Class AAAAAAA
1. Collins Hill (18-1)
2. McEachern (10-4)
3. Cherokee (20-3)
4. North Paulding (17-3)
5. Campbell (9-1)
6. Marietta (13-5)
7. Norcross (15-6)
8. Brookwood (11-6)
9. West Forsyth (15-6)
10. North Forsyth (16-4)
Class AAAAAA
1. Westlake (14-0)
2. Carrollton (20-1)
3. Buford (17-0)
4. Lovejoy (15-5)
5. Langston Hughes (15-5)
6. Kell (18-3)
7. Sprayberry (16-3)
8. Statesboro (16-0)
9. River Ridge (18-3)
10. Rockdale County (15-3)
Class AAAAA
1. Woodward Academy (10-1)
2. Forest Park (13-4)
3. Maynard Jackson (13-2)
4. Cass (19-0)
5. Southwest DeKalb (14-4)
6. Loganville (19-3)
7. St. Pius X (13-1)
8. Hiram (11-3)
9. New Manchester (17-3)
10. Greenbrier (16-2)
Class AAAA
1. Luella (19-2)
2. Troup County (9-4)
3. Carver-Columbus (6-2)
4. Arabia Mountain (12-0)
5. Jefferson (16-4)
6. Baldwin (11-0)
7. Marist (15-3)
8. Spalding (12-3)
9. McDonough (12-4)
10. Pickens (15-3)
Class AAA
1. Upson-Lee (17-0)
2. Lumpkin County (17-4)
3. Sonoraville (16-4)
4. Coahulla Creek (17-2)
5. Johnson-Savannah (9-2)
6. Cross Creek (10-2)
7. GAC (7-4)
8. White County (11-7)
9. Beach (10-3)
10. Westminster (8-1)
Class AA
1. Early County (10-0)
2. Elbert County (17-2)
3. Rabun County (15-4)
4. East Laurens (13-2)
5. Lamar County (15-4)
6. Woodville-Tompkins (12-3)
7. Washington County (8-1)
8. Fannin County (14-4)
9. Heard County (14-3)
10. Northeast-Macon (8-3)
Class A-Private
1. Hebron Christian (19-2)
2. Holy Innocents’ (6-5)
3. Mt. Paran (19-3)
4. St. Francis (13-4)
5. Galloway (13-2)
6. Greenforest (7-5)
7. ELCA (13-3)
8. Wesleyan (7-2)
9. Calvary Day (13-2)
10. Trinity Christian (11-8)
Class A-Public
1. Lake Oconee Academy (14-0)
2. Clinch County (14-1)
3. Dublin (18-2)
4. Greenville (5-0)
5. Trion (15-3)
6. Georgia Military College (10-1)
7. Emanuel County Institute (6-6)
8. Turner County (12-4)
9. Armuchee (13-6)
10. Charlton County (13-6)
With region play on the verge of wrapping up, three classifications see no changes. Lower classifications are starting to take shape but still we have a wide gap of differing amount of games played by teams in the Top 10, making it difficult to determine who is really ready for a playoff run, if they can get on and stay on the floor.
Class 7A No. 1 Collins Hill continues to steamroll through the competition. They beat Peachtree Ridge 70-52 before clipping No. 8 Brookwood for a third time, 77-63. The Broncos hold firm however bouncing rival Parkview (12-5) from the Top 10 with a 73-57 win, Diana Collins posting 21 points and 4 steals while Nekaya Williams collected 17 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals. No. 2 McEachern made statements with wins over East Coweta (71-43) and Class 5A No. 5 Southwest DeKalb 74-49. Furman-signee Kate Johnson scored 14 points to lead No. 3 Cherokee past Etowah 53-43. No. 5 Campbell finally returned to action, their first game in three weeks and showed no signs of rust, blowing out Newnan 76-32 behind Laila Battle’s career-night, finishing with 26 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 8 steals. No. 7 Norcross defeated Discovery 56-50 as freshman Jania Akins dumped in 21 points. Back in the poll for the first time since Week 3 is Preseason No. 4, No. 9 West Forsyth. The Wolverines have taken a long arduous journey to return to the Top 10 after battling injuries, sickness and a brutal non-region schedule. West Forsyth has now won nine-straight and just beat rival No. 10 North Forsyth 47-39 to avenge a 53-33 loss back in December. Calie Thrower scored 17 points while Cayla Cowart finished with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Both juniors recently eclipsed the 1,000-point mark in their careers.
There is no movement in Class 6A as the evisceration of the state marched on as planned as No. 1 Westlake destroyed No. 5 Langston Hughes 89-52, Ta’Niya Latson erupting for 35 points while South Carolina-signee Raven Johnson recorded her first triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Vanderbilt-signee De’Mauri Flournoy had a decent game of her own for No. 2 Carrollton against East Paulding. She broke school records as she piled in 51 points (19-38 FG) off 11 three-pointers (11-22 3PT) and added 12 rebounds, 4 assists and 7 steals in the Trojans’ 88-47 win. No. 3 Buford kept pace with a 65-51 win over Class A-Private No. 4 St. Francis on Saturday. Freshman Ava Grace Watson went 11-14 from the foul line to finish with 23 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 steals. Tatum Ozment added 11 points from the left block while Sara Viti hit 3 threes and Georgia College-signee Ashyia Willis tallied 8 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals. Sophomore Crystal Henderson netted her 1,000th point in No. 6 Kell’s 66-55 win against Pope, where she scored 28 points. No. 9 River Ridge won their 11th in a row, beating Cambridge 56-50 behind Mataya Gayle (18) and Caroline Cavallaro (16). No. 10 Rockdale County rocked Alcovy 96-15 led by Lia Edwards (22), Destiny Carnegie (21), Alana Moore (16), Danielle Carnegie (14) and Stephan Sellars (12).
Class 5A remains unchanged. No. 1 Woodward Academy pounded Mundy’s Mill 81-25 as Sydney Bowles went for 21 points, 12 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals. Londaisha Smith flirted with a triple-double in No. 4 Cass’ 63-28 rout of rival Cartersville. The unsigned senior finished with 20 points, 12 rebounds and 8 steals. No. 5 Southwest DeKalb beat Class A-Private No. 6 Greenforest 58-46 before falling to Class 7A No. 2 McEachern 74-49. No. 8 Hiram took care of Calhoun 40-24 behind Camryn O’Neil’s 11 points. The Hornets host No. 4 Cass on Tuesday and will try to make up for a squandered double-digit lead that resulted in a 55-48 loss their first meeting. No. 10 Greenbrier smoked Clarke Central 63-22. Brooklyn Begley (22), Sydney Peake (18) and Jordan Tanksley (13) balanced the Lady Pack.
There is some movement in Class 4A below No. 1 Luella who beat No. 9 McDonough 71-60 as Furman-signee Jada Session had 20 points and 17 rebounds while Ariana Dyson posted 18 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks. No. 5 Jefferson is down three spots after an upset loss to Flowery Branch 46-40. No. 2 Troup County moves up and will visit No. 3 Carver-Columbus for the first time this season, their last meeting coming in the Final Four a year ago at Fort Valley State where Troup County won 56-47 as Aniya Palmer plastered on 13 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals and 9 blocks. No. 6 Baldwin drilled Rutland 66-35 behind Tamia Smith’s 22 points. No. 10 Pickens held North Murray to 5 points in the second half as they raced away for a 46-27 victory.
Is Class 3A finally cemented? Probably not, but it’s a rare week where there is no movement as no Top 10 teams had to play each other and no one lost. No. 1 Upson-Lee shined in their first week atop the poll, drilling Central-Macon 76-45 and spanking Mary Persons twice, 58-26 and 73-28. Senior Ja’Khia Parker averaged 21.3 points on the week. No. 2 Lumpkin County drubbed Cherokee Bluff 71-37, freshman Averie Jones netting 34 points. No. 3 Sonoraville beat Murray County 70-51 getting 16 points apiece from Georgia College-signee Alexa Geary and three-point specialist Abby Chambers. Shorter-commit Lindsay Bowman netted 12. No. 7 GAC returned to action after missing two weeks to beat Sandy Creek 56-44. Jaci Bolden (23) and Kaleigh Addie (18) combined for 41 points. No. 8 White County survived a scare on Senior Night vs. Cherokee Bluff pulling out a 61-58 win behind Emmanuel-signee Maddie Futch’s 23 points. No. 9 Beach got a big 53-50 win over Class A-Private No. 9 Calvary Day, getting revenge for a 54-40 loss earlier in the year. The Bulldogs host No. 5 Johnson-Savannah on Tuesday and will attempt to sweep the regular season series for the first time since the 2014-15 season. No. 10 Westminster played their first games in two weeks and impressed by beating previously ranked teams Cedar Grove 42-33 and Redan 58-23 to move to 7-0 in Region 5 with a date at No. 7 GAC looming this Wednesday for sole possession of first place. 6-foot-1 sophomore Courtney Ogden has dominated as expected averaging 19.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks but it’s been the addition of freshman guard Stella Chartrand that has really elevated the Wildcats. She is pouring in 15.4 points per game in support of Ogden, giving Westminster much better balance.
In danger of slipping due to inactivity, Class 2A No. 1 Early County netted three wins, one via forfeit. 6-foot-3 Florida State-signee Makayla Timpson finished the week with 40 points, 16 rebounds, 7 steals and 5 blocks in a 61-37 win at Cook. 5-foot-8 junior guard Jordan Eafford posted 29 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists and 2 steals earlier in the week in a 70-36 win at Berrien. No. 2 Elbert County escaped Dawson County 61-60 behind sophomores Nia Moon’s 21 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists and Aaniyah Allen’s 18 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals. They travel to No. 3 Rabun County on Tuesday trying to become the first region team to sweep Rabun County in the regular season since Putnam County and Banks County did back in 2017-18. No. 4 East Laurens won a nail-biter at Swainsboro 45-43 as Kristen Hubbard guided the Falcons with 18 points. No. 5 Lamar County had no issue making up for a 53-51 loss earlier in the season to Dodge County by winning in Eastman 64-41, Shakiria Foster (21), Tamya Blasingame (14) and Zakiria Foster (12) leading the charge. The Trojans could be a major player in Class 2A for years to come. They have no seniors and are led by two juniors and the rest freshmen. No. 8 Fannin County moves up over inactive No. 9 Heard County. The Rebels hammered Chattooga 49-29. Butler (11-4) sinks from the Top 10 following a 57-33 loss at Josey. They are replaced by returnee No. 10 Northeast-Macon, who blasted Jasper County 64-9.
Class A-Private No. 1 Hebron Christian gutted out a 59-57 win in double overtime against No. 2 Holy Innocents’. Rice-signee Malia Fisher recorded 24 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists in the instant classic while Jessie Parish gathered 14 points and 10 rebounds. Samford-signee Nicole Azar posted 12 points, 6 rebounds and 3 assists. The Lions would also notch a 67-54 win at No. 5 Galloway as Azar poured in 27 points and fellow Samford-signee Carly Heidger chipped in 17 points and 7 rebounds. No. 3 Mt. Paran beat Darlington 50-22 with Kara Dunn hanging 22 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals. No. 4 St. Francis suffered a 65-51 loss at Class 6A No. 3 Buford. Mississippi State-signee Mia Moore poured in 27 points, 4 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 steal while Erica Moon added 11 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and 2 blocks in the loss. Athens Academy (14-4) falls out after a 48-37 loss at Tallulah Falls. Resurfacing in the Top 10 for the first time since Week 2 is No. 10 Trinity Christian. A tough schedule put the Lions behind the eight-ball but they have battled back and remain dangerous. They picked up wins over Brookstone (58-30) and Tallulah Falls (49-40) before falling to No. 7 ELCA 37-29. No. 6 Greenforest fell 58-46 at Class 5A No. 5 Southwest DeKalb while No. 9 Calvary Day was edged by Class 3A No. 9 Beach 53-50.
You have to play games in order to remain ranked in Class A-Public. Calhoun County (3-1) is out after not playing a game in the entire month of January. Wilcox County (4-2) departs following a 55-46 loss at Telfair County. No. 3 Dublin survived on the road at Telfair County in overtime 37-31. Chloe Murdock scored her 1,000th point as No. 5 Trion defeated debutant No. 9 Armuchee 47-40. The Indians make it into the Top 10 thanks to their consistent ability to play games and for sweeping 17-5 Mt. Zion-Carrollton, beating the Eagles 49-42 on the road on Friday. Also making a first appearance is No. 10 Charlton County. The Indians are a respectable team. They won 56-53 in overtime at Irwin County before dropping a second close game to No. 8 Turner County 45-41.