Class AAAAAAA
1. Milton (16-2)
2. Grayson (15-3)
3. Pebblebrook (17-2)
4. McEachern (17-4)
5. Cherokee (16-3)
6. Berkmar (14-5)
7. South Forsyth (17-3)
8. North Gwinnett (13-7)
9. Parkview (9-3)
10. Gainesville (14-6)
Class AAAAAA
1. Wheeler (15-3)
2. Kell (14-5)
3. Chattahoochee (12-1)
4. Richmond Hill (15-0)
5. Lanier (15-3)
6. Evans (14-2)
7. Shiloh (12-4)
8. Centennial (13-3)
9. Douglas County (15-5)
10. Tucker (12-4)
Class AAAAA
1. Tri-Cities (13-4)
2. Eagle’s Landing (19-1)
3. St. Pius X (15-2)
4. Veterans (12-0)
5. Woodward Academy (10-5)
6. Forest Park (8-2)
7. Lithonia (9-2)
8. Chapel Hill (12-6)
9. Cass (14-5)
10. Dutchtown (16-6)
Class AAAA
1. Spencer (9-0)
2. Baldwin (7-0)
3. Monroe (12-3)
4. Westover (8-3)
5. Luella (16-4)
6. Arabia Mountain (6-2)
7. Stephenson (6-2)
8. Miller Grove (6-4)
9. Cedar Shoals (12-6)
10. Jefferson (12-4)
Class AAA
1. Sandy Creek (14-4)
2. Hart County (13-3)
3. Windsor Forest (6-2)
4. Johnson-Savannah (11-1)
5. Salem (8-4)
6. Carver-Atlanta (8-3)
7. Hephzibah (7-2)
8. Cross Creek (9-4)
9. Sonoraville (16-1)
10. White County (11-5)
Class AA
1. Pace Academy (15-1)
2. Swainsboro (11-1)
3. Washington County (8-0)
4. Columbia (10-5)
5. Lovett (11-5)
6. Thomasville (12-1)
7. Chattooga (10-2)
8. Westside-Augusta (9-4)
9. Woodville-Tompkins (11-4)
10. Model (14-3)
Class A-Private
1. Mt. Pisgah (13-5)
2. Providence Christian (16-3)
3. Galloway (12-1)
4. Trinity Christian (12-6)
5. St. Anne-Pacelli (10-3)
6. Christian Heritage (13-2)
7. Greenforest (8-4)
8. Holy Innocents’ (6-1)
9. First Presbyterian Day (10-1)
10. King’s Ridge (10-2)
Class A-Public
1. Drew Charter (16-0)
2. Dublin (19-1)
3. Towns County (12-2)
4. Bowdon (15-3)
5. Hancock Central (3-0)
6. Lanier County (13-3)
7. Irwin County (10-4)
8. Warren County (7-3)
9. Chattahoochee County (4-1)
10. Manchester (4-1)
We are a little over two weeks away from region tournaments starting and we have some teams that have played 20 games and others that have only played once – what a tumultuous season it’s been.
The only movement in Class 7A this week is No. 5 Cherokee and No. 6 Berkmar swapping spots. The Patriots hold a 73-60 win over the Warriors but it was the third game of the season and plenty has changed since then. Cherokee took care of Woodstock 55-46 while Berkmar was defeated by a red-hot Norcross 63-57, who is starting to knock on the door of the Top 10, but still struggles with playing down to the level of their competition on most nights. No. 3 Pebblebrook blew out Newnan 89-43 while No. 7 South Forsyth defeated Lambert 63-53 getting 19 points from Brandon Stoudamire and 16 from Ethan Underwood. Devin McGlockton tallied 15 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks. No. 9 Parkview won a wild game against Class 4A No. 5 Luella 59-56 at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic. Asher Woods (19) and Miles-commit Jason Edwards (18) combined for 37 points in the win. Region 4 is paused outside of South Gwinnett meaning No. 2 Grayson and Parkview won’t return to the floor until February 5th.
Region 6 is still the epicenter of Class 6A. No. 1 Wheeler won at Pope 71-58 as FGCU-signee Ja’Heim Hudson posted 20 points, 14 rebounds and 4 blocks. Scoot Henderson scored a school-record 53 points to go with his 10 rebounds, 5 assists and 5 steals in No. 2 Kell’s 94-64 win over Osborne. Outside of Region 6, No. 4 Richmond Hill creeps up a spot following No. 6 Evans’ 61-60 loss at the buzzer at Grovetown after winning at Heritage-Conyers earlier in the week 65-53. Richmond Hill got 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks from Brayden Baker in a 60-55 win over South Effingham while UGA baseball-commit Leighton Finley added 19 points and 10 rebounds as star Jaeden Marshall sat out. No. 5 Lanier has won eight-straight and rises over Evans, who they lost to 82-74 at the Lemon Street Classic in mid-December. Since that loss the Longhorns have picked up wins over six teams that have spent at least one week in their respective Top 10 and beat Grovetown 60-57. Lanier highlighted their week with a 66-60 win at Buford as Makai Vassell scored 19 points and James Madison-signee Andrew McConnell netted 13. No. 7 Shiloh grinded out a 41-37 win against Winder-Barrow behind Nazir Griffin’s 14 points and 5 assists. Dropping from the poll are North Atlanta (17-3) and Valdosta (15-4). The Warriors fell 55-50 at Westlake while Valdosta lost 69-61 to Class 4A No. 3 Monroe and had incorrectly entered a win over Lee County on January 16 when they actually lost 62-58. Back in the Top 10 for the first time since Week 2 is a surging No. 9 Douglas County. The Tigers have flipped the switch, winning seven-straight by an average margin of 29.8 points. They beat Paulding County 79-60 before hounding Rome 89-35 with Jaylen Perry posting 21 points, 8 assists and 3 blocks while Lander-commit Omarion Smith recorded 18 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocks. The Tigers have flourished since getting 6-foot-3 point guard Omari Fonteno back healthy. He went for 22 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in their win over Paulding County. No. 10 Tucker reenters the poll after dropping out in Week 7. The Tigers picked up three wins headlined by a 59-58 win over Westlake, Christian Yeates scoring 18 points and Tyler Pendergrass chipping in 15.
In Class 5A, No. 1 Tri-Cities continues to hold firm in a tough Region 3. The Bulldogs ate up No. 5 Woodward Academy for the second time this season, 75-59. The War Eagles climb three spots however after winning at No. 6 Forest Park 62-57 as Belmont-signee Will Richard hung 24 points, 11 rebounds and 3 blocks. Logan Stephens finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds. No. 2 Eagle’s Landing beat last week’s Class A-Private No. 1 Greenforest 74-67 behind AJ Barnes’ 30 points, David Thomas’ 24 and Fabian DeSilva’s 12. Up two spots is No. 8 Chapel Hill, who earned wins over North Springs (84-52) and Alexander (71-65). No. 9 Cass slips two places after a 69-62 loss at Calhoun but bounced back by knocking Blessed Trinity (13-6) out of the Top 10 with a 53-48 win in Roswell. Replacing the Titans is No. 10 Dutchtown, who last appeared in Week 6. The Bulldogs are gelling, winners of eight-straight. They notched victories over McDonough (61-51), Woodland-Stockbridge (61-49) and Stockbridge (71-47).
Class 4A No. 1 Spencer gutted out three tough wins this week highlighted by their victories at Hardaway 62-58 and against Dougherty 68-58. Jaquez Holt continues to be one of the best guards in the state for Coach Eric Allen. He led the Greenwave in scoring both games with 15 and 20 points, respectively. No. 3 Monroe is rolling in South Georgia. They beat last week’s Class 6A No. 10 Valdosta 69-61, Dougherty 60-43 and Bainbridge 72-65. 6-foot-3 junior Domonik Henderson has carried the Golden Tornadoes and put together a monster week. He had 35 points and 7 rebounds vs. Valdosta, 21 points, 7 rebounds and 7 blocks vs. Dougherty and finished up with 35 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists, 5 steals and 6 blocks against Bainbridge. No. 5 Luella slips a spot after a 59-56 loss to Class 7A No. 9 Parkview at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic. The Lions had to play the fourth quarter without Kory Mincy who was ejected with seconds left in the third, disqualified with a team-high 16 points. No. 7 Stephenson beat Mays 55-40 while No. 8 Miller Grove won a slugfest with Marist 41-29, both teams moving up one position. No. 9 Cedar Shoals sinks three spots. Kashik Brown led the Jaguars to wins over East Hall (62-54) and No. 10 Jefferson (62-59), posting 24 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 3 steals vs. the Vikings and then 22 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists against the Dragons, but was held in check in a 51-44 double overtime loss at bitter rival Clarke Central, finishing with 13 points.
The balance of North Georgia power swung in Class 3A this past week as No. 9 Sonoraville destroyed LaFayette (12-1) 65-40 to stamp their legitimacy in the classification. Orry Darnell dumped in 23 points while the Phoenix held star forward Aidan Hadaway to 11 points. Sonoraville’s busy week saw them win at Adairsville 46-43 and hold off Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 55-51 before running into their buzzsaw of a rival Calhoun, ending their great week on a sour note with a 55-28 loss on the road, prohibiting them from jumping any higher in the poll. There was another interesting result as debutant No. 7 Hephzibah shocked homestanding No. 8 Cross Creek 81-67 behind sophomore Correy Peace (22) and seniors Jayden Pack (18) and Jaylen Blount (15). The Rebels have now won six-straight and hold sole possession of first-place in Region 4 at 5-0. At the top of the rankings, No. 1 Sandy Creek fended off No. 5 Salem 56-50. No. 3 Windsor Forest took a forfeit loss to Southeast Bulloch, the administration scared to travel to Bulloch County as tension between Chatham County grows. No. 4 Johnson-Savannah slipped past Savannah Country Day 67-64 before making a statement with a 102-65 win at last week’s Class 2A No. 3 Woodville-Tompkins, Antonio Baker Jr. finishing with 24 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals while Emondre Bowles tallied 19 points and 7 assists. Making their first appearance in the Top 10 is No. 10 White County. The Warriors are sneaky good and have won six-straight games sitting at 8-1 in Region 7. The Warriors made a statement last week with a 76-48 win over Dawson County and followed up this week with victories over Gilmer (59-44) and North Hall (59-45). Sophomore guard Jadon Yeh is one of the most polished players in North Georgia. He scored 18 points vs. Gilmer. Star running back Silas Mulligan has found his basketball legs, scoring 17 points apiece in the Warriors’ two wins this week. Kenny Simpson, Reece Dockery and Cooper Turner give Coach Robbie Bailey a balanced and unselfish attack.
Class 2A saw No. 2 Swainsboro handle No. 9 Woodville-Tompkins 79-67 and survive at Bacon County 41-38. The Wolverines plummet six spots after an 0-3 week. They lost 63-46 to Jenkins and then were blasted by Class 3A No. 4 Johnson-Savannah 102-65. JT Thomas and Jairus Brown scored 11 apiece in No. 3 Washington County’s 71-19 demolition of Lamar County. No. 4 Columbia ripped KIPP Atlanta 76-34, Kawasiki Ricks scoring 14 points followed by 10 apiece from Kenneth Hardaway and Rashad Headges. No. 8 Westside-Augusta lost 54-47 to Butler but bounced back with a 71-67 win at Laney getting 35 combined points from Khalon Hudson (19) and Amauri Tillman (16). Out of the rankings is Banks County (14-7). Pierce Martin scored his 1,000th point but the Leopards lost 89-85 in double overtime at Elbert County. Cracking the poll is No. 10 Model. The Blue Devils always have size and are learning how to win close games, beating Coosa 40-39 and winning in overtime against Dade County 62-58. 5-foot-10 sophomore Carson Cole, son of Berry College Men’s Head Coach Mitch Cole, had 16 points and 6 rebounds in the win over Dade County while Dane Fisher scored 15 points. 6-foot-4 sophomore Jakenes Heard collected 12 points and 12 rebounds while 6-foot-7 260-pound freshman Jeremias Heard added 11 points and 5 rebounds. Model has no bad losses, losing 44-42 to A-Private 10-5 Darlington, 74-57 to Class A-Private No. 6 Christian Heritage and 60-47 to 7A 14-4 North Paulding. The Blue Devils currently sit at 7-0 in Region 7 and have a chance to finally wrestle away the region from No. 7 Chattooga who has dominated for years.
Sound the alarms. There are seismic changes in Class A-Private. There hasn’t been this much parity in the state since 2018 and a long time before that. There isn’t one stone-cold lock that can’t be beat. For the first time in Sandy’s Spiel history, St. Francis (1-8) is unranked. After losing a plethora of players to transfer and ineligibility as highlighted in last week’s analysis, the Knights were unable to beat newly ranked No. 10 King’s Ridge, falling 79-71. Sophomore Isaac Martin exploded for 25 points in the win, likely the biggest in school history. At the top of the poll, No. 7 Greenforest tumbles six spots after losing 74-67 to Class 5A No. 2 Eagle’s Landing and in overtime 70-67 to No. 4 Trinity Christian. The addition of 6-foot-3 senior Sami Pissis has elevated Trinity Christian to another level. He erupted for 38 points and 7 rebounds in an 88-83 win at Collins Hill and closed the week with 26 against Greenforest. Pissis is shooting 42% from deep and 75% from the line. 6-foot-4 senior Isaac Brito scored 22 points against Greenforest while Michael Morge netted 13. Brito is averaging 17.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 4.1 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.3 blocks. The new number one in Georgia is No. 1 Mt. Pisgah. They narrowly get the nod over No. 2 Providence Christian. The Patriots won 63-50 at King’s Ridge while the Storm enjoyed a rare off week. No. 3 Galloway handled their business beating GAC 60-50, Mt. Vernon Presbyterian 52-40 and bouncing Tallulah Falls (12-3) from the Top 10 with a 62-33 road win, Anthony Arrington finishing with 26 points, 9 rebounds and 3 steals. No. 5 St. Anne-Pacelli heads into their matchup with undefeated Class 4A No. 1 Spencer on Wednesday with momentum after winning at Hardaway 78-60, Travis Harper II piling in 32 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 1 steal. No. 6 Christian Heritage mauled North Cobb Christian 69-47 while No. 8 Holy Innocents’ got 13 points from Garrison Powell in a 64-28 rout of Atlanta International. Resurfacing in the rankings for the first time since Week 1 is No. 9 First Presbyterian Day. The transfer of Julius King Jr. in the offseason from Warner Robins has given the Vikings the firepower to compete at a high level. The 6-foot-2 junior is averaging 17.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 52% from the field and sinking 22-53 (42%) from downtown. His addition takes a load off of 6-foot senior Jordan Jones who poured in 25.4 points per game a season ago and has now been able to balance his output with 16.9 points, 4.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 3.2 steals a night. Sophomores 5-foot-6 Jaylun Goodrum (11 ppg, 4 rpg, 3.4 apg, 4 spg) and 5-foot-9 Gavin Greene (9.6 ppg) balance the backcourt. The Vikings beat Hebron Christian 72-65 and thumped crosstown rival Stratford Academy 85-57 to burst into the Top 10.
There are teams with 20 games played and others with only one game played in Class A-Public. Teams that are fearful to play or can’t get out of quarantine have to drop at this point. There will be a two-week window for most cases, but don’t be surprised to see teams drop by the wayside in rapid fashion as we try to sprint toward the finish line. In a very telling Top 10 showdown, No. 1 Drew Charter escaped No. 4 Bowdon 69-63. Jaquez Thornton scored 25 points to lead the Eagles followed by Cedric Taylor (18), Jalen McCurty (10) and JaKobe Strozier (8). The Red Devils jump three spots with their showing. Authur Johnson pumped in 25 points while Seth Farmer had 10 points and 10 rebounds. Tray Wyatt netted 9 points and Kirequs Vaughn and Kolton Drummond added 6 apiece. No. 2 Dublin edged Dooly County for the second time this season, 50-40 on the road. Consider the Bobcats as one of the best teams not currently ranked, but that could be changing soon. Down three spots is No. 6 Lanier County, who fell 63-62 at Turner County. No. 3 Towns County continues to rise. They lost 77-76 to Anderson Christian, SC but quickly got back on track with victories over Greene County (84-63) and Lincoln County (87-71). They visit Social Circle on Tuesday, who the Indians beat 64-58 in their first meeting. After taking the first two months of the season off, defending state champion No. 5 Hancock Central has finally decided to play and reenter the poll. They won two nail-biters over No. 8 Warren County 74-73 and 63-60. No. 9 Chattahoochee County and No. 10 Manchester both fall four spots. They haven’t played a game since January 5th and are on the verge of dropping out completely if they can’t record any results. Terrell County (1-0) is back out of the poll after failing to play a game.