Class AAAAAAA
1. McEachern (14-0)
2. Grayson (16-2)
3. Meadowcreek (16-4)
4. Discovery (17-3)
5. East Coweta (18-1)
6. Newton (14-3)
7. Norcross (12-7)
8. Pebblebrook (13-6)
9. Wheeler (14-6)
10. Berkmar (14-5)
Class AAAAAA
1. Coffee (15-2)
2. North Atlanta (14-4)
3. Chattahoochee (16-3)
4. Tri-Cities (13-5)
5. Douglas County (13-5)
6. Lakeside-Evans (16-2)
7. Sequoyah (14-4)
8. South Paulding (13-6)
9. Alexander (14-7)
10. South Cobb (12-5)
Class AAAAA
1. Fayette County (16-2)
2. Southwest DeKalb (15-5)
3. Buford (15-2)
4. Eagle’s Landing (13-3)
5. Woodland-Stockbridge (14-3)
6. Kell (15-4)
7. Lithonia (13-7)
8. Warner Robins (12-4)
9. Statesboro (16-4)
10. Jones County (14-6)
Class AAAA
1. Upson-Lee (16-1)
2. Sandy Creek (14-3)
3. St. Pius X (16-2)
4. Henry County (18-1)
5. Carver-Columbus (13-3)
6. Americus-Sumter (13-2)
7. Baldwin (11-6)
8. Thomson (13-3)
9. Woodward Academy (11-7)
10. Salem (11-5)
Class AAA
1. Morgan County (16-1)
2. GAC (13-4)
3. Dawson County (16-3)
4. Hart County (14-4)
5. Central-Macon (14-3)
6. Pace Academy (12-6)
7. Johnson-Savannah (13-6)
8. Jefferson (13-6)
9. Westside-Macon (13-5)
10. Cedar Grove (11-5)
Class AA
1. Woodville-Tompkins (19-0)
2. Therrell (14-6)
3. South Atlanta (14-5)
4. Northeast-Macon (14-3)
5. Elbert County (16-2)
6. Vidalia (17-2)
7. Thomasville (15-2)
8. Spencer (15-3)
9. Glenn Hills (17-3)
10. Washington County (11-5)
Class A-Private
1. St. Francis (14-3)
2. Mt. Bethel (13-4)
3. Greenforest (12-4)
4. ELCA (11-6)
5. Walker (12-4)
6. Wesleyan (14-4)
7. Lakeview Academy (13-5)
8. Trinity Christian (8-9)
9. Holy Innocents’ (8-9)
10. Riverside Military (13-4)
Class A-Public
1. Calhoun County (18-0)
2. Hancock Central (13-3)
3. Treutlen (16-1)
4. Wilcox County (16-1)
5. Georgia Military College (8-3)
6. Terrell County (14-2)
7. Macon County (11-3)
8. Pelham (11-3)
9. Marion County (11-3)
10. Greene County (13-4)
There is officially a new bully on the block in Class AAAAAAA as Region 2’s No. 5 East Coweta rises a spot after a dominant week which featured wins over Campbell 95-49, No. 9 Wheeler 81-78 and Washington 89-57. Unsigned senior guard Fermandez Jones went for 26 points, 5 assists and 4 steals while 6-foot-6 junior swingman Brandon Stroud finished with 21 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in the Indians’ thrilling win over Wheeler, who sinks four spots after also losing at No. 8 Pebblebrook 68-67. The Falcons turned around at lost to Westlake 70-63. Region 2 is cutthroat, as is the entire classification but East Coweta has all the pieces to make a deep state playoff run and could be this year’s Meadowcreek as a dark horse to win it all. Elsewhere, the Jimmies & Joes won out against the X’s & O’s as No. 1 McEachern escaped rival Marietta 80-72, pulling away late. No. 4 Discovery had nice wins on the road against Peachtree Ridge 58-51 and Mountain View 61-41. Coach Rick Rasmussen won his 300th game at No. 6 Newton, beating rival Eastside 74-65 in a back-and-forth game. The Rams won at Shiloh 63-54 earlier in the week. No. 7 Norcross held off host No. 10 Berkmar 65-60, the close defeat keeping the Patriots in the poll.
Class AAAAAA revolves around Region 5 yet again. The cannibalization has begun, shaking up the entire state with four teams from Region 5 fitting into the Top 10. No. 5 Douglas County debuts in the poll after dropping No. 8 South Paulding five spots with a 72-60 defeat and beating New Manchester 67-62. The Spartans lost 50-45 to Creekside before falling to Douglas County which started their slide. No. 4 Tri-Cities is up two spots thanks to their resume but even the Bulldogs had a rocky week, barely beating Mays 62-58 before losing 64-58 to a suddenly hot Langston Hughes team that is only 8-10 but winners of three-straight including upsetting No. 9 Alexander on Tuesday 73-68 in 2OT. The Cougars were also stunned by Mays 47-43 which sinks them five spots. The jumbled-up region picture is as followed: No. 4 Tri-Cities (13-4, 9-1), No. 5 Douglas County (13-5, 8-2), No. 8 South Paulding (13-6, 7-3), unranked Langston Hughes (8-10, 6-4) and No. 9 Alexander (13-7, 7-5). Once again, whoever ends up winning Region 5 will be an odds-on favorite to be playing for a state title come March. The antithesis of Region 5 is Region 3. As the Sandy’s Spiel polls have warned all season long, Evans (17-1) isn’t quite the team to beat in the Augusta area just yet as they were bounced from the poll after a 67-56 loss to rival No. 6 Lakeside-Evans. The Panthers got 22 points from Kalen Williams and 19 from Tyshun Briscoe in the win. Following the Knights out of the rankings is Sprayberry (15-3), who has come back down to earth going 3-3 in their last six games. The Yellow Jackets had an ugly 67-63 win against 5-13 Harrison before falling flat against No. 10 South Cobb 91-75. The Eagles, winners of five-straight, are back in the poll and hold first-place in Region 6 at 10-1. Sprayberry stands at 9-1 while No. 7 Sequoyah, up two spots, is 8-2. The Chiefs travel to Austell on Tuesday to try and avenge an 82-74 loss.
We have a new number one in Class AAAAA as the upset of the year took place at Buford Arena as 9-8 Loganville shocked the state with a 59-54 win at No. 3 Buford. Jamar Moore (16), Akil Covington (12) and Sheldon Arnold (11) paced a fearless Red Devil team. Rising to the top spot is No. 1 Fayette County. The Tigers survived a hard-fought game with Starr’s Mill 57-46 and beat Whitewater 83-62. The long-awaited showdown between No. 4 Eagle’s Landing and No. 5 Woodland-Stockbridge was put on hold after tragedy struck the Eagle’s Landing community. Lithia Springs (13-5) drops from the Top 10 after back-to-back losses to Maynard Jackson 86-81 and Grady 63-57. Keep an eye on Maynard Jackson as 6-foot-7 junior center Darius Gaddy has transferred from Wheeler to follow his former coach and expects to play immediately. No. 8 Warner Robins resurfaces after commanding victories over Veterans 70-42 and Bainbridge 56-39.
Class AAAA No. 1 Upson-Lee had to use overtime to outlast Class 5A No. 10 Jones County 68-65. No. 4 Henry County has the second-longest winning streak in the classification, running it up to 13 with wins over North Clayton 71-58 and at Luella 66-55. They host Top 10 returnee No. 9 Woodward Academy on Tuesday. The War Eagles have won four in a row and are now healthy, beating Eastside 64-52 and Druid Hills 62-44, Walker Kessler going for 27 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 blocks against the Red Devils. Druid Hills tried to throw a monkey wrench into the Region 4 picture as they and Eastside both beat No. 10 Salem. The Seminoles lost 65-63 at Druid Hills and 46-45 at Eastside before beating Class 2A No. 4 Northeast-Macon 68-61 to cling onto another week in the Top 10. No. 5 Carver-Columbus edged No. 6 Americus-Sumter 72-67 to jump two spots. No. 7 Baldwin is up a spot after another up-and-down week, beating Burke County 73-50 and newly ranked Class 3A No. 9 Westside-Macon 65-61 before losing at Wilkinson County 65-64. Departing the poll is Denmark (15-4). A 65-62 loss to Marist cut the Danes’ stay short. Formerly ranked Chapel Hill has some major explaining to do as its been reported by multiple sources that Coach Ken Austin has lost his job after multiple violations.
No. 3 Dawson County took care of East Hall 86-74 now setting up a massive Region 7-AAA rematch with No. 2 GAC on Tuesday in Norcross. The Spartans won round one with the Tigers 82-75 back on December 7th. Region 5 has blown a tire as both No. 6 Pace Academy and No. 10 Cedar Grove struggle to find their form. The Knights are down two spots after beating Cedar Grove 52-45 but losing to Lovett 54-43. The Saints have now lost five of their last seven after a 9-0 start to the season. Down two more spots, Cedar Grove won at Towers 59-36 before losing 50-40 to Tucker. Thursday may be their last gasp in the Top 10 as they travel to Class 4A No. 3 St. Pius X. Outside of Region 5, No. 8 Jefferson lost a trap game to 5-12 Monroe Area 52-51 at home, dropping the Dragons three spots. Kendrick (12-5) is out of the Top 10 after losing to No. 5 Central-Macon 63-46 and getting beat by a terrible 3-18 Russell County (AL) team 79-77, who the Cherokees beat 66-26 in their first meeting. Reappearing in the Top 10 is No. 9 Westside-Macon, who takes over for their Region 4 rival. The Seminoles defeated Rutland 86-75 and Mary Persons 81-75 with a loss at Class 4A No. 7 Baldwin 65-61 sandwiched in between.
No. 7 Thomasville slips two spots in Class AA after a 58-53 loss at Berrien. No. 3 South Atlanta moves up a spot after destroying Hapeville Charter 58-28, McNair 76-25 and Carver-Atlanta 81-30 while No. 4 Northeast-Macon beat Bleckley County 56-45 but fell to Class 4A No. 10 Salem 68-61 at the Sweet South Shootout at Morgan County. No. 9 Glenn Hills jumps No. 10 Washington County following a key 71-68 win at Butler. The Golden Hawks took care of Dublin 64-44.
Number one and number two were almost knocked off in Class A-Private, which could have led to some interesting developments but alas, the better teams won. Dwon Odom had 22 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists and 5 steals including the game-winning layup at the buzzer to push No. 1 St. Francis past No. 5 Walker 57-55. Junior wing Chandler Baker carried the Wolverines with 30 points. No. 2 Mt. Bethel survived a mind-numbing Mt. Pisgah team 66-64. Seemingly having momentum to return to the Top 10 after a narrow defeat to a Class A-Private favorite, the Patriots instead laid an egg and were demolished by Mt. Paran 64-43 the following day. Christian Heritage (14-2) was struck by reality as their soft schedule came back to haunt them, losing to Bowdon 80-69 and North Cobb Christian 75-51. Replacing the Lions is No. 10 Riverside Military. The Eagles beat Towns County 67-54 before a twin killing in Dawg Country, winning at Athens Christian 65-46 and at Athens Academy 57-49.
There are no changes in Class A-Public. No. 1 Calhoun County continued to roll winning at No. 7 Macon County 74-65. No. 2 Hancock Central was just as impressive, beating No. 5 Georgia Military 74-61 and beating Aquinas 50-45. The Bulldogs of GMC turned around and eviscerated the Irish 84-52 behind Malik Foston (30), Jalen Milner (25) and Armanius White’s 20 points and 10 rebounds. No. 3 Treutlen won at Dooly County 53-45 before smacking rival Montgomery County 93-57 on the road as junior guard Kameron Jordan finished with 33 points, 11 rebounds and 9 steals. No. 4 Wilcox County held off Lanier County on the road 78-76 behind junior Desmond Tisdol’s 31 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. For the second time in two weeks, No. 9 Marion County defeated Chattahoochee County 68-58.
