Class AAAAAAA
1. Westlake (21-0)
2. Collins Hill (22-1)
3. Cherokee (21-3)
4. North Cobb (21-2)
5. Grayson (21-2)
6. North Forsyth (19-4)
7. Norcross (15-9)
8. Brookwood (16-6)
9. Pebblebrook (19-3)
10. Colquitt County (19-2)
Class AAAAAA
1. Lovejoy (20-3)
2. Forest Park (21-2)
3. Northview (19-4)
4. Douglas County (19-4)
5. Stephenson (15-9)
6. Valdosta (20-2)
7. Glynn Academy (20-3)
8. Lanier (20-3)
9. Creekview (19-4)
10. New Manchester (21-3)
Class AAAAA
1. Buford (20-2)
2. Villa Rica (23-0)
3. Veterans (22-2)
4. Southwest DeKalb (17-6)
5. Jones County (19-4)
6. Harris County (17-5)
7. Eagle’s Landing (17-5)
8. Wayne County (19-3)
9. Carrollton (17-6)
10. Arabia Mountain (17-3)
Class AAAA
1. Carver-Columbus (24-0)
2. Henry County (22-2)
3. Flowery Branch (21-3)
4. Spalding (17-4)
5. Madison County (21-2)
6. West Laurens (17-5)
7. Luella (18-4)
8. Sandy Creek (18-4)
9. Northwest Whitfield (20-4)
10. Baldwin (17-6)
Class AAA
1. Jefferson (20-2)
2. Beach (20-4)
3. Johnson-Savannah (14-7)
4. Hart County (18-5)
5. Peach County (17-4)
6. Morgan County (17-6)
7. Dawson County (16-7)
8. GAC (12-11)
9. Tattnall County (18-5)
10. North Murray (17-7)
Class AA
1. Dodge County (21-1)
2. Douglass (18-5)
3. Fitzgerald (21-0)
4. Bryan County (22-0)
5. Rabun County (21-1)
6. Laney (21-2)
7. Swainsboro (19-3)
8. Banks County (19-4)
9. Early County (19-3)
10. Southwest-Macon (16-4)
Class A-Private
1. Holy Innocents’ (16-7)
2. St. Francis (18-3)
3. Wesleyan (22-2)
4. ELCA (17-3)
5. Lakeview Academy (19-4)
6. Stratford Academy (21-1)
7. Mt. Paran (18-2)
8. Paideia (18-3)
9. Calvary Day (20-3)
10. Greenforest (16-4)
Class A-Public
1. Marion County (22-0)
2. Georgia Military College (15-1)
3. Wheeler County (17-4)
4. Telfair County (17-4)
5. Greenville (21-2)
6. Calhoun County (20-2)
7. Mitchell County (17-4)
8. Dooly County (17-4)
9. Bowdon (19-4)
10. Central-Talbotton (13-6)
Don’t look now, but unranked McEachern (12-9) is starting to climb the Region 3-AAAAAAA standings with five-straight wins highlighted by a 36-30 grudge match victory over Marietta then stunning No. 4 North Cobb 63-40, giving the Warriors their first region loss of the season after winning at Marietta 54-47 and dropping one spot. The Indians can rise all the way to the number two seed if they knock off Kennesaw Mountain and Hillgrove (15-7) this week. The Hawks lost 73-61 to North Cobb and fall from the poll. They are replaced by No. 10 Colquitt County who has won 12-straight.
The long-awaited Class AAAAAA showdown between No. 1 Lovejoy and No. 2 Forest Park takes place this Tuesday at Lovejoy. The Panthers dominated the second half to rally from down 35-13 at the half to force overtime before falling 58-56 back on December 8th. No. 3 Northview held off Pope 67-56 and went to Savannah to edge defending state champion Class 3A No. 3 Johnson-Savannah 50-44 as Rice-signee Ashlee Austin led the way with 18 points. No. 7 Glynn Academy tumbles three spots after a bad 44-37 loss to rival Brunswick (11-10). No. 6 Valdosta survived Northside-Warner Robins 50-49 while No. 8 Lanier clinched a state playoff berth by sweeping Dacula 53-42, Kalen Surles scoring 17 points and Nala Lawrence adding 16.
There is a changing of the guard in Class AAAAA. It is just too difficult to ignore what No. 1 Buford has done this season without a star player after graduating Class 5A Player of the Year Tory Ozment (Michigan State) and Audrey Weiner (Air Force). The Wolves replace undefeated No. 2 Villa Rica atop the poll after beating last week’s Class A-Private No. 1 Wesleyan 54-52 on Sara Viti’s put-back with seconds left to hold off a Wesleyan comeback. Viti scored 15 points followed by Ebony Grant’s 10 and 8 apiece from Tate Walters and Tatum Ozment. The Wolves now have wins over Class 6A No. 6 Valdosta (70-46), Class 7A No. 5 Grayson (67-58), Class 3A No. 6 Morgan County (62-36), Class 6A No. 3 Northview (58-40), Class A-Private No. 1 Holy Innocents’ (48-45) and Class 2A No. 8 Banks County (63-33). Villa Rica has mauled opponents for the most part behind Kentucky-signee Deasia Merrill, but they just haven’t seen the same level of competition. The Wildcats have a respectable resume with wins over Class 3A No. 3 Johnson-Savannah (53-43), No. 9 Carrollton (58-51; 66-58), Class 6A No. 10 New Manchester (57-37) and Rome (51-45), who has been in and out of the Top 10 this season and will travel to play Villa Rica this week. At the bottom of the poll, No. 7 Eagle’s Landing sinks four spots after losing 59-52 against Class 4A No. 8 Sandy Creek and failing to impress in a 53-48 win in OT against St. Pius X. Statesboro (21-3) and Woodland-Stockbridge (17-6) drop out. Ranked No. 6 last week, Statesboro lost 52-48 to returnee No. 8 Wayne County and at Ware County 49-47 while the Wolfpack stumbled at Locust Grove 61-52. No. 10 Arabia Mountain cracks back into the rankings and hosts No. 4 Southwest DeKalb on Tuesday looking to avenge a 50-36 loss.
No. 1 Carver-Columbus finally met some resistance in Class AAAA, but eventually put away Westover 72-61, their closest win since a 48-46 victory over Bishop O’Connell (VA) in December. The Tigers now host the Patriots on Friday. No. 4 Spalding defeated No. 6 West Laurens 50-44 while No. 8 Sandy Creek climbs four spots after beating Class 5A No. 7 Eagle’s Landing 59-52 and running their winning streak up to 13 after three subsequent wins. No. 10 Baldwin is down two spots after beating Warner Robins 63-56 but losing 55-46 at Burke County. No. 3 Flowery Branch blasted Marist (16-6) out of the poll, 77-48. The War Eagles are replaced by No. 9 Northwest Whitfield who resurfaces after a 65-34 win over Pickens. The Bruins will try to clinch the number one seed in Region 6 as they host 19-5 Gilmer sometime this week depending on the weather (initially scheduled for Tuesday).
Region 8-AAA provided more interesting results as a Lou Reid-less No. 6 Morgan County lost at No. 1 Jefferson 68-55 and to No. 4 Hart County 71-64. The same merry-go-round of wins and losses in Region 7 raged on as unranked Lumpkin County (17-7) finally got their signature win, 61-57 over No. 8 GAC, but the Indians couldn’t crack the Top 10 after losing 56-53 to No. 7 Dawson County and 41-31 to Gilmer. GAC ended their week with a 70-27 loss at Class A-Private No. 1 Holy Innocents’ while Dawson County earned a 68-59 win over North Hall on Tuesday and have trimmed the Spartans’ lead in the region to a single game heading into the final week. Coahulla Creek (17-6) departs after two weeks in the Top 10, beating Sonoraville 56-52 but getting flattened by Ringgold 54-31. Fellow Region 6’er No. 10 North Murray debuts in the poll riding a seven-game winning streak which has seen the Mountaineers score wins over Coahulla Creek (51-46), Darlington (47-43) and most recently, at Ringgold 34-32 as Korbin Tipton finished with 13 points and 6 rebounds and the following night, senior guard Sarah Plemons committing to Georgia College.
There finally is some movement in the stalemate of Class AA. No. 6 Laney slips two spots after a 60-55 loss to Grovetown, giving way to undefeated No. 4 Bryan County and No. 5 Rabun County. The Redskins won at No. 7 Swainsboro 66-63 as junior Olonna Rawls obliterated the Tigers with 35 points which led to Kennesaw State trekking down south to watch Rawls’ encore performance of 30 points, 6 assists and 4 steals in a 66-43 win over Vidalia. Bryan County’s final hurdle to a perfect regular season comes this Tuesday at 18-5 Woodville-Tompkins. Rabun County won their 19th straight game thanks to two Destiny Deetz free throws with a second left to survive Monticello 61-59. Brooke Henricks led the way with 16 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists while Presbyterian-signee Georgia Stockton returned to action working her way back into shape for a playoff push. No. 3 Fitzgerald swept No. 9 Early County 75-65 as Hayleigh Ross (23), Trinity Jones (21) and Kyah Crook (15) combined for 59 points and helped ignite an 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Washington County (16-6) drops out of the poll after getting whipped by No. 1 Dodge County 74-48 and losing to debutant No. 10 Southwest-Macon 54-44. For the Patriots to stick in the rankings, they will have to win at East Laurens on Tuesday, the Falcons beating Southwest-Macon 72-58 in their first meeting.
Following a rocky 1-3 start to the season and uncharacteristic disappointing losses to Top 10 competition throughout the year, No. 1 Holy Innocents’ has finally found its groove and has taken over the top spot in Class A-Private. Already holding a win over former No. 1 Wesleyan 68-63, the Golden Bears went back to work and destroyed Class 3A No. 8 GAC 70-37 on Saturday. No. 3 Wesleyan falls two spots after losing 54-52 to Class 5A No. 1 Buford. No. 2 St. Francis earned wins over Auburn (AL) 59-51, King’s Ridge Christian 65-56 and No. 7 Mt. Paran 72-56. No. 6 Stratford Academy is up a spot after beating Elite Scholars Academy 60-43 to atone for their lone 56-49 loss back on December 4th. No. 10 Greenforest ran over Strong Rock Christian 52-27.
Class A-Public belongs to No. 1 Marion County as the Eagles swept No. 5 Greenville 73-63 and dispatched of No. 8 Dooly County 62-39. No. 3 Wheeler County busts into the Top 3 thanks to a 64-54 win at No. 4 Telfair County. No. 7 Mitchell County beat rival Pelham in two nail-biters, 61-50 in OT and 45-44. Clinch County (15-5) and Wilcox County (14-7) exit the poll after the Panthers lost 40-32 to 8-15 Brooks County while the Patriots fell 47-45 to 6-12 Monroe. No. 9 Bowdon and No. 10 Central-Talbotton reappear. Bowdon completed a 3-0 week with wins over Christian Heritage 61-36, at Darlington 61-58 and at Gordon Lee 52-30 while Central-Talbotton’s week was highlighted by a 56-42 win over Kendrick.