Class AAAAAAA
1. Collins Hill (14-1)
2. McEachern (7-4)
3. Cherokee (18-3)
4. North Paulding (15-3)
5. Campbell (8-1)
6. Marietta (11-5)
7. Norcross (13-6)
8. Brookwood (10-5)
9. Parkview (12-4)
10. North Forsyth (15-3)
Class AAAAAA
1. Westlake (12-0)
2. Carrollton (17-1)
3. Buford (15-0)
4. Lovejoy (14-5)
5. Langston Hughes (15-4)
6. Kell (16-3)
7. Sprayberry (14-3)
8. Statesboro (13-0)
9. River Ridge (16-3)
10. Rockdale County (13-3)
Class AAAAA
1. Woodward Academy (8-1)
2. Forest Park (13-4)
3. Maynard Jackson (11-2)
4. Cass (17-0)
5. Southwest DeKalb (11-3)
6. Loganville (17-3)
7. St. Pius X (12-1)
8. Hiram (9-3)
9. New Manchester (15-3)
10. Greenbrier (14-2)
Class AAAA
1. Luella (17-2)
2. Jefferson (14-3)
3. Troup County (7-4)
4. Carver-Columbus (6-2)
5. Arabia Mountain (7-0)
6. Baldwin (8-0)
7. Spalding (12-3)
8. Marist (13-3)
9. McDonough (10-3)
10. Pickens (14-3)
Class AAA
1. Upson-Lee (14-0)
2. Lumpkin County (15-4)
3. Sonoraville (13-4)
4. Coahulla Creek (15-2)
5. Johnson-Savannah (8-2)
6. Cross Creek (7-2)
7. GAC (5-4)
8. White County (9-7)
9. Beach (7-3)
10. Westminster (5-1)
Class AA
1. Early County (7-0)
2. Elbert County (14-2)
3. Rabun County (13-4)
4. East Laurens (10-2)
5. Lamar County (13-4)
6. Woodville-Tompkins (12-3)
7. Washington County (7-1)
8. Heard County (14-3)
9. Fannin County (12-4)
10. Butler (9-3)
Class A-Private
1. Hebron Christian (16-2)
2. Holy Innocents’ (4-4)
3. Mt. Paran (17-3)
4. St. Francis (11-3)
5. Galloway (13-1)
6. Greenforest (6-4)
7. ELCA (12-3)
8. Wesleyan (6-2)
9. Calvary Day (12-1)
10. Athens Academy (13-3)
Class A-Public
1. Lake Oconee Academy (14-0)
2. Clinch County (11-1)
3. Dublin (16-2)
4. Greenville (4-0)
5. Calhoun County (3-1)
6. Trion (13-3)
7. GMC (8-1)
8. Emanuel County Institute (5-6)
9. Turner County (11-4)
10. Wilcox County (4-1)
Instead of rolling deeper and deeper into region play with Top 10s presumably setting into place, Week 10 sees three new teams ascend to number one in their respective classifications. Teams with inactive schedules are starting to see their grasp slip in the polls.
No. 1 Collins Hill still is the team to beat in Class 7A after notching a 70-61 win over Class A-Private No. 6 Greenforest but the rest of the classification sees some major shake-up. No. 2 McEachern retains their position after a 57-50 loss to Class A-Private No. 2 Holy Innocents’, squandering 20 points from former Golden Bear Jillian Hollingshead, a UGA-signee. No. 5 Campbell drops three spots due to inactivity. The Spartans haven’t played since January 9th. They are passed up by No. 3 Cherokee and No. 4 North Paulding. The Warriors are up one spot after dominant wins over Roswell (69-36) and Woodstock (72-46). Furman-signee Kate Johnson piled in 30 points against Roswell while Karoline Karl caught fire with 25 vs. Woodstock. North Paulding climbs three spots after beating No. 6 Marietta 57-48 behind Alabama-signee Taylor Cullinan’s 20 points. The Wolfpack have won 10-straight since their 51-37 loss at Campbell including wins over three teams that have spent time in the Top 10. No. 7 Norcross lost 56-36 to Class A-Private No. 1 Hebron Christian but rebounded with a statement win over No. 10 North Forsyth 54-27, dropping the Raiders four spots who had beaten Class 2A No. 3 Rabun County 55-50 earlier in the week. Mariah Baltierra scored 14 points followed by Jania Akins (13) and Zaria Hurston (12) in the Lady Blue’s win over North Forsyth. No. 8 Brookwood rises above No. 9 Parkview who beat them 68-59 two weeks ago. The Broncos picked up nice road wins over Class 6A No. 7 Sprayberry 69-58 and Newton 50-48 while Parkview beat North Gwinnett 56-42. Diana Collins led Brookwood with 27 points and 5 assists vs. Sprayberry before netting 28 against Newton. The Broncos move ahead of Parkview who is still dealing with injuries. The Panthers lost to Newton 67-50 a week ago.
I hate to say it but the only thing that could potentially stop No. 1 Westlake from completing a four-peat and winning Class 6A is COVID. The winners of 102-straight in Georgia embarrassed last week’s Class 5A No. 1 Forest Park 70-34 at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic behind Ta’Niya Latson’s 29 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals and South Carolina-signee Raven Johnson’s 16 points, 8 rebounds, 9 assists and 3 steals in just three quarters. No one in the Southeast runs the fast break better than the Lions as they turn live-ball turnovers into points in the blink of an eye. No. 2 Carrollton pounded a good 13-5 Rome team 62-39 while No. 3 Buford beat up on 13-3 Habersham Central 54-22. No. 4 Lovejoy swaps spots with No. 5 Langston Hughes after beating the Panthers 48-47, getting 12 points from Keyra Peterson. No. 6 Kell and No. 7 Sprayberry trade places even though the Yellowjackets pulled out a late 70-66 win over the Longhorns earlier this month. Kell netted four wins this week highlighted by a 58-44 win over previously unbeaten ELCA who was ranked No. 2 in Class A-Private last week. Sylvia Kahoro sank 6 threes en route to 20 points while Jada Green collected 11 points, 12 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals and 3 blocks. Crystal Henderson tallied 10 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists, 1 steal and 1 block. Sprayberry fell 69-58 to Class 7A No. 8 Brookwood. Out of the poll is Sequoyah (13-4) who was swept by No. 9 River Ridge 57-45, down 18 points at the end of three quarters as Mataya Gayle won her matchup will fellow star sophomore Elle Blatchford, pouring in 24 points. Returning to the rankings is No. 10 Rockdale County. The Bulldogs mauled Heritage-Conyers 61-24, Stephan Sellers posting 13 points, 8 rebounds and 1 block while Alana Moore finished with 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals.
It was a week to forget for defending Class 6A state champion No. 2 Forest Park in Class 5A. The Panthers were brutalized by Class 6A No. 1 Westlake 70-34 at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic and then lost 55-51 to No. 1 Woodward Academy. Sydney Bowles went for 18 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals to lead the War Eagles while South Carolina-signee Sania Feagin dumped in 18 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal and 5 blocks in the loss. Woodward Academy saw Sara Lewis finish with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 3 blocks while MacKenzie Moring came up big defensively with 6 points, 10 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 5 blocks. Up two spots is No. 4 Cass, who won at Calhoun 67-47 as Londaisha Smith posted 25 points and 10 rebounds while Claire Davis recorded 17 points, 7 rebounds and 7 steals. No. 5 Southwest DeKalb slips a spot after losing 59-54 at Class A-Private No. 1 Hebron Christian. No. 6 Loganville is also down one position following a 64-62 overtime road loss at newly ranked No. 10 Greenbrier. The Wolfpack are built for longevity with juniors and sophomores. Juniors Jordan Tanksley (11.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.4 spg) and Brooklyn Begley (10.1 ppg) lead the team in scoring while sophomores Trinity Barrow (9.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 6.2 apg, 4.7 spg) and 6-foot-3 Caitlin Staley (8.3 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.2 bpg) provide dynamic play. Making way for Greenbrier is Griffin (10-6). The Bears were outclassed by Class 4A No. 1 Luella 59-39 at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic and couldn’t rebound, losing 59-53 to Harris County to cement their fate.
No. 1 Luella looks good atop Class 4A. The Lions handled last week’s Class 5A No. 9 Griffin with ease at the J-4 Sports MLK Classic 59-39. Recent Coppin State-commit Cortney Gardner dazzled with 20 points while Furman-signee Jada Session piled in 13 points, 17 rebounds and 1 block and Ariana Dyson double-doubled with 13 points, 13 rebounds, 4 assists, 5 steals and 2 blocks. No. 2 Jefferson had a big week, securing road victories over Cedar Shoals (11-4) 61-44 and Class 2A No. 3 Rabun County 61-52. Courtney Kidd scored 18 points while Ellie Kinlaw netted 13 and North Georgia-signee Livi Blackstock had 12 against Rabun County. Cedar Shoals narrowly drops out of the poll following their loss to make way for No. 10 Pickens. The Dragonettes rallied from down 17 to beat Dawson County on the road 69-62. Freshmen Caroline Mullins (9 ppg) and Bella Howell (6.6 ppg) compose a strong core with junior Amanda Nelson (7.8 ppg) and senior Cassidy Richards (9.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.1 bpg) for Coach Brandon Thomas. No. 8 Marist is down two spots after a 43-36 loss to 2-8 Baylor, TN. No. 6 Baldwin got 27 points from Tamia Smith in their 65-24 rout of Perry. No. 9 McDonough slips a spot after a 59-48 loss to Dutchtown.
The whirlwind of Class 3A continues. No. 1 Upson-Lee rises to the top spot after pounding defending state champion Americus-Sumter 67-39 then holding on against Central-Macon 59-51. 5-foot-10 senior Jakera Ellerbee has hit her stride averaging 16.7 points, 11.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.8 blocks. Four seniors average double figures including 5-foot-7 Alonzea Montgomery (12.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 6.1 apg, 2.6 spg), 5-foot-11 Tyla Zellner (11.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg) and Ja’Khia Parker (11.4 ppg, 8.8 rpg, 2.6 spg). The Knights have played a strong schedule in Middle Georgia, twice beating newly ranked Class 2A 13-4 No. 5 Lamar County, 9-3 Americus-Sumter twice, 8-4 Pike County twice, 8-4 Jackson and 12-3 Warner Robins. Upson-Lee has one of the best resumes in the classification and with a perfect record, they deserve the top spot. No. 5 Johnson-Savannah on the other hand has major question marks, dropping four spots after a 52-45 loss at Class 2A No. 6 Woodville-Tompkins. The Atomsmashers have been short on players at times throughout the year, down to just eight on the roster but stars 6-foot-1 junior Amani Hamilton (23.4 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 2.8 bpg) and 6-foot-1 junior K’lya Hankerson (12.1 ppg, 9.6 rpg, 5 bpg) have been there every step of the way. The state title has run through Savannah for years now, but have things changed? Taking a deeper look into Johnson-Savannah, they no longer have elite guard play around their length and have made just eight three-pointers all season. The Atomsmashers have played only two teams with winning records this year and have lost both games, their earlier loss to No. 9 Beach who slips a spot due to inactivity and themselves struggling against teams with winning records, 1-2 with losses to Woodville-Tompkins and Class A-Private No. 9 Calvary Day. With 20 games between them, Johnson-Savannah and Beach have just one combined win against teams with winning records and not including themselves, have only played two schools above .500. which causes great concern for just how good the two perennial powers really are this year. Both teams will be difficult to beat in the state tournament, but the fact that both haven’t seen legitimate competition for the vast majority of the season is a very real concern. Two proud programs that have gotten the benefit of the doubt throughout the season with their storied histories now have a lot to prove in a classification that has seen North Georgia seize momentum. Outside of Savannah, No. 2 Lumpkin County moves up two spots with blowouts of Dawson County (68-33), Gilmer (67-46) and Union County (69-35). No. 3 Sonoraville had designs on moving up, but sit still at No. 3 following a 51-40 loss at rival Calhoun. The Phoenix hit 11 threes the night prior in a 69-16 win over Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia College-signee Alexa Geary finishing with 18 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. No. 4 Coahulla Creek pummeled Rockmart 74-49 with Jillian Poe (16), Kenley Woods (13), Brinkley Kate Reed (13) and Kiersten Hixson (13) all reaching double figures. No. 6 Cross Creek defeated Hephzibah 62-37. The bottom four from last week were inactive. Redan (7-1) gets the short end of the stick and gets squeezed out to make way for red-hot No. 8 White County. Sitting at 9-7, White County battled injuries during their 1-6 start while playing tough competition. Now healthy, the Warriors have won four-straight and sit in the lead in Region 7 at 8-1, holding a 58-57 overtime win at No. 2 Lumpkin County over the 6-1 Indians. White County scored road wins over Gilmer 66-49 and North Hall 71-51 this past week. The emergence of 5-foot-9 sophomore Naomi Roberts has taken the Warriors to another level. She poured in 23 points against Lumpkin County and has led White County in scoring in three of their last four games. She joins North Georgia-signee Dasha Cannon and Emmanuel-signee Maddie Futch on a dangerous team that sees contributions from sophomore Caitlyn Gailey and senior Madison Adams.
Class 2A gets major movement below No. 1 Early County, who hasn’t played since January 9th and is in danger of falling due to inactivity. No. 2 Elbert County helped knock Banks County (13-9) from the Top 10, beating the Leopards 56-32 after they had already lost to No. 3 Rabun County 69-51. The LadyCats rise into the Top 3 with their win over Banks County and two competitive losses to last week’s Class 7A No. 6 North Forsyth (55-50) and Class 4A No. 2 Jefferson (61-52). The madness begins with No. 4 East Laurens, who shoots up four spots after seeing No. 7 Washington County tumble four positions following a 57-56 loss at debutant No. 5 Lamar County. The Trojans have now won seven-straight, getting 19 points from Zaria Fletcher, 15 from Shakiria Foster and 10 from Tamya Blasingame in their win over Washington County. The Trojans also beat Northeast-Macon (7-3) earlier in the week 47-39 to drop the Raiders from the Top 10. No. 6 Woodville-Tompkins pops back into the rankings following up an 0-3 week with a sparkling 3-0 week highlighted by a 52-45 win over last week’s Class 3A No. 1 Johnson-Savannah as Janiyah Heyward scored 19 points and the Wolverines forced 24 Atomsmasher turnovers. Woodville-Tompkins has the distinct rare honor of beating both Johnson-Savannah and Class 3A No. 9 Beach in the same season, something that has not happened often in recent history. With the shifting in the middle of the poll due to two new entries, No. 8 Heard County and No. 9 Fannin County are hurt the most. Heard County slips three spots after a 48-40 win over Callaway while Fannin County also falls three places with wins over North Hall 65-52 and Dade County 49-34 to highlight a 3-0 week. No. 10 Butler remains dangerous with blowout wins over Westside-Augusta (54-36) and North Clayton (68-25).
Things are sorting themselves out it seems in Class A-Private. No. 1 Hebron Christian picked up wins over Class 7A No. 7 Norcross 56-36 and Class 5A No. 5 Southwest DeKalb 59-54 and now host No. 2 Holy Innocents’ on Tuesday. The Golden Bears are up two places after a 57-50 win over Class 7A No. 2 McEachern, Olivia Hutcherson (13), UGA soccer-signee Rachel Suttle (12), Naja Reeves (12) and Georgia College-commit Cierra Foster (10) teaming up to take down former teammate Jillian Hollingshead. No. 3 Mt. Paran jumps over inactive No. 4 St. Francis who they hold a 64-51 win over after beating Grayson 65-63 as Kara Dunn poured in 30 points. No. 7 ELCA struggled after rising to No. 2, dropping five spots following a 1-3 week with losses to Class 6A No. 6 Kell 58-44, No. 6 Greenforest 61-53 and Union Grove in overtime 57-49. Greenforest hung tough with Class 7A No. 1 Collins Hill 70-61 before beating ELCA and Trinity Christian 36-28. No. 9 Calvary Day hosts crosstown rival 15-1 Savannah Country Day on Tuesday.
Having not played since December 29th, No. 5 Calhoun County loses its hold of the top spot in Class A-Public and sinks four spots while No. 4 Greenville slips two spots as the classification sees a facelift atop the rankings. No. 1 Lake Oconee Academy now slots in on top the field, earning the No. 1 ranking in just their fifth year of existence. The Titans blasted Lincoln County 90-23 and have been buoyed by wins over GISA’s 14-3 Brentwood (57-47) and Class A-Private No. 10 13-3 Athens Academy (51-30), a win that looks better and better each week as the Spartans are on an eight-game winning streak. Chattanooga-signee Destiny McClendon may be the best player in the classification and is averaging 22.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.6 steals while Piper Bosart adds 10.7 points, 6.8 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.3 blocks. Up two spots is No. 2 Clinch County, who demolished No. 9 Turner County 71-42 to drop the Rebels three spots after Zyhia Johnson hit 4 threes and finished with 32 points. Clinch County finished their week with a 78-18 win at Atkinson County, leading 41-0 to start the game. No. 3 Dublin rises after a 54-39 win at No. 10 Wilcox County, Brianna McRae pumping in 27 points, 10 rebounds, 7 steals and 1 block.