Class AAAAAAA
1. Campbell (1-0)
2. Marietta (0-0)
3. Cherokee (0-0)
4. Archer (1-0)
5. Brookwood (1-0)
6. Grayson (0-1)
7. North Forsyth (1-0)
8. South Forsyth (1-0)
9. Woodstock (0-1)
10. Norcross (0-0)
Class AAAAAA
1. Kell (0-0)
2. Lovejoy (0-0)
3. Buford (0-0)
4. River Ridge (1-0)
5. Carrollton (0-0)
6. Langston Hughes (0-0)
7. Sequoyah (0-0)
8. Rockdale County (1-0)
9. Statesboro (1-0)
10. Sprayberry (0-1)
Class AAAAA
1. Woodward Academy (0-0)
2. Forest Park (1-0)
3. Griffin (0-1)
4. Greenbrier (1-1)
5. Maynard Jackson (0-0)
6. St. Pius X (0-0)
7. Warner Robins (1-0)
8. New Manchester (0-0)
9. McIntosh (1-0)
10. Cass (1-0)
Class AAAA
1. Luella (0-1)
2. Troup County (0-0)
3. Arabia Mountain (2-0)
4. Carver-Columbus (0-0)
5. Jefferson (0-0)
6. Baldwin (0-0)
7. Marist (0-0)
8. Pickens (0-0)
9. North Oconee (0-0)
10. Bainbridge (0-0)
Class AAA
1. Lumpkin County (0-0)
2. GAC (1-0)
3. Westminster (0-1)
4. Johnson-Savannah (0-0)
5. Sumter County (0-0)
6. Pierce County (0-0)
7. White County (0-0)
8. Cross Creek (1-0)
9. Redan (1-0)
10. Tattnall County (0-0)
Class AA
1. Elbert County (0-0)
2. Josey (0-0)
3. Rabun County (0-1)
4. Fannin County (0-0)
5. Lamar County (0-0)
6. Laney (0-0)
7. Woodville-Tompkins (0-0)
8. Washington County (0-0)
9. Callaway (0-0)
10. Heard County (0-0)
Class A-Private
1. Mt. Paran (1-0)
2. Galloway (1-0)
3. St. Francis (1-0)
4. Holy Innocents’ (1-0)
5. Wesleyan (0-1)
6. Hebron Christian (0-0)
7. Trinity Christian (0-0)
8. Deerfield-Windsor (0-0)
9. Calvary Day (0-0)
10. Athens Academy (0-0)
Class A-Public
1. Mt. Zion-Carrollton (1-0)
2. Montgomery County (0-0)
3. Pelham (0-0)
4. Claxton (0-0)
5. Central-Talbotton (0-0)
6. Lake Oconee Academy (0-0)
7. Trion (0-0)
8. Commerce (0-0)
9. Dublin (0-1)
10. Telfair County (0-0)
It was a light opening week for much of the state as only the top three classifications see any movement in the polls. There were saw eye-opening scrimmage results that would have led to major shifting, but alas, scrimmages don’t count and can’t be used as fuel for the state rankings.
The jockeying for position in Class 7A has already begun below No. 1 Campbell who opened with a nice 74-67 win at Preseason Class 6A No. 8 Sprayberry. Laila Battle helped pace the Spartans with 10 points, 3 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals. No. 4 Archer and No. 5 Brookwood both climb two spots. The Tigers handled Mill Creek 67-40 behind Taniya McGowan’s 19 points and 6 rebounds while Brookwood dismantled Collins Hill 67-24, Diana Collins outscoring the Eagles by herself with 26 points and 6 rebounds. No. 6 Grayson slips two spots after a tight 73-70 loss at Class A-Private No. 4 Holy Innocents’ in the Time to Shine Classic. Charleston Southern-signee Catherine Alben scored 24 in the loss. No. 7 North Forsyth edged Class A-Private No. 5 Wesleyan on the road 52-49. Erin Whalen led the way with 17 points while Alabama-Huntsville-signee Haelim Adle and Kamryn Gardner added 8 apiece. No. 8 South Forsyth used a 22-4 third quarter to blow past Class 2A No. 3 Rabun County 75-54 at the Sandy’s Spiel Tip-Off Classic. Sharon Tolliver netted 17 points and Ava McGlockton had 11 points and 7 rebounds. The energy of Clara Morris and Maggie Thompson on the perimeter played a key role, with Morris collecting 10 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Thompson tacked on 10 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals. No. 9 Woodstock falls four spots after losing 77-71 at Class 6A No. 4 River Ridge. Central Michigan-signee Bridget Utberg poured in 29 points as the Wolverines were without center Casey Miller.
If scrimmages counted, there would be a new number one. No. 4 River Ridge destroyed No. 1 Kell 72-49 in their preseason bout before opening the season with a 77-71 win over Preseason Class 7A No. 5 Woodstock. The Knights survived Woodstock’s 16 three-pointers (61%) and rode Mataya Gayle to 27 points including the 1,000th of her career to overcome an early double-digit deficit. After outrebounding Kell 53-33 in their scrimmage, the Knights dominated the glass again against Woodstock winning the boards 52-25. No. 8 Rockdale County moves up a spot following a ho-hum 53-18 win over Forsyth Central at the Dawson County Tip-Off Classic. No. 10 Sprayberry is down two spots after losing 74-67 to Class 7A No. 1 Campbell. Rome (0-0) is out of the poll due to inactivity, replaced by No. 9 Statesboro who won a gritty game against Preseason Class 5A No. 2 Griffin 42-39 at the Sandy’s Spiel Tip-Off Classic. The Blue Devils gutted out a physical and sometimes ugly game behind Madison Lee, who came up big down the stretch making defensive stops and sinking game-clinching free throws. Lee finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals and 4 blocks. Sophomore Reya Johnson had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 5 steals while 6-foot-3 sophomore Alyssa Staten posted 9 points, 9 rebounds, 2 steals and 3 blocks, hitting a pair of free throws with 1:35 remaining to give the Blue Devils the lead for good.
The Sandy’s Spiel Tip-Off Classic was not kind to Class 5A. No. 3 Griffin and No. 4 Greenbrier both slip a spot after losses in Cumming. Griffin fell 42-39 to Class 6A No. 9 Statesboro, a controversial foul out of Leah Turner at the 4:56 mark of the fourth quarter did in the Bears as they did not score the rest of the game. Turner finished with 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 blocks while Zy Thompson led Griffin with 15 points, 10 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocks. Greenbrier lost 45-39 to West Forsyth. The long bus ride after a 60-26 win over Lakeside-Evans the night before left the Wolfpack with tired legs. Greenbrier trailed by 23 points heading into the fourth quarter before finding their energy. Trinity Barrow had 14 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals and 1 block in the loss while 6-foot-3 Caitlin Staley produced 12 points, 7 rebounds and 8 blocks. No. 2 Forest Park is up three spots after a blowout of McDonough 84-13. The Panthers still have more to prove after beating up on a weak opponent but Yasmine Allen started off her sophomore campaign with a bang, dropping 23 points. Hiram (0-1) tumbles out of the Top 10 following a 52-34 loss to Hillgrove. No. 7 Warner Robins moves up two spots after drilling Douglass 71-35. No. 10 Cass cracks the poll. The Colonels hammered a young rebuilding Alexander team 73-45. Claire Davis netted 17 points and became Cass’ all-time leading scorer.
Although No. 1 Luella lost 50-47 to Class A-Private No. 3 St. Francis, the Top 10 remains the same in Class 4A. Milani Smith led Luella with 15 points while Cam Berry scored 13. No. 3 Arabia Mountain romped Eastside 100-29 before beating Fayette County 50-42 at Starr’s Mill, freshman Jah’Naesia Spiers posting 17 points and 12 rebounds.
In Class 3A, No. 2 GAC took care of Pace Academy 61-30, Xavier-signee Kaleigh Addie scoring 21 points followed by Jaci Bolden’s 20. No. 3 Westminster suffered a 53-47 loss to Mt. Vernon Presbyterian as they await the return of Courtney Ogden. The Wildcats could slide down the polls in her absence. No. 8 Cross Creek held off a rebuilding Southwest DeKalb 52-45 at Hooping in Middle Georgia while No. 9 Redan took care of Tucker 57-14.
The only result in Class 2A was No. 3 Rabun County losing 75-54 to Class 7A No. 8 South Forsyth at the Sandy’s Spiel Tip-Off Classic. The LadyCats trailed 34-26 at the half but a 22-4 third quarter quickly put the game out of reach. Emmanuel-signee Gracie Deetz picked up her fourth foul at the 5:06 mark of the third quarter in the beginning of South Forsyth’s game-deciding 20-1 run. Lucy Hood was a bright spot for the LadyCats, the sophomore finishing with 20 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 4 steals and 1 block in front of Georgia State.
The top four in Class A-Private flexed their muscle. No. 1 Mt. Paran blasted Tallulah Falls 71-37, freshman Jessica Fields scoring 23 points followed by Georgia Tech-signee Kara Dunn’s 18 points. No. 2 Galloway beat up Wilson Academy 93-34, Tianna Thompson and Kailyn Fields scoring 21 apiece. Allison Hoffmann scored 20 points and Kyla Cain collected 14 points and 8 rebounds. Hoffman and Fields nailed 5 threes apiece. No. 3 St. Francis knocked off Class 4A No. 1 Luella 50-47 and No. 4 Holy Innocents’ slipped past Preseason Class 7A No. 4 Grayson 73-70 in the Time to Shine Classic. No. 5 Wesleyan received 27 points from sophomore Chit-Chat Wright in a narrow 52-49 loss to Class 7A No.7 North Forsyth.
Down in Class A-Public, No. 1 Mt. Zion-Carrollton earned a 54-37 win at Chamblee. Jordan Kierbow had 22 points and Zoey Holland added 10. No. 9 Dublin holds onto their position following a 30-27 loss to Raines, FL. Nahallie Turnley double-doubled with 10 points and 10 rebounds while Terrionna Wilburn collected 5 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.