GHSA, GHSA Basketball, Rankings

Week 2 Boys Rankings

Class AAAAAAA

  1. McEachern (3-0)
  2. Norcross (5-1)
  3. Wheeler (3-2)
  4. Newton (4-0)
  5. Duluth (4-0)
  6. Grayson (3-1)
  7. Meadowcreek (4-1)
  8. Collins Hill (4-0)
  9. Mountain View (2-1)
  10. Discovery (4-2)

Class AAAAAA

  1. Gainesville (0-3)
  2. Dacula (1-2)
  3. Langston Hughes (0-2)
  4. Coffee (0-0)
  5. Bradwell Institute (3-0)
  6. Tri-Cities (2-1)
  7. Douglas County (1-1)
  8. Jonesboro (0-0)
  9. Tucker (2-1)
  10. Brunswick (1-0)

Class AAAAA

  1. Warner Robins (2-0)
  2. Buford (2-2)
  3. Cedar Shoals (2-1)
  4. Southwest DeKalb (3-1)
  5. Miller Grove (1-2)
  6. Eagle’s Landing (0-0)
  7. McIntosh (1-0)
  8. Columbia (1-1)
  9. Lithonia (4-1)
  10. Maynard Jackson (4-0)

Class AAAA

  1. Upson-Lee (4-0)
  2. St. Pius X (3-0)
  3. Sandy Creek (2-1)
  4. Baldwin (2-2)
  5. Cartersville (0-0)
  6. Mary Persons (1-0)
  7. Carver-Columbus (2-0)
  8. Stephens County (1-0)
  9. Westover (1-2)
  10. Americus-Sumter (3-0)

Class AAA

  1. Morgan County (4-0)
  2. Johnson-Savannah (1-0)
  3. Greater Atlanta Christian (3-1)
  4. Cedar Grove (0-2)
  5. Westside-Macon (0-1)
  6. Jenkins (0-1)
  7. Pace Academy (0-0)
  8. Calhoun (0-0)
  9. Dougherty (2-1)
  10. Westminster (2-1)

Class AA

  1. Glenn Hills (1-0)
  2. Banks County (2-0)
  3. Dublin (1-0)
  4. Thomasville (3-0)
  5. South Atlanta (2-1)
  6. Swainsboro (0-1)
  7. Jeff Davis (3-0)
  8. Butler (1-0)
  9. Therrell (4-2)
  10. Northeast-Macon (3-0) 

Class A-Private

  1. St. Francis (2-1)
  2. Aquinas (1-1)
  3. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (1-1)
  4. Wesleyan (1-0)
  5. Stratford Academy (0-0)
  6. Lakeview Academy (1-2)
  7. North Cobb Christian (3-1)
  8. King’s Ridge Christian (2-0)
  9.  Mt. Pisgah (3-1)
  10. Holy Innocents’ (0-3)

Class A-Public

  1. Calhoun County (2-0)
  2. Central-Talbotton (2-0)
  3. Macon County (0-0)
  4. Treutlen (0-0)
  5. Montgomery County (2-0)
  6. Wilcox County (1-1)
  7. Wilkinson County (0-0)
  8. Pelham (0-0)
  9. Woodville-Tompkins (1-1)
  10. Mt. Zion-Carroll (0-0)

Class AAAAAAA sees some shakeup this week. No. 1 McEachern was pushed to the brink by GISA’s Holy Spirit Prep before rallying behind Sharife Cooper’s 14 points in overtime and 27 on the night to win 69-60 at Under Armour’s Hard in the Paint. No. 3 Wheeler fell to Holy Spirit Prep earlier in the week 74-62, but picked up wins over Class 5A No. 3 Cedar Shoals 76-58 and Class 5A No. 2 Buford 78-65. EJ Montgomery averaged 34 points and 14 rebounds against the two Class 5A powers while dropping in 28 points against Holy Spirit Prep. Just like last year, Coach Rick Rasmussen’s No. 4 Newton Rams are off to a blistering start. Ashton Hagans toyed with opponents in their Holiday Hoopsgiving sweep of Class 5A No. 8 Columbia (94-64) and Pebblebrook (87-78), who falls out of the Top 10 along with Shiloh (2-3). Replacing the Falcons (2-1) and Generals are No. 7 Meadowcreek and No. 10 Discovery. The Mustangs drilled Trinity Christian, NC at Hoopsgiving 78-43 before knocking off Class 6A No. 1 Gainesville 62-61. Discovery beat Class 6A No. 2 Dacula 78-75 in overtime at the Craig Sager Memorial Tournament. Aside from Pebblebrook and Shiloh, Class AAAAAAA’s biggest dropper was No. 6 Grayson, who slides three spots after a nail-biting 67-64 loss to new Class 5A No. 1 Warner Robins. Charleston Southern-signee Travis Anderson scored 18 points and Nick Edwards added 14, but the Rams had no answer for Georgia State’s Nelson Phillips.

The top of Class AAAAAA has struggled against premier competition, but the Top 3 remain unchanged due to the caliber of teams they have played. No. 1 Gainesville is now 0-3 and may open up the season with an ugly mark after the first nine games, but the Red Elephants will still be a force come state playoff time. No. 2 Dacula hasn’t quite seen the national flavor that Gainesville has, but the Falcons have battled some of the state’s best, losing in overtime on two buzzer beaters at the Craig Sager Memorial, 67-65 to Class 3A No. 1 Morgan County and 78-75 to Class 7A No. 10 Discovery. No. 3 Langston Hughes fell to Mountain Brook, AL 59-45, who beat Class 7A No. 2 Norcross 79-62 the day before at Holiday Hoopsgiving. No. 6 Tri-Cities climbs back over No. 7 Douglas County after going 2-0 in Florida, beating Andrew Jackson 67-56 and Providence School 50-47. The Tigers lost a close one to Pebblebrook 79-76. Alpharetta (1-2) tumbles out of the Top 10 following a disappointing start. The Raiders lost to newly ranked Class 3A No. 10 Westminster 62-58. Replacing Alpharetta is defending State Runner-Up No. 10 Brunswick. The Pirates will be tested this Tuesday as they host No. 4 Coffee.

There is a new leader in the clubhouse in Class AAAAA. No. 1 Warner Robins takes over for No. 2 Buford. The Demons beat Grayson 67-64 behind Nelson Phillips’ 14-point fourth quarter, a part of his 27-point, 8-rebounds, 4-assist, 2-block masterpiece. Jacolbey Owens drilled three threes and finished with 17 points. Buford must get healthy. Lipscomb-signee Alex Jones has yet to play, hurting the Wolves’ machine of an offense. After beating Discovery 65-50, Buford fell to Morgan County 57-54 and Wheeler 78-65. Without Jones, Donell Nixon has been forced to take over the primary ball-handling duties. Nixon is a lethal three-point shooter, but instead of sneaking around the perimeter to find his shots off Jones’ assists, Nixon has to make sure everyone gets involved before releasing his three-point barrage. Marcus Watson and Georgia Southern-signee David Viti have been playing at a high clip, but they need the No. 1 2018 point guard in Georgia back on the floor. No. 8 Columbia plummets three spots after laying an egg on the big stage, getting whipped by Newton 94-64. No. 4 Southwest DeKalb rises three spots behind a perfect record at the Memphis Showcase. Starr’s Mill (2-1) takes a quick exit from the poll after losing to undefeated Hoover, AL 52-43. Expect the Panthers to be back in the mix very soon. No. 10 Maynard Jackson gets the nod. Marquavius Carter is averaging 24 points per game while TJ Boykin is putting up 13.8 points and 5.8 rebounds a night. 6-foot-5 sophomore Timipa Ogun has blossomed into a post presence, posting 11 points, 13.3 rebounds and 3 blocks per game for the Jaguars.

The gap between No. 1 Upson-Lee and No. 2 St. Pius may be shrinking. While the Knights have been crushing lesser competition, the Golden Lions have instead decided to test themselves with their early non-region schedule. St. Pius blitzed defending Class A-Private state champion Greenforest 73-52 and have been clicking on all cylinders. Unless someone can step up from the field, don’t be surprised to see the Knights and the Golden Lions on a crash course for a rematch of last year’s thrilling state championship. A team that could throw a monkey wrench into that plan? No. 6 Mary Persons. Cam Holden unleashed a 43-point 17-rebound double-double to open his senior season with a win over Houston County, 82-74. Richmond Academy (3-1) drops from the poll after an 84-67 loss to Lakeside-Evans.  No. 10 Americus-Sumter debuts after wins over Lee County (44-42), Class 3A No. 9 Dougherty (59-57) and Monroe (60-41).

No. 1 Morgan County is racking up the quality wins in Class AAA. Dacula, Buford and Westlake (67-61) have all ran into the buzz-saw from Madison. Tyrin Lawrence and Alec Woodard have brought their game to the next level while Stevin Greene and Anthony Cooper continue to make winning plays. Spots No. 3 through No. 6 all suffered losses. No. 3 GAC fell to Peachtree Ridge in the Tabo’s Tip-Off Classic Championship, 68-61. No. 4 Cedar Grove sinks to 0-2 after losing to Milton 66-60. No. 5 Westside-Macon was overmatched against possibly the nation’s best team, Montverde Academy, FL, 103-55 while No. 6 Jenkins couldn’t close out Hoover, AL, 59-58. Long County (1-2) is out of the Top 10 after a tough 74-71 overtime loss to Class 2A No. 7 Jeff Davis. The Blue Tide is replaced by No. 10 Westminster. The Wildcats defeated Pope 67-54 and Alpharetta 62-58 at the Roswell Rotary Honor Air Invitational.

Swainsboro was handled by Effingham County 65-57 to open the season, dropping the Tigers from No. 1 to No. 6 in Class AA. No. 1 Glenn Hills takes over the top spot with a win over Greenbrier 64-57. No. 2 Banks County is the most consistent and most reliable team week in and week out. They thrashed Hart County 94-58 and overwhelmed East Hall 82-72 behind Carl Cleveland’s seven three-pointers en route to 29 points. Dylan Orr added 22 points, 16 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 blocks while Gabe Martin pitched in 13 points and Darius Bonds tallied 9 points and 7 assists. The Leopards’ inside-outside game is the most balanced in the state. Don’t sleep on defending State Champion No. 5 South Atlanta, though. The Hornets stung Westlake 74-70, Jalen Stegall dropping in 30 points with Dre Barnes adding 26. New look No. 3 Dublin got by West Laurens 66-55. Clarence Jackson scored 18 in his debut with the Irish while Kameron Pauldo netted 18 of his own. Laney (3-1) and Monticello (1-1) depart from the rankings. Laney was upset by Greenbrier 71-67 and the Hurricanes were trounced by Jones County, 82-64. Into the Top 10 is No. 9 Therrell and No. 10 Northeast-Macon. Therrell turned heads at the Craig Sager Memorial, barely losing to Morgan County 84-78. The Panthers already have wins over Salem (47-34) and Mays (62-60). They fell to a good Class 4A No. 7 Carver-Columbus team 69-55. Sophomore combo guard Deandre Brown has been a revelation, pouring in over 25 points per game. The Raiders of Northeast-Macon may be coming of age. Ty’ree Gilbert, Cameron Cherry and Darius Dunn are combining to score over 40 points per game in Coach Kevin Grooms’ backcourt. The Raiders picked up a big 65-62 win over a blossoming East Coweta program.

The Class A-Private is getting a little clearer. The most evident take away from Holiday Hoopsgiving? Greenforest (2-2) is no longer Greenforest. The dynasty is over as the Eagles were throttled by St. Pius after opening the game down 20-0. Greenforest can not handle a full court press and for that reason, the Eagles sink from No. 3 in the state to unranked. They have a lot to prove after their poor showings against Grayson and the Golden Lions. Their win over a short-handed Sacred Heart, AL team 81-65 is not enough to save Greenforest from their early fall from grace.  No. 1 St. Francis hangs onto their top spot after a tough loss to Carmel Christian, NC 71-67. No. 2 Aquinas swaps with No. 3 Eagle’s Landing Christian following their 65-40 victory. The Fighting Irish went 23-of-29 from the foul line while Malachi Rhodes and company attempted just three free throws. With Greenforest falling out of the Top 10, winless No. 10 Holy Innocents’ rejoins the picture. With the bottom of Class A-Private still so unsettled with who is for real and who is a pretender, the Golden Bears’ “moral victories” are enough to crack the poll while other schools haven’t seen the same level of competition. They pushed ELCA to the limit before bowing out 68-63. Freshman swingman Garrison Powell impressed enough to pick up an offer from Middle Tennessee State at Holiday Hoopsgiving. Matt Meadows, Josh Smith and Alex Hyatt form a nice mix of veteran leadership and youth that should begin to rack up the wins in region play.

No. 1 Calhoun County is on a mission to win Class A-Public after falling short in the title game a year ago. The Cougars cracked No. 6 Wilcox County 66-39. No. 2 Central-Talbotton rises up a spot over idle No. 3 Macon County following their 78-74 win over Harris County. Coach Lenny Williams’ No. 9 Woodville-Tompkins Wolverines are playing well and will have a great test when they visit Region 3 frontrunner No. 4 Treutlen on Tuesday. The Wolverines nearly upset Class 6A No. 5 Bradwell Institute at the Joe Greene Classic before running out of gas 62-56. Junior Preston Crisp is averaging 15.5 points per game while sophomore Bernard Pelote is tossing in 14.5.