot-7 senior Evan Jester is Sandy Creek’s ace in the back pocket. He is averaging 20 points per game with over eight rebounds. D-I schools please take note. The Patriots meet No. 4 North Clayton this Friday at the Atlanta Hardwood Jam Fest. No. 7 St. Pius X drops three spots after getting surprised by Cherokee in overtime, 68-59. Perry and Cartersville both exit the polls. Perry lost 69-67 to Bleckley County while Cartersville was run out of the gym by Class A-Private No. 2 North Cobb Christian 92-64 at the Georgia Elite 8 Tip-Off Classic. To be fair, Cartersville was missing nearly its entire team due to football and won’t have the group together until after the state championship. Until then, the Canes will take some lumps, but come region schedule time, Cartersville should be right back in the mix. Replacing Cartersville and Perry is No. 8 Richmond Academy and No. 10 Stephens County. Richmond Academy has two blowouts under their belts, beating Grovetown 63-40 and Woodward Academy 63-38. No. 2 Upson-Lee took care of business in their games. Junior combo guard Tye Fagan is averaging 24 points per game in limited minutes due to blow outs for Upson-Lee.

No. 3 Liberty County has looked sharp in Class AAA where they will try to repeat as state champs after winning it all in Class AAAA. They knocked off No. 4 Jenkins 83-75 as Auburn-signee Davion Mitchell went for 31 and Will Richardson had 29. In the loss, Trevion Lamar had 29 points, 18 rebounds and five assists as top point guard Zion Williams missed the game due to Jenkins’ playoff run in football. Mitchell and Richardson both poured in 42 points in their 120-80 win over Bradwell Institute. As good as those two have been, who has been the best player in the state of Georgia? No. 8 Lovett’s sophomore point guard Ryan Greer, who has carried the shorthanded Lions to three narrow victories as eight football players look to return soon. The results haven’t been pretty for Lovett but wins are wins right now. They beat North Atlanta in 2OT, 51-46; North Springs 52-50 and latest, an 81-79 overtime win over Landmark Christian when Greer posted the stat line of the season:

50 points
16-21 FG
2-4 3pt
12-14 FT
14 reb (3 off and 11 def)
3 assists
2 steals
4 turnovers

If you’re a Division-I coach, get on the horn right now.

Elsewhere in the state Crisp County has looked bad and has fallen out of the poll, replaced by No. 9 Redan and Tyonn Stuckey.

The loss of Jordan Willis and the rest of Thomasville’s Class of 2016 guards is already starting to hurt as Arkansas-commit Reggie Perry and Titus Wright proved they still aren’t ready to carry the team in Class AA. Tift County embarrassed the bigger and more highly recruited Bulldogs causing them to slip to No. 2 and allow No. 1 South Atlanta to take the reigns as leader in the clubhouse. No. 8 Butler and No. 10 Banks County both suffered losses. Butler dropped 64-48 to Mountain View as Christian Robinson didn’t suit up and Head Coach Cervantes Boddy didn’t even show up until the second quarter. Banks County lost on a buzzer-beater against East Hall.

Class A-Private No. 1 Greenforest played the part in their 51-40 win over Shiloh. No. 4 St. Francis moves up as Dwon Odom has transitioned well to the high school game and No. 5 Holy Innocents’ slipped to rival Riverwood 63-62 to open the year. No. 10 Christian Heritage replaces King’s Ridge Christian who lost to Norcross 79-52, but more disappointingly, lost to Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy 47-32 in an ugly game.

Not much has gone on in Class A-Public, but both No. 8 Quitman County and No. 10 Hawkinsville have fared well this season. Quitman beat Kendrick 82-77 and Spencer 80-51. Hawkinsville stopped Bleckley County 52-48 and Webster County 69-58.