GHSA, GHSA Basketball, Rankings

Week 2 Boys Rankings

Class AAAAAAA

  1. Norcross (4-0)
  2. Newton (4-0)
  3. Wheeler (1-1)
  4. Pebblebrook (1-2)
  5. Westlake (1-1)
  6. McEachern (3-0)
  7. Collins Hill (3-1)
  8. Shiloh (3-2)
  9. Berkmar (1-1)
  10. Tift County (3-1) 

Class AAAAAA

  1. Gainesville (2-0)
  2. Jonesboro (0-1)
  3. South Paulding (2-0)
  4. Heritage-Conyers (4-0)
  5. Langston Hughes (1-3)
  6. Dacula (3-0)
  7. Alpharetta (5-0)
  8. Allatoona (0-2)
  9. Brunswick (2-0)
  10. Tri-Cities (6-1)

Class AAAAA

  1. Columbia (2-1)
  2. Cedar Shoals (3-0)
  3. Buford (3-0)
  4. Miller Grove (1-1)
  5. Warner Robins (1-0)
  6. Eagle’s Landing (0-1)
  7. Southwest DeKalb (4-1)
  8. Fayette County (1-0)
  9. New Hampstead (2-1)
  10. Riverwood (4-1)

Class AAAA

  1. Sandy Creek (3-1)
  2. Upson-Lee (5-0)
  3. Henry County (3-2)
  4. Thomson (0-0)
  5. North Clayton (0-1)
  6. LaGrange (2-0)
  7. St. Pius X (2-1)
  8. Richmond Academy (4-0)
  9. Westover (0-1)
  10. Stephens County (0-0) 

Class AAA

  1. Westside-Macon (0-1)
  2. Pace Academy (0-1)
  3. Liberty County (3-1)
  4. Morgan County (0-0)
  5. Cedar Grove (0-0)
  6. Greater Atlanta Christian (2-1)
  7. Jenkins (0-3)
  8. Lovett (4-1)
  9. Redan (3-0)
  10. Islands (0-1)

Class AA

  1. South Atlanta (1-0)
  2. Dublin (0-0)
  3. Monticello (3-2)
  4. Callaway (0-0)
  5. Thomasville (0-3)
  6. Butler (3-1)
  7. Vidalia (1-1)
  8. Chattooga (0-0)
  9. Glenn Hills (3-0)
  10. Toombs County (3-0)

Class A-Private

  1. Greenforest (3-1)
  2. North Cobb Christian (3-1)
  3. St. Francis (4-0)
  4. Southwest Atlanta Christian (0-1)
  5. Holy Innocents’ (1-2)
  6. Lakeview Academy (3-0)
  7. Tattnall Square (0-0)
  8. Aquinas (0-0)
  9. Christian Heritage (0-0)
  10. Whitefield Academy (0-1)

Class A-Public

  1. Wilkinson County (0-0)
  2. Crawford County (1-0)
  3. Turner County (0-0)
  4. Calhoun County (1-0)
  5. Quitman County (3-1)
  6. Taylor County (0-1)
  7. Hawkinsville (2-0)
  8. Manchester (0-1)
  9. Lincoln County (0-0)
  10. Hancock Central (0-1)

 

Holiday Hoopsgiving has shed a little bit of light on the state picture, but still a clear state championship favorite in Class AAAAAAA has yet to emerge. The reason why? The parity of competition across the GHSA might be at an all-time high. National rankings don’t mean much when you lace them up and play in the Peach State. Wheeler, MaxPreps’ No. 2 ranked team in the nation, was stunned by Vashon, MO 69-67 at Hoopsgiving after holding an 11-point fourth quarter lead. Any loss is considered a “bad” loss for the Wildcats with as much talent as they have. They did knock off Class 6A No. 2 Jonesboro 66-58 on Friday, but Saturday’s loss drops them to No. 3. Without question the state’s two hottest teams are No. 1 Norcross and No. 2 Newton. Both teams are 4-0 with all eight combined wins against ranked opponents. Newton slammed Class 3A No. 3 Liberty County 104-71 at Hoopsgiving while Norcross countered with a 57-46 win over Class A-Private No. 1 Greenforest. On Saturday, the Rams went to the On the Radar Hoops Showcase and raced past No. 9 Berkmar in the fourth quarter 84-68. Norcross added to their resume an 82-74 win over Class 3A No. 1 Westside-Macon. So why does Norcross jump over Newton as the teams were ranked No. 5 and No. 4 respectively last week? As astounding as the Rams’ wins have been, Norcross’ W’s over Westside-Macon and Greenforest are just an inch better, even though Greenforest is without leading scorer Justin Forrest due to a foot injury. Newton’s electric romp of Liberty County was breathtaking, but if we are being honest, this Liberty County team just isn’t the same right now without Richard LeCounte, the 5-star UGA football recruit who averaged 20 points and 5 rebounds as a junior. LeCounte will not be playing basketball this year and the loss of his dynamic athleticism showed in their game against Newton. No. 6 McEachern is quietly looming, picking up wins over Class 6A No. 8 Allatoona and Class 6A No. 5 Langston Hughes. No. 7 Collins Hill rises after beating Class 5A No. 1 Columbia 54-51 at the Cleveland Stroud Classic. The Eagles did however suffer a loss to Class 5A No. 7 Southwest DeKalb in the championship game, 65-61. No. 5 Westlake had a shot to earn a Top-3 ranking, but the Lions fell to Greenforest 59-57. No. 10 Tift County slides back to the bottom of the poll. Montverde Academy, FL beat the Blue Devils by 32, but that’s not why they fall. Their big win over Thomasville a week ago which boosted them up the polls now doesn’t look like a signature victory as the Bulldogs are 0-3 to start.  Tift County however did rebound after their loss to Montverde by beating Lake Minneola, FL 63-47, Preston Horne scoring a career-high 40 points.

With Class AAAAAA Preseason No. 1 Jonesboro losing to Wheeler, No. 1 Gainesville has just enough to sneak past the Cardinals to earn the top spot. Much like Class 7A, expect Class 6A to be in flux all year long. Gainesville’s new ranking will be put to the test right away as they see St. Pius, Milton, Lee (Huntsville), Brookwood and St .Pius again in a challenging stretch. Jonesboro has six region games in a row before heading to the City of Palms Classic. No. 4 Heritage-Conyers climbs two spots to No. 4. The Patriots blew out Peachtree Ridge at the On the Radar Showcase 77-59 behind Jordan Thomas’ 26 points and Isaiah Banks’ 19. Langston Hughes is the most dangerous 1-3 team in the state as the Panthers drop to No. 5. It took a heroic once-in-a-lifetime performance from Javon Greene to help Class 4A No. 3 Henry County stun Langston Hughes in overtime, 92-89. Still licking their wounds from a tough to swallow defeat, Hughes was beat on Saturday by Class 7A No. 6 McEachern 70-61. Their only win of the season came against Northside-Columbus at the Columbus Classic Shootout, 105-65. Landers Nolley scored 50 in the win and followed up his performance with 35 in the loss to Henry County. No. 6 Dacula has taken care of business so far behind Arusha Hunter and Mekhail Bethea. No. 7 Alpharetta is trying to force its way into the discussion as one of the state’s elite Class AAAAAA programs. The Raiders beat Johns Creek in the Progressive Lighting Thanksgiving Tournament championship 70-53 and followed up by beating Duke signee Alex O’Connell and Milton 70-68 on an Ellis Merriweather buzzer beater. No. 8 Allatoona starts the year 0-2 with a 46-43 loss to McEachern and a 60-54 loss to Lee, AL. The Bucs enter region play for the next three games and should be able to get back on track. Alexander was bounced from the poll, losing to Hillgrove 70-55. Replacing them is No. 10 Tri-Cities. The Bulldogs dropped their first game of the year to Ribault, FL at the Andrew Jackson Thanksgiving Tournament.

Even with a loss to Collins Hill, Columbia holds on as No. 1 in Class AAAAA. Cedar Shoals and Buford are close behind at No. 2 and No. 3.  Buford beat Class 3A No. 6 GAC 66-57. Not too much changes in the poll except for Southwest DeKalb’s jump to No. 7. The Panthers’ balanced offense and aggressive defense has given teams fits. They won the Cleveland Stroud Classic by beating Collins Hill in overtime. No. 9 New Hampstead has challenged themselves, losing to York Prep, SC 71-65. Riverwood holds onto No. 10 after losing to South Forsyth 70-61 as UNCW signee Evan Cole dropped in 39 points. The Raiders bounced back with a 67-62 overtime win against Blessed Trinity.

Sandy Creek has looked good since earning the No. 1 ranking in Class AAAA. The Patriots dropped No. 5 North Clayton 69-55 behind Evan Jester’s 22 points and 12 rebounds. No. 2 Upson-Lee has cruised, but hasn’t seen much competition yet. The Knights beat Class A-Public No. 6 Taylor County 46-34 in their toughest game. That will change however as A-Public No. 2 Crawford County hosts Upson-Lee this Tuesday in a rivalry game that hasn’t been played in years. Back up to No. 3 is Henry County. Javon Greene went berserk at Holiday Hoopsgiving, pouring in an event record 57 points to stun Langston Hughes. No. 8 Richmond Academy looks primed to jump No. 7 St. Pius if the Golden Lions can’t upset Gainesville in Hall County.

Class AAA has a few developing stories including Westside-Macon rising to No. 1 in the state after losing to Norcross. Pace Academy opens up slow just like last year, losing to Jemison, AL 67-50 at the Lighthouse Classic. The Knights fall to No. 2. From what I saw against Norcross, it looks like Westside-Macon has more pieces to the puzzle than Pace does. The Knights were able to ride Wendell Carter to a state title last year, but I don’t think the playoffs will lay out as nicely for them this year with the likes of Westside and Liberty County in the mix instead of Manchester. Speaking of No. 3 Liberty County, they took a whipping from Newton but bounced back strong against Friendship Academy, DC. No. 7 Jenkins is in the danger zone, threatening to drop out of the Top 10. They fall three spots and are now 0-3. Losses to Meadowcreek (69-58) and Class A-Private No. 5 Holy Innocents’ (71-67) hurt a lot. If Jenkins or anyone else drops out, Dougherty might crack the rankings. The Trojans are 3-0 and have been powered by 6-foot-9 forward Carlos Curry.

Everything has changed in Class AA with No. 5 Thomasville’s poor play. Their guards have let them down in a major way, but luckily for them the season is still young. No. 3 Monticello went to the Impact Sports Invitational in South Carolina and lost to Dorman (86-57) and Spartanburg Christian (60-59) before beating Laurens (79-45). Ashton Bonner and CJ Adams have excelled in Coach BJ Thomas’ backcourt. Banks County and Swainsboro both say goodbye to the Top 10. Swainsboro lost 76-58 to Twiggs County and were beaten by Effingham County 61-54. Banks County suffered a 72-59 loss to Hart County. Two surprises replace the two exiting teams. No. 9 Glenn Hills and No. 10 Toombs County. Glenn Hills has seen 6-foot-8 power forward Timmy Sellers anchor them inside. They will get a major test against Richmond Academy on Dec. 2. Toombs County Head Coach Laberton Sims has nearly matched last year’s 4-win win total in his first year on the job after coming over from Tift County. The Bulldogs haven’t been challenged in their wins, beating West Laurens (57-42), East Laurens (65-25) and Jenkins County (74-58).

Greenforest remains No. 1 in Class A-Private and continues to wait on the return of Justin Forrest. Their win over Westlake was a nice early season gut-check. No. 2 North Cobb Christian dropped their first game to Orlando Christian Prep, 51-46. No. 5 Holy Innocents’ 71-67 win over Jenkins keeps them ahead of No. 6 Lakeview Academy, who won the Piedmont College Harwood Classic. No. 10 Whitefield Academy clings onto the final spot after a loss to Hillgrove in the Powder Town Showdown.

Quitman County jumps to No. 5  in Class A-Public after a 3-1 start. Their lone loss came against Eufala, AL by one. No. 2 Crawford County crunched Mary Persons 85-71, setting up a huge game with Upson-Lee. Manchester dropped the ball against Harris County 68-64 and falls one spot. Hancock Central is reeling, plummeting four spots to No. 10 after losing to Baldwin 53-35.