GHSA, Girls Basketball, Girls Rankings

Week 5 Girls Rankings

Class AAAAAAA

  1. Westlake (6-0)
  2. Collins Hill (9-1)
  3. Norcross (10-1)
  4. Newton (9-1)
  5. Cherokee (9-1)
  6. North Forsyth (8-1)
  7. South Gwinnett (9-1)
  8. North Cobb (8-1)
  9. McEachern (5-3)
  10. Colquitt County (6-2) 

Class AAAAAA

  1. Harrison (7-2)
  2. Alpharetta (9-0)
  3. Northview (7-2)
  4. Lovejoy (9-1)
  5. Winder-Barrow (7-1)
  6. Sequoyah (8-1)
  7. Lanier (8-2)
  8. Forest Park (7-2)
  9. Northside-Warner Robins (7-1)
  10. Tucker (5-3) 

Class AAAAA

  1. Buford (8-0)
  2. Flowery Branch (6-2)
  3. Dutchtown (9-1)
  4. Harris County (6-0)
  5. Bainbridge (11-2)
  6. Villa Rica (8-0)
  7. Maynard Jackson (6-0)
  8. Eagle’s Landing (8-4)
  9. Carrollton (3-2)
  10. Southwest DeKalb (4-3)

Class AAAA

  1. Carver-Columbus (9-0)
  2. Henry County (10-0)
  3. Spalding (10-0)
  4. Luella (9-1)
  5. Northwest Whitfield (8-1)
  6. Madison County (4-3)
  7. Baldwin (7-0)
  8. Marist (7-1)
  9. Americus-Sumter (9-1)
  10. Jefferson (5-3) 

Class AAA

  1. Greater Atlanta Christian (8-1)
  2. Beach (11-0)
  3. Franklin County (9-0)
  4. Lovett (9-1)
  5. Johnson-Savannah (7-3)
  6. Central-Macon (4-1)
  7. Haralson County (4-0)
  8. Peach County (7-2)
  9. Dawson County (6-2)
  10. Hart County (4-3)

Class AA

  1. Laney (7-0)
  2. Rabun County (7-0)
  3. Swainsboro (8-0)
  4. Model (8-2)
  5. Putnam County (7-0)
  6. Banks County (5-2)
  7. Dodge County (9-1)
  8. Fitzgerald (3-1)
  9. Dublin (6-1)
  10. Washington County (5-1) 

Class A-Private

  1. Holy Innocents’ (7-1)
  2. Wesleyan (6-1)
  3. St. Francis (5-2)
  4. Our Lady of Mercy (8-1)
  5. Christian Heritage (8-1)
  6. Stratford Academy (4-2)
  7. Landmark Christian (5-4)
  8. Calvary Day (8-1)
  9. Fellowship Christian (2-3)
  10. Lakeview Academy (3-3)

Class A-Public

  1. Telfair County (9-1)
  2. Greenville (7-0)
  3. Terrell County (7-1)
  4. Pelham (8-1)
  5. Wheeler County (6-2)
  6. Macon County (4-1)
  7. Woodville-Tompkins (7-3)
  8. Marion County (6-1)
  9. Mitchell County (4-1)
  10. Georgia Military College (8-0)

It’s still early in Class AAAAAAA, but as of right now, it looks like we might officially have a few new leaders in the clubhouse to win the state championship as No. 9 McEachern continues to fall back into the pack. The Lady Indians were beat by debutant No. 8 North Cobb on the road, 57-51. The Lady Warriors’ only loss this season has come to No. 5 Cherokee, 58-44. The Lady Warriors from Canton picked up a 54-39 win at River Ridge while No. 4 Newton hammered a good Grayson team 63-43 and slipped past Mill Creek 58-54. Cherokee and Newton benefit the most from McEachern and No. 10 Colquitt County’s slides. The Lady Packers were knocked off by Class 5A No. 5 Bainbridge 47-42 and now have the unenviable task of playing No. 1 Westlake at the Peach State Holiday Classic on Wednesday. The Lions are coming off an 85-54 mauling of Douglas County. No. 2 Collins Hill is hot on Westlake’s track, scoring impressive wins over Mountain View (81-33) and Class 6A No. 1 Harrison (42-39) at the Queens of the Hardwood Classic. Brookwood (5-2) exits from the poll after losing to Class 6A No. 7 Lanier.

Yes, that’s right, we have a new No. 1 in Class AAAAAA: No. 1 Harrison. Even with the Lady Hoyas’ 42-39 loss to Class 7A No. 2 Collins Hill, Harrison showed they can impose their will and control the tempo of any game. They defeated Region 6 opponent River Ridge 59-48 prior to their loss. No. 4 Lovejoy lost their hold of No. 1 thanks to a 56-53 loss to Stephenson (6-4) who drops out of the rankings after losing to No. 10 Tucker 48-38. Lovejoy played without star sophomore Anaya Boyd due to an eye injury, but with the stakes so high and the top teams so even, there is limited room for error. Region 7 now places teams two and three in No. 2 Alpharetta and No. 3 Northview. They will clash for first-place on January 4 at Alpharetta. The Lady Titans have a tough road ahead before worrying about the Lady Raiders. They tip-off the Deep South Classic against Hillgrove at Brookwood on the 28th. Lovejoy wasn’t the only team to falter this week as No. 5 Winder-Barrow is down two spots following their upset 63-58 loss to No. 7 Lanier, who reenters the poll. The Longhorns also beat Brookwood 48-46 behind Jamyah Montissol’s 21 points – 12 coming in the fourth quarter. No. 8 Forest Park beat Tucker 62-44 in convincing fashion. No. 9 Northside-Warner Robins earned a 43-36 win over Class 3A No. 6 Central-Macon.

Defending Class AAAAA state champion No. 1 Buford turned back No. 2 Flowery Branch for the fourth straight time dating back to last season, 58-48, but it still seems like the Lady Falcons are the team best equipped to challenge the Lady Wolves for a state title. No. 6 Villa Rica is making some noise, beating No. 9 Carrollton in Region 7 play, 67-60, dropping the Lady Trojans down six spots. Carrollton swept Villa Rica last year, but now it looks like the Wildcats are the early favorite to win the region. With Carrollton’s loss and No. 8 Eagle’s Landing’s 54-52 loss to Memphis Central at the Queens of the Hardwood Classic, No. 3 Dutchtown, No. 4 Harris County and No. 5 Bainbridge all rise into the Top 5. Dutchtown beat a good Locust Grove team 70-62 while Bainbridge took down Class 7A No. 10 Colquitt County 47-42 at Colquitt.

There will be a Class AAAA state championship rematch on Tuesday as No. 1 Carver-Columbus hosts rival Columbus. It will take a herculean effort for the Blue Devils to upset Class AAAA’s heavy state title favorite. No. 2 Henry County struggled with Eastside’s junk defense, double and triple-teaming Auburn-signee Brooke Moore, but Moore finally broke free late in the second half to help the War Hawks win 59-44. No. 10 Jefferson sinks five spots after losing at No. 6 Madison County 58-56. The Red Raiders held their own this week after losing in overtime to Class 2A No. 6 Banks County. They scored their win against Jefferson and followed up with a 64-56 win over Class 3A No. 10 Hart County. No. 5 Northwest Whitfield has a Region 6 showdown with red-hot 8-0 Pickens County. Coach Brandon Thomas has the Dragonettes clicking on all cylinders, but they haven’t played a well-oiled machine like the Lady Bruins. West Hall (7-4) exits the rankings after losing 46-44 at No. 8 Marist and to Banks County 55-36. No. 9 Americus-Sumter gets a crack at the Top 10 out of Region 1. Jykeria Long is averaging 14.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 5 steals for the Panthers.

While Class AAA No. 1 GAC has been taking care of business with wins over East Hall (78-44) and Mountain View (90-53), No. 2 Beach has done the same down on the coast. The defending state champs won their title game rematch with bitter rival No. 5 Johnson-Savannah 53-42 and will play the Atomsmashers again today for the Memorial Health Holiday Classic Championship. No. 6 Central-Macon is down three spots after a tough loss to Class 6A No. 9 Northside Warner-Robins, 43-36. North Murray (9-3) departs from the rankings following losses to Calhoun (49-44) and Murray County (53-45). Into the poll is No. 8 Peach County, who has played extremely well without Southern Miss-signee Daishai Almond, who suffered a season ending knee injury in the summer.

No. 1 Laney had a scare in Class AA, struggling to put away Butler 68-54. They rebounded however with an 80-57 win at Mays. No. 8 Fitzgerald falls five spots after a bad 60-55 loss at Cook. Last week’s teams four through eight all rise a position.  No. 6 Banks County could have jumped higher, but a 75-74 overtime setback against East Hall keeps their movement to a minimum. The Lady Leopards have played as tough a schedule as anyone in Class AA, earning wins over Class 4A No. 6 Madison County in overtime 60-53 and beating West Hall 55-36 last week. Berrien (8-3) disappears from the rankings following a 50-48 loss to Early County. They are replaced by No. 10 Washington County. The Golden Hawks have won five-straight including a 56-45 win over Bleckley County.

In Class A-Private, No. 1 Holy Innocents’ beat Lebanon (TN) 71-55 at the She Got Game Classic.  No. 2 Wesleyan raced past Fayette County 83-58 and No. 3 St. Francis fell to Hoover (AL) 53-51 at the Queens of the Hardwood Classic. No. 4 Our Lady of Mercy beat No. 9 Fellowship Christian 52-41, Florida State-signee Morgan Jones outscoring the Paladins with 42 points. No. 5 Christian Heritage is up five spots following their 57-42 win over Pinecrest Academy (3-4) knocking the Lady Paladins from the Top 10. Sisters Meghan and Kelsey Schneller are the twin engines for Coach Maggie Peeples’ Lions. Athens Academy (6-2) falls from the rankings after losing to returnee No. 10 Lakeview Academy 61-51. Making their first appearance in the poll is No. 8 Calvary Day. The Savannah-based Cavaliers hold wins over Jenkins (46-29) and Richmond Hill (54-39) to legitimize their resume.

Just like on the boys side, we have a state-altering upset in Class A-Public. No. 4 Pelham tumbles three spots after losing at No. 3 Terrell County 61-60, the Green Wave surging up five spots. That means defending state runner-up No. 1 Telfair County grabs the driver’s seat in Class A-Public after the Hornets were ranked No. 1 wire-to-wire last season. The Lady Trojans beat No. 5 Wheeler County for the second time this year on Saturday, 75-64 on the road. Ny’Asia Howard dropped 25 points while India Wells netted 22 and Brandy Mackey and Vashay Tillis each added 8 points. No. 8 Marion County suffered a bad loss to 2-5 Taylor County, 47-42, dropping the Eagles three spots. Wilcox County (6-3) exits the Top 10 after losing at Class 2A No. 7 Dodge County 50-34. They are replaced by undefeated No. 10 Georgia Military College. The Lady Bulldogs have gotten a spark from 5-foot-9 freshman Deandria Stephens, who is averaging 13 points, 7 rebounds and 3 steals per game.