Class AAAAAAA
1. Grayson (19-1)
2. Shiloh (19-1)
3. Norcross (20-2)
4. Wheeler (15-5)
5. Milton (16-4)
6. Archer (14-7)
7. McEachern (13-4)
8. East Coweta (14-6)
9. Cherokee (18-4)
10. Berkmar (11-9)
Class AAAAAA
1. Tucker (18-2)
2. Lanier (16-5)
3. Sequoyah (17-4)
4. South Cobb (19-2)
5. Langston Hughes (12-6)
6. Tri-Cities (18-3)
7. Chattahoochee (14-7)
8. Richmond Hill (17-4)
9. New Manchester (14-6)
10. Valdosta (17-2)
Class AAAAA
1. Lithonia (20-1)
2. Dutchtown (20-3)
3. Eagle’s Landing (18-2)
4. Cedar Shoals (20-1)
5. Kell (17-4)
6. Statesboro (16-5)
7. Veterans (19-1)
8. Warner Robins (16-2)
9. Carrollton (15-6)
10. Buford (15-5)
Class AAAA
1. Sandy Creek (15-3)
2. Woodward Academy (18-2)
3. Americus-Sumter (18-0)
4. Chapel Hill (14-6)
5. North Clayton (13-5)
6. Denmark (16-5)
7. Eastside (16-5)
8. Cross Creek (16-5)
9. Baldwin (11-7)
10. St. Pius X (14-6)
Class AAA
1. Pace Academy (16-4)
2. Hart County (19-1)
3. Dawson County (19-2)
4. Windsor Forest (18-4)
5. Johnson-Savannah (16-5)
6. GAC (14-6)
7. Westside-Macon (13-8)
8. Monroe (15-5)
9. Lovett (14-5)
10. Franklin County (16-6)
Class AA
1. Therrell (15-5)
2. Swainsboro (19-2)
3. Douglass (17-4)
4. Jeff Davis (16-5)
5. Glenn Hills (15-7)
6. Butler (13-5)
7. Spencer (14-3)
8. Dublin (17-2)
9. Washington County (12-5)
10. Laney (13-6)
Class A-Private
1. St. Francis (18-3)
2. Greenforest (10-9)
3. Trinity Christian (13-7)
4. Wesleyan (12-5)
5. Mt. Pisgah (16-4)
6. Walker (17-4)
7. Pinecrest Academy (11-9)
8. First Presbyterian Day (15-4)
9. Christian Heritage (17-1)
10. Mt. Paran (12-7)
Class A-Public
1. Treutlen (20-0)
2. Wilcox County (17-0)
3. Terrell County (15-0)
4. Drew Charter (12-6)
5. Calhoun County (15-2)
6. Hancock Central (16-3)
7. Wilkinson County (13-7)
8. Dooly County (15-4)
9. Lanier County (16-3)
10. Turner County (15-4)
The top dogs in Class 7A both survived a scare from one of Georgia’s most dangerous teams.
No. 1 Grayson got revenge against Newton (15-6) destroying the Rams 86-39 to drop Newton from the Top 10. Grayson survived a nail-biter against No. 6 Archer 51-50 right after the Tigers fell 59-57 to No. 2 Shiloh. The Tigers hold onto their spot at No. 6 and were in strong consideration to move up even after an 0-2 week. No one in the state has played Grayson and Shiloh tougher than Archer. The Tigers are 0-4 against the two with a combined margin of defeat of only 13 points. No. 4 Wheeler is up a spot after a 76-69 win over Allatoona and a 62-56 No. 5 Milton loss to Pickerington North, OH at Flyin’ To The Hoop. No. 7 McEachern failed to impress again in a 64-55 win over 9-11 Hillgrove. No. 8 East Coweta is up two positions following tight wins over disappointments Pebblebrook (70-67) and Westlake (68-66 OT). Speaking of disappointments, after an ugly 2-8 start to the year, No. 10 Berkmar has won nine of their last 10 games to break back into the rankings. The Patriots lost 54-52 at Norcross nine days ago and picked up wins over Cambridge (59-57) and Central Gwinnett (70-46) this week. The return of 6-foot-10 sophomore Malique Ewin has paid dividends after missing a handful of games early in the season. He scored 17 points in the first half against Central Gwinnett. Hanging on near the bottom of the poll is No. 9 Cherokee who suffered a 1-2 week. The Warriors were inexplicably upset by Lassiter 65-53 before losing 74-71 to a streaking Class 6A No. 3 Sequoyah.
Class 6A has been completely shaken up by red-hot No. 3 Sequoyah and No. 5 Langston Hughes. The Chiefs upended No. 4 South Cobb 67-56 at The War Lodge, knocking the Eagles off their perch atop the poll. Illinois State-signee 6-foot-7 Emon Washington poured in 23 points, but Sequoyah got a heroic performance from 6-foot-5 senior Dashaun Robinson who took over in the fourth quarter with 10 of his career-high 19 points to go along with 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks. The Chiefs finished off the week by avenging a prior loss to River Ridge 59-46 then beating Class 7A No. 9 Cherokee on the road 74-71 on a Donovan Shipp buzzer-beater. Langston Hughes beat No. 6 Tri-Cities for the second time in two weeks, 85-77 to sink the defending state champions three more spots. No. 2 Lanier is up two spots after a 63-59 win at Gainesville and a rout of Winder-Barrow (83-52). Taking over the top spot in Class 6A is our third number one of the season, No. 1 Tucker. The Tigers are anchored by 6-foot-6 Terrence Edwards (21.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and 6-foot-6 Jermontae Hill (15.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.9 bpg). Tucker outlasted Miller Grove 41-38 to close out the week. The bottom of the poll dumps a load of teams as Lee County (13-5), Evans (14-4) and Pope (14-6) all exit. Lee County fell 57-53 to No. 10 Valdosta, who lost at Coffee 61-51 prior to beating the Trojans. Evans was blasted at the Sandy’s Spiel Showcase by Class 3A No. 2 Hart County 76-50 while the Greyhounds were trounced by Cambridge 80-57. No. 7 Chattahoochee rises back into the poll after a wild few weeks in Region 7 and now looks like the assumed front runner once again. The Cougars beat Johns Creek 79-68 and North Atlanta 63-45. Their upcoming meeting with Cambridge on January 28 may very well decide who wins the region. No. 8 Richmond Hill resurfaces after a 57-50 win over 18-3 Camden County. The Wildcats have been the thorn in the side of Camden preventing them from cracking the Top 10 in Class 7A, handing Camden two of their three losses. No. 9 New Manchester is also back in the rankings after an 85-82 win over Alexander. The Jaguars suffered a tough 84-81 loss at Tri-Cities but bounced back with an 82-51 beating of South Paulding.
Round 2 of No. 2 Dutchtown vs. No. 3 Eagle’s Landing saw the Bulldogs defend homecourt 86-78 to swap places with the Eagles in the Class 5A poll. No. 1 Lithonia almost was a casualty as Southwest DeKalb nearly upset the Bulldogs 50-48. No. 4 Cedar Shoals secured a two-game lead in Region 8 by winning at Walnut Grove (15-4) on Tuesday 61-59 to help drop the Warriors from the rankings. Walnut Grove is currently on a three-game losing streak, also falling to No. 10 Buford 78-57, who replaces them in the poll. No. 5 Kell survived Hiram 70-67 in overtime behind Scooter Henderson’s 41 points. Parrish Johnson was ruled eligible later in the week to help bolster the Longhorn backcourt.
A new number one has risen in Class 4A as No. 2 Woodward Academy was stunned by Druid Hills 67-64. The Red Devils have played spoiler recently in an all-of-a-sudden topsy-turvy Region 4 as they defeated No. 7 Eastside last week, who now falls two more spots after losing to both No. 5 North Clayton (63-61) and Salem (57-44). The Eagles of North Clayton are up three positions and saw more clutch play from Derrius Martin who came up big down the stretch. Xavier Valley poured in 30 points and 12 rebounds against Eastside. Our new number one is No. 1 Sandy Creek. They cruised in wins over Cedartown (68-44) and Central-Carrollton (79-60) and have a big rematch coming up on Friday against No. 4 Chapel Hill, who was the latest team to beat LaGrange 64-55. After a 17-0 start with a weak schedule, the Grangers have now lost three-straight and sit at 4-3 in Region 5 play. Burke County (10-7) couldn’t last in the poll, getting blown out by No. 8 Cross Creek 80-56 and Class 2A No. 10 Laney 72-53. The aforementioned Razorbacks of Cross Creek lost 67-62 at returnee No. 9 Baldwin.
A major statement was made in Class 3A as the Top 10 sees a facelift. No. 3 Dawson County had a great week beating No. 6 GAC 57-39 – who scored a 91-67 win over ELCA at the Sandy’s Spiel Showcase as Cole Perusek buried 8 threes en route to 28 points while Cliff Baskerville netted 28 points of his own – and Class 4A No. 6 Denmark 84-82 in triple overtime, but no one looked better than No. 2 Hart County who leapfrogs four spots after putting on a clinic at the Sandy’s Spiel Showcase against Evans, previously ranked No. 8 in Class 6A, 76-50. The Bulldogs dominated from the opening tip leading 12-0 to start and amassing a 41-18 lead at the half. The dynamic frontcourt duo of 6-foot-4 junior Shone Webb and 6-foot-7 freshman Tahj Johnson is as good as anyone in the class outside of Matthew Cleveland and Cole Middleton of No. 1 Pace Academy who defeated Class 4A No. 10 St. Pius X 66-44. Webb piled in 22 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks while Johnson finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks, the both of them sitting the remaining 6 minutes of the game. Hart’s mixture of length, athleticism and shooting makes them a legitimate threat to take another trip to Macon. Speaking of Region 8 teams, heading in the wrong direction is the lone team to beat Hart County this year No. 10 Franklin County. The Lions are down six spots after losing 87-78 in double overtime to East Jackson and 83-57 at Jefferson while missing their frontcourt to illness and injuries. The Lions are now two full games back of the Bulldogs for first place. Franklin County is fortunate to remain in the Top 10 as other teams weren’t as lucky. Westminster (14-6), Long County (16-4) and Central-Macon (14-6) all depart. Westminster lost 66-56 at re-entry No. 9 Lovett. Long County fumbled against 6-11 Liberty County 66-55 while Central-Macon was edged by rival No. 7 Westside-Macon 62-60 in overtime as the Seminoles pop back into the poll.
Even with Robbie Armbrester sidelined with his wrist in a cast, No. 1 Therrell continues to take care of business in Class 2A with wins over BEST Academy 53-45 and KIPP Atlanta 68-54. The Panthers have a challenging week ahead with Lanier (AL), Washington and No. 3 Douglass looming. If Therrell is to falter, No. 2 Swainsboro might have a strong enough resume to usurp the Panthers for the top spot. They beat Woodville-Tompkins 64-53 and dispatched of Class A-Public No. 7 Wilkinson County 74-59. No. 5 Glenn Hills tripped up against Westside-Augusta 71-68, making Region 4 all that more interesting. The Spartans still stay ahead of No. 6 Butler however even after the Bulldogs’ 3-0 week thanks in part to Glenn Hills’ 2-0 record against Butler. No. 10 Laney is down two spots following a 57-44 loss at Hephzibah. No. 9 Washington County rises a position following a 67-59 win over Class 4A No. 9 Baldwin.
Take everything you thought you knew about Class A-Private and throw it out the window – everything other than the fact that No. 1 St. Francis by far and away is the best team in the classification and the team to beat. Their consistent play led to wins over Whitefield Academy (66-45) and Mt. Bethel (80-34). The other top contenders in Class A-Private had a nightmarish week other than No. 2 Greenforest who quickly jumps back to the second spot after a 54-53 win over No. 3 Trinity Christian who rises two positions. No. 5 Mt. Pisgah and No. 6 Walker had their worlds rocked, Pisgah falling one spot and Walker four spots. Both teams were upset by debutant No. 7 Pinecrest Academy. The Paladins beat Mt. Pisgah 59-56 on the road before beating Walker 69-64, who they had lost to 87-61 in their first meeting. 6-foot-5 sophomore Oscar Lynch posted 16 points and 6 rebounds in the win over the Patriots while 6-foot-4 senior Caleb Bohn went for 23 points in the triumph over the Wolverines. Following Pinecrest Academy into the poll is No. 10 Mt. Paran, who spent Weeks 2 & 3 in the Top 10 before falling out. The Eagles beat Walker 53-40 before falling 58-51 to No. 4 Wesleyan, the Wolves up four spots. The strong weeks from Pinecrest and Mt. Paran couldn’t have come for a worse time for 20-1 Providence Christian who was set to debut in the poll after beating Riverside Military (68-59). The Eagles also lost to Hebron Christian 55-53 to fall out of the poll along with Galloway (15-3) who has lost two of their last three, recently getting drilled by Mt. Vernon Presbyterian 59-36.
Class A-Public sees No. 9 Lanier County tumbles three spots after a 64-63 loss at Clinch County. No. 7 Wilkinson County stays put after a 79-73 win at Class A-Private No. 8 First Presbyterian Day and a loss to Class 2A No. 2 Swainsboro 74-59 on the road. No. 6 Hancock County is up three spots and takes on Warren County (13-1) on Friday. The Screamin’ Devils are the hard-luck team to drop out of the Top 10 in favor of No. 10 Turner County. The Rebels have played a much tougher schedule and will be rewarded for their competitive play against fellow ranked opponents. Warren County will need a strong showing against Hancock Central after losing to them 73-52 in Sparta.