Girls Analysis

Region 2-5A Semifinals Top Performers


2025 5-11 F McKayla Hosley – Northside-Columbus
The 2025 class has a new name soon to appear near the top of upcoming player rankings in McKayla Hosley. In a 63-45 loss to McIntosh, the long and athletic freshman was a major bright spot pouring in 20 points, 8 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks. At 5-foot-11, maybe closer to 6-foot, Hosley has the skill set to play all over the floor. She can play inside and score with either hand, using a quick power dribble to balance herself before finishing strong. The natural lefty springs off the ground to high-point rebounds with strong hands and finishes through contact. Hosley plays forward for the Patriots but has enough ability to play full-time on the wing. She drained four threes and showed a creative attack off the dribble, getting into the lane and scoring at the rim. McKayla sees the floor well when she gets downhill. She drops off assists over the defense that most players can’t see without her size. Hosley runs the floor like a gazelle and can defend every position thanks to her lateral quickness. SEC schools have already started to show interest. The sky is the limit.

2022 5-10 W Keara Collins – McIntosh
North Georgia might want to try and see if Keara Collins can split time between soccer and basketball. The midfielder uses her nifty footwork from the pitch as she maneuvers her way to produce at a high level on the hardwood. Collins, a UNG soccer-signee, has nice size on the perimeter and plays 1-5 for the Chiefs. When McIntosh needs a play to be made, the ball is in Collins’ hands. Keara doesn’t have blinding speed or elite leaping ability but her knowledge of the game and mastery of the subtleties make her a nightmare to defend. Collins has a solid handle and can push in transition after collecting rebounds. She uses hesitation moves to try and get her defender off balance before shifting gears and blowing past. Collins excels at finishing with either hand around the rim, expertly shielding the ball from shot blockers and squeezing her layups off the glass from tough angles. When left open, Collins can drill the three and is capable of beating opponents with her court vision, finding the open man in McIntosh’s offense which features constant screening and cutting. Collins piled up 22 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block in a blowout of Northside-Columbus. Keara’s versatility and reliability make her one of the best players Region 2-5A has to offer.

2023 6-0 F Zy Thompson – Griffin
The Region 2-5A Player of the Year jumps off the court with her length and athleticism. Part of a Griffin attack that scores the vast majority of their points in the paint, many coming off second-chance opportunities, Thompson is a bouncy high motor forward that likes to get on the glass. When stationed at the high post, Thompson tries to catch and dive her way to the right block, finishing drives against helpless defenders overwhelmed by her quickness and size. Defensively, Zy drew the assignment of guarding Jherni Carter-Ransom part of a Triangle-and-Two defense. Thompson finished with 11 points, 13 rebounds and 1 block, scoring the go-ahead putback with 12 seconds left to survive Harris County 42-40.

2022 5-11 F Jherni Carter-Ransom – Harris County
The senior leader for Harris County collected 13 points, 13 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 blocks battling the long frontline of Griffin. Carter-Ransom has a nice skill set. While she can bang down low and score in the paint, Jherni also has the touch and quick trigger to stretch the floor and knock down threes. She hit back-to-back longballs in the fourth quarter to fuel the Tigers’ upset bid. Carter-Ransom handles the ball well for her size and can attack downhill when creases open. Her sturdy size along with her well-rounded game make her an interesting prospect at the next level.

Analysis

Player Analysis: No. 3 Alexander 75, South Paulding 65


2022 6-3 G Zion Fruster – Alexander
There’s a lot to like about Zion Fruster’s game, a wiry guard with size that has started picking up serious interest, logging an offer from D-II UVA Wise just last week. Fruster is a consistent scorer on the perimeter. He gets great lift on his jumper, able to pull-up and elevate over defenders. He has an easy release and is good both off the catch and off the dribble. In the fourth quarter, he found his points at the rim, finishing in transition and through traffic. Fruster finished with 23 points, 3 rebounds and 1 assist. He’s one of the better stock risers in Georgia, as a versatile guard that can play either the 1 or 2.

2022 6-6 W Jah’Kim Payne – Alexander
Jah’Kim Payne is a smooth multidimensional player that can play 1-5 at the high school level. Payne is a Swiss Army Knife. He can initiate the offense with his ball handling and court vision, serve as a slasher on the wing or anchor himself in the high post and decide whether to attack or distribute. Payne glides to the rim, scoring on finger rolls as he slices through the defense with his long strides. He came up big in the fourth quarter with eight points, six via drives while also making plays on defense. His length and mobility help him defend all positions, giving him great switchability whenever screens come into play. Jah’Kim finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. His combination of length, size, versatility and skill should put him squarely on college radars, especially D-II programs.

2023 6-5 W Marvin McGhee – Alexander
McGhee provided some timely buckets when South Paulding was threatening. He helped keep the Spartans at bay with a pair of threes and a drive. McGhee isn’t as long or athletic as Payne, but he’s a serviceable combo-forward that can spend time playing inside or out. He was effective on the glass and made a huge block in the fourth quarter in transition that led to a four-point swing, making the game 61-54 instead of 59-56. Marvin tallied 10 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 block.

2024 6-2 SG Andrew LaVigne – South Paulding
The growth and confidence of Andrew LaVigne is shining through more and more often. The sturdy shooter caught fire in the third quarter to bring the Spartans to within one after trailing by as many as 12 points. LaVigne poured in three threes in the frame and hit five for the game. Andrew plays with good balance and gets his feet set and shoulders squared quickly when locating the rim. He has a pretty shot and moved well without the ball on cuts to the basket. LaVigne netted a team-high 22 points. If he is able to maintain his consistency and continue to improve, he could be South Paulding’s most dangerous scorer next season, part of what will be a veteran backcourt with major experience.

2023 6-2 SG Randy Harris – South Paulding
Randy Harris opened the game passing the ball exceptionally well, hitting cutters with sharp bounce passes as the on-ball pressure of Alexander forced the Spartans to initiate their offense far from the basket. Harris was able to calmly survey the floor and fit the ball to teammates when they had a window to score. After a scoreless first half, Harris started to hunt his offense as the game wore on, getting downhill using his leaping ability to score at the rim. Harris scored 13 points, 10 in the fourth quarter as he implemented floaters and scored in transition. South Paulding needs Harris to stay aggressive. Sometimes he can fade into the flow of the game without being a factor, but when he’s looking to attack, the Spartans are at their best. Harris’ energy led to 4 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal and 1 block.

2023 6-2 CG Jeremiah Taylor – South Paulding
Coming off the bench as he recovers from an injury, Taylor provided a nice spark with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Typically South Paulding’s leading scorer and best player when healthy, Jeremiah was able to bring a change of pace as a sub. Going up against the length of Alexander was a tough task as Taylor’s offense primarily comes at the rim. He was able score all five of his field goals in the paint, but had to work extra hard to do so. Even while it wasn’t his best offensive production, Taylor was able to make positive contributions elsewhere, especially with his passing. Unlocking a consistent three-point shot is still the deciding factor as to how special Taylor can be.

Girls Rankings

Week 13 GHSA Girls Basketball State Rankings


Class AAAAAAA

1. Brookwood (18-3)
2. North Forsyth (20-3)
3. Grayson (17-4)
4. Norcross (18-4)
5. Harrison (19-3)
6. Cherokee (19-5)
7. South Forsyth (18-6)
8. Archer (17-5)
9. Woodstock (17-8)
10. West Forsyth (18-6)

Class AAAAAA

1. River Ridge (23-1)
2. Lovejoy (19-3)
3. Kell (20-2)
4. Buford (19-3)
5. Langston Hughes (19-5)
6. Sequoyah (18-6)
7. Brunswick (22-1)
8. Sprayberry (16-6)
9. Rockdale County (16-6)
10. Rome (18-3)

Class AAAAA

1. Woodward Academy (21-2)
2. Forest Park (15-5)
3. Griffin (19-6)
4. Union Grove (19-4)
5. Maynard Jackson (12-4)
6. Warner Robins (20-5)
7. Greenbrier (20-3)
8. Northside-Columbus (19-5)
9. McIntosh (16-6)
10. Stockbridge (18-5)

Class AAAA

1. Luella (21-3)
2. Carver-Columbus (19-3)
3. Jefferson (20-3)
4. Baldwin (20-2)
5. Marist (20-3)
6. Pickens (20-2)
7. Arabia Mountain (16-5)
8. Cedar Shoals (15-7)
9. Chestatee (17-7)
10. Dougherty (15-7)

Class AAA

1. Lumpkin County (23-1)
2. GAC (17-5)
3. Cross Creek (19-1)
4. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (22-1)
5. Sumter County (19-6)
6. East Jackson (20-2)
7. Tattnall County (15-6)
8. Pierce County (18-5)
9. Murray County (18-4)
10. Central-Macon (20-4)

Class AA

1. Rabun County (17-4)
2. Elbert County (20-3)
3. Fannin County (19-2)
4. Northeast-Macon (17-6)
5. Dodge County (18-2)
6. Laney (13-5)
7. Josey (16-5)
8. Callaway (16-4)
9. Washington County (14-5)
10. Swainsboro (16-2)

Class A-Private

1. Holy Innocents’ (20-2)
2. Mt. Paran (17-4)
3. St. Francis (20-3)
4. Wesleyan (12-6)
5. Hebron Christian (19-4)
6. Trinity Christian (19-5)
7. Galloway (13-7)
8. Deerfield-Windsor (16-3)
9. Darlington (18-5)
10. Calvary Day (17-4)

Class A-Public

1. Montgomery County (19-2)
2. Lake Oconee Academy (17-1)
3. Bryan County (20-4)
4. Screven County (16-3)
5. Pelham (14-1)
6. Claxton (13-4)
7. Taylor County (19-3)
8. Schley County (15-4)
9. Mt. Zion-Carrollton (19-6)
10. Telfair County (16-5)

The final week of the regular season is upon us. Some regions have already wrapped up their schedule while the majority finish up over the next few days. With that being said, please send region tournament brackets along with All-Region Teams to [email protected] in order to be added to the Master Schedule which will be updated in real-time with final scores throughout the postseason.

Just like on the boys side, there is no movement in Class 7A this week. No. 1 Brookwood won at No. 3 Grayson 65-57 as UGA-commit Diana Collins poured in 28 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals while Nekaya Williams added 18 points and 8 rebounds. At one point the Rams led by double-digits but an injury in the third quarter to Erin Rodgers helped fuel a Broncos surge. No. 4 Norcross beat last week’s Class A-Private No. 6 Galloway 62-53 on the road before dropping 71-68 to Class 6A No. 2 Lovejoy. Jania Akins finished with 27 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 1 block in the win over Galloway. No. 5 Harrison set a new school-record with their 13th consecutive victory as the Hoyas outlasted North Paulding in overtime 50-43 as Anna Gernatt and Holley Turner scored 15 apiece. No. 10 West Forsyth got back on track with the return of Tennessee Tech-signee Cayla Cowart, scoring 9 points in the second half in a 58-34 win over Forsyth Central, Kathrine Bottoms leading the way with a career-high 17.

There is some shuffling around in Class 6A, but the top two remain unchanged. Bryanna Preston scored 16 points and Ayanna Boyd netted 13 in No. 2 Lovejoy’s 71-68 win at Class 7A No. 4 Norcross. No. 3 Kell rises a spot with a revenge win over No. 8 Sprayberry 72-62, Crystal Henderson dumping in 34 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. No. 6 Sequoyah climbs two spots following a 64-45 win against Cambridge, Elle Blatchford scoring 25 points. No. 7 Brunswick is also up two slots as the program recorded its 250th win, beating Lowndes 61-57, Shane’ Jackson double-doubling with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Grovetown (18-6) slips out of the Top 10 after losing 46-42 to No. 9 Rockdale County, who is back in the rankings for the first time since Week 9. Danielle Carnegie netted 18 points in the win and is averaging 20.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 3.4 steals per game over her sophomore season. The Bulldogs have played a tough schedule and have gone 3-6 vs. Top 10 opponents.

After 10 weeks of the same three teams being ranked in the Top 3, Class 5A welcomes a new permutation following No. 5 Maynard Jackson’s upset loss at Villa Rica 63-51, dropping the Jaguars three spots as they were unable to slow down Kaela Ward who exploded for 34 points, 13 rebounds and 7 steals. No. 3 Griffin is back near the top of the poll after spending time in the three-spot in Weeks 1 and 2. The Bears knocked off No. 8 Northside-Columbus 66-59 to secure the one-seed in the Region 2 Tournament. No. 4 Union Grove is up a position following a 40-33 win against Dutchtown which helped them land the one-seed in Region 4. No. 10 Stockbridge slips a place with a 47-45 loss at Eagle’s Landing, but holds the two-seed in the Region 4 Tournament.

Class 4A No. 1 Luella continues to click on all cylinders, drilling Southwest DeKalb 60-42 after holding a 38-point lead after three quarters if MaxPreps is correct. No. 2 Carver-Columbus’ supremacy over Region 2 was reaffirmed with wins over Troup County 79-49 and Hardaway (15-6) 59-44, knocking the Hawks out of the Top 10. No. 4 Baldwin clobbered West Laurens 68-19, Tamia Smith scoring 16 points. No. 5 Marist’s spell over No. 7 Arabia Mountain has yet to be broken as the War Eagles swept the season series with a 36-26 win and has now won four-straight against the Rams. No. 6 Pickens creeps up a spot in the rankings, running their winning streak up to 18 after victories over Northwest Whitfield (39-31) and Class A-Private No. 9 Darlington (50-44). Bainbridge (16-9) falls out of the poll with a 36-27 loss to debutant No. 10 Dougherty, who finished the regular season on a 5-game winning streak to snatch the one-seed out of Region 1 en route to becoming the fourth team out of the six-team grouping to spend time in the Top 10. Four players average double-digits for the Trojans led by 5-foot-10 junior center Jacquelyn Buchanan (13.3 ppg, 6 rpg). 5-foot-1 Jatiana Chambers is in the running for Class 4A Freshman of the Year averaging 12.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 5.4 steals. 5-foot-8 senior Shakeria Hallman rejoined the team in mid-December and is averaging 11.6 points per game while 5-foot-5 senior Kaylin Thompson brings athleticism and energy, chipping in 11.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 3.2 steals. Back in the poll is No. 9 Chestatee who earned road wins over North Oconee (55-46) and Madison County (52-25) to pull into a three-way tie for second-place in Region 8. The War Eagles can clinch the two-seed if they can defeat No. 8 Cedar Shoals. The Jaguars lost 75-33 to Class A-Private No. 6 Trinity Christian this past week but beat Chestatee 65-53 earlier in the season.

Class 3A No. 1 Lumpkin County found themselves in a dogfight with Region 7 two-seed White County, up 44-42 after three quarters before the Indians pulled away late for a 64-52 win to polish off an undefeated record in region play. Region 7 Player of the Year Mary Mullinax scored 22 points. No. 2 GAC crushed Cedar Grove 80-41 as Xavier-signee Kaleigh Addie poured in 36 points and Trinity Thomas posted 32 points and 10 rebounds. No. 3 Cross Creek beat Thomson 64-39, No. 6 East Jackson edged Hart County 47-40 and No. 9 Murray County held off Ringgold 63-55 on the road as Mattie Nuckolls erupted for five threes on her way to 25 points while Ella Dotson scored 17 points. North Hall (17-8) got a big 62-52 win over East Forsyth, but a 62-48 upset loss at 9-17 Gilmer earlier in the week sinks the Trojans from the Top 10. Riding an 8-game winning streak back into the rankings for the first time since Week 3 is No. 10 Central-Macon. The Chargers went to Fort Valley and blew past Peach County 51-32 to lock up the two-seed in Region 2. Taniya Prior netted 19 points.

The nip-and-tuck razor thin margin of error in Class 2A is about to come to a head. No. 1 Rabun County hangs onto their spot atop the poll after losing 48-47 at Rabun Gap and rallying to beat Highlands, NC 54-48 on Senior Night, Carley Haban scoring 16 points and Emmanuel-signee Gracie Deetz tallying 15 points and 9 rebounds. The LadyCats travel to The Inferno on Tuesday for their rematch with No. 2 Elbert County who is coming off a 71-47 win against Union County. Terrace Hester has found a groove, averaging 31 points per game over her last two outings. No. 4 Northeast-Macon defeated Lamar County 76-38 and travels to No. 9 Washington County on Friday with a chance to secure the one-seed heading into the Region 3 Tournament. The Golden Hawks tumble four spots after losing 55-52 to region foe No. 5 Dodge County, freshman Lyric Green posting 19 points to power the Squaws. Washington County also lost 65-42 at No. 6 Laney, who jolts right back into the Top 10. No. 8 Callaway had a statement week highlighted by a 63-45 win at Heard County (18-5) dropping the Braves from the poll. No. 10 Swainsboro tumbles two spots with a 45-41 loss at Vidalia.

Class A-Private No. 1 Holy Innocents’ trounced No. 4 Wesleyan 64-35 in Region 5 play. No. 2 Mt. Paran rises with a 63-29 win at North Cobb Christian after No. 3 St. Francis fell 54-49 at McEachern. No. 5 Hebron Christian edged No. 7 Galloway 61-60 and beat Southwest DeKalb 71-50. Galloway also lost 62-53 to Class 7A No. 4 Norcross. No. 6 Trinity Christian moves up with a 59-31 win over Brookstone and a 75-33 dismantling of Class 4A No. 8 Cedar Shoals, Madison Morge dropping 30 points. No. 8 Deerfield-Windsor escaped Macon with a 40-39 win at Stratford Academy. No. 9 Darlington lost 50-44 at Class 4A No. 6 Pickens but moves up a spot with an earlier 51-24 win over North Cobb Christian. No. 10 Calvary Day slides two spots as All-State guard Mahkayla Premo continues to watch from the sidelines in a boot. The Cavaliers lost to rival Savannah Country Day 42-41, Hannah Cail scoring 22 in the defeat.

The top eight teams in Class A-Public handled their business, leading to no changes. Region 3 is coming down to the wire as No. 4 Screven County heads to No. 6 Claxton on Tuesday to decide first-place, both teams sitting at 11-1 while No. 3 Bryan County is 11-3. Dublin (16-7) drops out after a 2-2 week saw the Irish lose 56-48 to West Laurens and 29-27 at No. 10 Telfair County, who is down one spot following an 85-55 loss at Bleckley County. In the low-scoring win over Dublin, Beth Murphy provided 10 points and 15 rebounds. No. 9 Mt. Zion-Carrollton returns to the Top 10 after avenging their lone Region 6 loss of the season, drilling Trion 50-31 to secure the one-seed.

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