Class AAAAAAA

McEachern (16-2)
Norcross (17-3)
Newton (17-3)
Pebblebrook (17-2)
Grayson (16-3)
Mountain View (16-3)
Peachtree Ridge (16-3)
Meadowcreek (13-4)
Collins Hill (18-2)
Duluth (15-6)

Class AAAAAA

Gainesville (13-6)
Langston Hughes (16-5)
Douglas County (15-4)
Tri-Cities (14-5)
Brunswick (18-2)
Stephenson (12-5)
Bradwell Institute (14-5)
Jonesboro (13-7)
Cambridge (18-1)
Coffee (12-6)

Class AAAAA

Buford (16-4)
Warner Robins (16-3)
Miller Grove (14-6)
Lithonia (15-4)
Eagle’s Landing (14-5)
Southwest DeKalb (13-7)
Villa Rica (16-0)
Maynard Jackson (18-1)
Columbia (12-7)
Stockbridge (15-5)

Class AAAA

Upson-Lee (20-0)
St. Pius X (18-3)
Americus-Sumter (17-2)
Baldwin (16-5)
Salem (14-4)
Mary Persons (18-2)
Cartersville (14-2)
Westover (15-5)
Sandy Creek (13-5)
Woodward Academy (13-5)

Class AAA

Morgan County (20-1)
Jenkins (16-3)
Johnson-Savannah (17-2)
Greater Atlanta Christian (16-3)
Cedar Grove (12-6)
Windsor Forest (13-7)
Westside-Macon (12-8)
Long County (14-7)
Towers (11-5)
Central-Macon (13-5)

Class AA

Glenn Hills (18-1)
Dublin (15-2)
South Atlanta (16-2)
Swainsboro (15-3)
Laney (17-3)
Thomasville (17-3)
Therrell (11-7)
Elbert County (18-3)
Banks County (18-3)
Vidalia (14-6)

Class A-Private

St. Francis (17-2)
Aquinas (17-3)
Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (17-2)
Stratford Academy (14-4)
Lakeview Academy (14-6)
North Cobb Christian (15-5)
Christian Heritage (17-1)
Holy Innocents’ (10-7)
Mt. Vernon Presbyterian (12-6)
WD Mohammed (9-3)

Class A-Public

Manchester (16-0)
Woodville-Tompkins (18-2)
Calhoun County (18-2)
Montgomery County (15-3)
Lanier County (18-2)
Macon County (15-3)
Central-Talbotton (14-3)
Wilcox County (15-4)
Wilkinson County (13-6)
Pelham (14-4)

More snow complicated a week of basketball, but MLK Day action on Monday afforded us nearly a full slate of games. Class AAAAAAA No. 1 McEachern went 2-0 at Flyin’ To The Hoop and came back home to blow out Village Christian (NC) 85-57 at the Peachtree Corners Invitational (PTCI). No. 2 Norcross lost to Christ School (NC) at the Prep Hoops MLK Classic, but handled their business at home at the PTCI, beating Riverdale Baptist (MD) 76-66. No. 3 Newton has officially caught up to and surpassed No. 4 Pebblebrook, even though the Falcons have won 15-straight. Their last loss? To Newton at Holiday Hoopsgiving 87-78. Newton defeated two Week 9 No. 1 teams, beating 5A’s Warner Robins 80-65 and 3A’s Morgan County 65-61. Pebblebrook squeaked out a 76-73 win over Berkmar at the J4Sports MLK Classic at Douglas County. No. 5 Grayson moves up two spots after rallying from down 20 points to knock off last week’s 6A No. 1 Langston Hughes, 65-64. Unsigned senior guard Nick Edwards scored 11 points in the fourth quarter including the game-winner with 1-second left. The Rams now host Newton on Tuesday in a pivotal Region 8 clash. Grayson won 74-73 in Round 1. No. 6 Mountain View slips two spots after a hard-fought 63-61 double overtime loss to returnee No. 10 Duluth. The Wildcats, winners of 5-straight, got a Will Huzzie put-back at the buzzer to stun the Bears. Duluth takes over for Wheeler (12-8) who exits the poll. The Wildcats have played a challenging national schedule, but four of their eight losses have come against in-state opponents. Wheeler beat Summit (TN) 83-51 before losing at the PTCI to Christ School 62-55. Duluth gets the nod over Wheeler even after falling to the Wildcats at the Big South Shootout 59-57 on a last second EJ Montgomery slam.

After a 3-6 start, No. 1 Gainesville has climbed their way to the top of the heap in Class AAAAAA. The Red Elephants’ momentum has carried on, destroying a lifeless Dacula team on the road 89-55 and miraculously coming back to shock host Class 5A No. 1 Buford 83-81, Raffy Rubel hitting a three with 8 seconds left to tie the game and then Kajuan Hale grabbing a steal and getting fouled with .3 seconds remaining and sinking both free throws to win it. Hale finished with 23 points and 6 rebounds while Xavier Bledson added 13 points. No. 2 Langston Hughes blew a 20-point lead at the BCB MLK Classic, losing to Class 7A No. 5 Grayson 65-64 before rebounding with a 78-70 win over No. 4 Tri-Cities. Landers Nolley outmatched Eli Lawrence, 29 points to 28 in and entertaining matchup. No. 5 Brunswick’s magic ran out as No. 7 Bradwell Institute stopped the Pirates 60-52 behind Isaiah Scott’s 16 points, making things much more interesting in Region 2. No. 3 Douglas County rises two spots after a 68-65 win at the J4Sports MLK Classic against Fayette County and a 95-35 beat down of Northgate.

The tug-of-war for first in Class AAAAA rages on as both the Demons and the Wolves lost last week. In the end, it is No. 1 Buford regaining the top spot after a 69-67 win over United Faith (NC), David Viti with the last second tip-in. The Wolves lost in heartbreaking fashion to Class 6A No. 1 Gainesville, Viti injuring his ankle, while No. 2 Warner Robins was sloppy and looked disinterested at times in their 80-65 loss to Class 7A No. 3 Newton. No one can figure out what is going on with No. 3 Miller Grove, but at the end of the day they continue to win. The Wolverines dominated Discovery 63-42 at the BCB MLK Classic, but then beat 4-17 Parkview by just eight points on the road, 61-53. No. 6 Southwest DeKalb falls two spots after a 55-46 overtime loss to No. 9 Columbia, who re-enters the poll. No. 5 Eagle’s Landing jumps up five spots after beating No. 10 Stockbridge 62-54. Statesboro (16-4) falls out of the rankings after suffering a 65-61 loss at Class 2A No. 4 Swainsboro. No. 7 Villa Rica and No. 8 Maynard Jackson might have hit a glass ceiling in the rankings as they have not played enough high-level competition out of their weaker regions and don’t have many opportunities for quality resume building wins going forward.

Now more than ever, it seems like everyone is playing for second-place in Class AAAA as No. 1 Upson-Lee humiliated No. 6 Mary Persons in front of a sold-out Castle, 89-58, dropping the Bulldogs three spots. No. 2 St. Pius X was without Brian Gonzalo and Patrick Snipes in their disappointing 68-65 loss to Pinson Valley (AL) at the PTCI. Rising two spots is No. 3 Americus-Sumter. The Panthers knocked Carver-Columbus (16-5) from the poll with a 55-52 road win. Up four spots is No. 4 Baldwin. The Braves hammered Washington County on the road 71-40. No. 8 Westover sees their long winning streak snapped by a 70-54 defeat at the hands of Northside-Columbus. Back into the poll for the first time since the preseason when they opened at No. 8, is No. 10 Woodward Academy. After a rocky start, the War Eagles have found their footing, winning 6-straight. On Saturday they rocked McIntosh 67-49 behind 6-foot-10 sophomore Walker Kessler’s 29 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks.

In Class AAA, No. 1 Morgan County suffered their first loss of the year against Class 7A No. 3 Newton, 65-61. No. 2 Jenkins beat Class A-Private No. 5 Lakeview Academy 63-44 while rival No. 3 Johnson-Savannah beat Heritage School 61-53 and blew out No. 6 Windsor Forest 92-77. The Atomsmashers host the Warriors on Tuesday. Johnson-Savannah won the first region meeting 67-54 while Jenkins won the non-region Memorial Health Classic Championship 79-41. No. 4 GAC blew Dawson County (14-5) out of the rankings, going to Dawsonville to finally play the Tigers and earning an 87-47 decision. No. 7 Westside-Macon falls two spots after a loss to Holy Spirit Prep 74-65 but more importantly, seeing the brilliant career of Khavon Moore end prematurely with a broken tibia and fibula in the waning moments of their 75-62 win over No. 10 Central-Macon, who also lost 51-48 to Northeast-Macon. The Seminoles are no longer state title contenders without the 4-star 6-foot-8 Moore’s 22.5 points, 8.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists, 2.2 steals and 1.8 blocks per game. Back in the Top 10 is No. 8 Long County. The Blue Tide has won four in a row to move into a tie for first-place in Region 2. They now face a tough test in Pierce County, who the Tide beat 67-66 in overtime in their first meeting.

No. 1 Glenn Hills took their first loss of the season in Class AA at No. 5 Laney 59-49, but starting backcourt mates Isaiah Bauman and Eric Farmer did not play. No. 2 Dublin jumps two spots after a 73-59 win against Bleckley County. No. 3 South Atlanta had a scare against North Clayton before pulling out a 79-76 victory. No. 6 Thomasville got 9 points from their McDonald’s All-American Reggie Perry in a head-shaking 60-59 loss to Class A-Public No. 10 Pelham, dropping the Bulldogs four spots. Don’t look now, but No. 4 Swainsboro is peaking, winning 8-straight including avenging a 71-36 loss to Statesboro, 65-61. No. 8 Elbert County tumbles three spots after taking it on the chin at Monticello, 66-43. They now visit No. 9 Banks County on Tuesday. The Leopards still aren’t right, failing to impress again in a 63-56 win over 5-14, 0-9 Social Circle after holding on against Monticello 68-61. Washington County (12-6) was whipped by Class 4A No. 4 Baldwin at home 71-40, departing the poll. Replacing the Golden Hawks is debutant No. 10 Vidalia. The Indians have a crucial Region 2 rematch at Jeff Davis on Tuesday. They won 62-59 against the Yellow Jackets back on December 12. Vidalia sits at 8-2 in the region while Jeff Davis is 7-3, both teams chasing 10-0 Swainsboro.

It’s getting more and more difficult to fill out the Class A-Private rankings as it is devoid of winning records with substance. No. 3 ELCA cracked East Hall 73-49 at The Dream Challenge and took care of Berrien 56-36. No. 6 North Cobb Christian used the Cobb County home crowd to help the Eagles get revenge against No. 7 Christian Heritage, 71-52. No. 9 Mt. Vernon Presbyterian lost to Class 3A No. 6 Windsor Forest 55-48 and at Wesleyan 42-41, falling three positions. No. 5 Lakeview Academy moves up two spots and still owns Region 8, winning at rival Hebron Christian 67-59. In a clerical error, public school Drew Charter was ranked last week. They are replaced by No. 10 WD Mohammed.

No. 7 Central-Talbotton is on the ropes in Class A-Public, seeing their promising start spiral down the drain with their third-straight loss, this time to No. 6 Macon County 53-46, who rises three spots. No. 2 Woodville-Tompkins dispatched of Savannah Christian 64-38 and is starting to garner more attention across Savannah and southeast Georgia. No. 8 Wilcox County slips two spots after losing 77-67 at Irwin County. No. 10 Pelham does the same, beating Class 2A No. 6 Thomasville 60-59, but coming out flat against Terrell County 61-34. The Hornets’ win over the Bulldogs saves them from being replaced by the Green Wave.

Sandy's Spiel

Week 10 Boys Rankings