Class AAAAAAA
1. Newton (2-0)
2. Milton (1-0)
3. Berkmar (0-0)
4. Pebblebrook (2-0)
5. North Gwinnett (2-0)
6. Grayson (1-1)
7. Etowah (2-0)
8. Norcross (1-1)
9. East Coweta (3-0)
10. Parkview (2-0)
Class AAAAAA
1. Wheeler (1-0)
2. Westlake (1-1)
3. Kell (0-0)
4. Buford (1-0)
5. Osborne (2-0)
6. Lanier (1-1)
7. Statesboro (1-0)
8. Effingham County (0-0)
9. Centennial (3-0)
10. Shiloh (2-0)
Class AAAAA
1. Eagle’s Landing (0-0)
2. Tri-Cities (1-0)
3. Jonesboro (0-1)
4. St. Pius X (0-0)
5. Calhoun (0-0)
6. Jones County (2-0)
7. Walnut Grove (1-1)
8. Clarke Central (0-1)
9. Decatur (1-0)
10. Southwest DeKalb (2-0)
Class AAAA
1. Baldwin (1-0)
2. McDonough (2-0)
3. Spencer (2-0)
4. Fayette County (1-1)
5. Monroe (2-0)
6. Mays (1-0)
7. North Oconee (1-0)
8. Westover (1-0)
9. Cedar Shoals (0-2)
10. Dougherty (0-1)
Class AAA
1. Sandy Creek (1-0)
2. Windsor Forest (1-0)
3. Salem (1-0)
4. LaFayette (0-0)
5. Thomson (1-0)
6. Hart County (0-1)
7. Peach County (0-1)
8. Oconee County (2-1)
9. Monroe Area (0-0)
10. Johnson-Savannah (1-0)
Class AA
1. Pace Academy (2-0)
2. Columbia (0-0)
3. Westside-Augusta (2-0)
4. Butler (0-1)
5. Woodville-Tompkins (1-2)
6. Thomasville (0-1)
7. Chattooga (0-1)
8. Northeast-Macon (0-1)
9. Washington County (0-0)
10. Rabun County (0-0)
Class A-Private
1. Providence Christian (2-1)
2. Galloway (4-1)
3. Greenforest (1-1)
4. Christian Heritage (1-0)
5. North Cobb Christian (1-0)
6. King’s Ridge (2-0)
7. Darlington (0-0)
8. WD Mohammed (2-1)
9. First Presbyterian Day (0-0)
10. Mt. Pisgah (0-1)
Class A-Public
1. Drew Charter (2-0)
2. Social Circle (0-0)
3. Portal (1-0)
4. Chattahoochee County (0-0)
5. Dublin (0-0)
6. Warren County (0-0)
7. Lanier County (1-0)
8. Bowdon (2-0)
9. Manchester (0-0)
10. Turner County (0-0)
The GHSA this week: The Good, The Bad, The Disturbingly Ugly.
The nation was rocked late Wednesday night after Class 7A defending champion No. 2 Milton opened their season with a 83-47 win over Roswell but subsequently had George Mason-signee Cam Walker and Jonathan Murray arrested afterwards in connection with the murder of 24-year-old Connor Mediate in what is being described as a drug deal that went sideways last month. Milton, the No. 2 ranked team in the country according to MaxPreps, now sees their season hang in the balance with uncertainty surrounding the status of the program. Rumors have already swirled about what may happen next. A brief shutdown? Possible transfers? The Eagles were replaced from Saturday’s Jared Cook Classic and a GHSA investigation could be on the table after the police report stated Walker had two separate home addresses so he would be able to play at Milton. For what has happened on the floor, the Eagles drop a spot in the rankings and may completely disappear from the poll if they are unable to return to action for their next scheduled game on 12/4 against Pebblebrook. If Milton is able to continue on this year and keep the rest of the team intact, they are still a legitimate title contender, but for now we will have to wait and see which dominos fall next. No. 1 Newton ascends to the top of the rankings after punishing No. 8 Norcross at the On The Radar Tip-Off Classic. The Rams held a 20-point lead at the half before settling for an 83-67 statement win at the House of Blue. After committing to UConn earlier in the week, Stephon Castle posted 22 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists for Newton followed by Indiana-commit Jakai Newton’s 17 points and 5 rebounds and UGA-commit Marquavious Brown’s 14 points. Daniel Pounds added 13 points and 7 rebounds. No. 4 Pebblebrook is up a spot thanks to a 66-62 win over Class A-Private No. 3 Greenforest at On The Radar. Rider-signee Kami Young netted 18 points and Jaiun Simon scored 14 to power the Falcons who saw Kendall Campbell leave the program for TSF where he will reclassify and rehab a torn ACL. No. 5 North Gwinnett climbs following wins over Class 6A No. 6 Lanier (64-59) and last week’s Class 5A No. 8 New Manchester (76-41). Dylan Gary scored 19 points in their Jared Cook Classic victory against the Jaguars while 6-foot-7 junior Julian Walker continued his early season emergence with 15 rebounds and 10 blocks. No. 6 Grayson slips two spots after losing 62-60 to Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler at OTR. Clemson-signee Chauncey Wiggins had 15 points in the loss. No. 7 Etowah rises two places with a resounding 67-42 blowout of River Ridge, the Eagles drilling 12 threes led by Brandon Rechsteiner’s five triples and 23 points. Archer (3-1) had their inability to score at a high level come back to bite them as they were upended by debutant No. 10 Parkview 63-54 at the Jared Cook Classic. The Panthers’ backcourt ripped up the Tigers with Asher Woods pouring in 27 points and sophomore Michael Matthews posting 24. Parkview also notched a 72-62 win over Discovery earlier in the week, Jordan Riley dumping in 28 points.
Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler came from behind to beat Class 7A No. 6 Grayson 62-60 at OTR. Isaiah Collier was key with 23 points, 4 rebound and 4 assists while Radford-signee Kyle Burns pitched in 12 points. No. 2 Westlake beat Creekside 75-55, No. 4 Buford opened the season with a 78-46 win over Northview at the Johns Creek Gladiator Showcase and No. 5 Osborne stomped Northgate 80-52. No. 6 Lanier lost 64-59 at Class 7A No. 5 North Gwinnett but bounced back with an 80-68 win against Class 5A No. 7 Walnut Grove, sophomores CJ Hyland (18) and Tahai Morgan (17) combining for 35 points. No. 9 Centennial earned wins over Cherokee 66-60 and Lambert 89-71, Mansir Williamson exploding for 30 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists against the Longhorns. Evans (0-1) drops out following a 72-60 loss at Class 2A No. 3 Westside-Augusta and is replaced by No. 10 Shiloh who secured a 51-44 win over Class A-Private No. 2 Galloway at the Jared Cook Classic. As they’ve done consistently over the past few years, the Generals hit the out of state transfer market and snuck in a key player undetected by the GHSA Transfer List, DJ Leak moving in from Maryland to lead the Generals in scoring with 19 points.
There’s significant movement in Class 5A outside of the Top 5. No. 8 Clarke Central slips two spots following a 72-59 loss at Class 3A No. 8 Oconee County, but the Gladiators were missing three starters and two reserves due to football so their slide in the rankings is more so keyed by the play of No. 6 Jones County and No. 7 Walnut Grove. The Greyhounds springboard into the rankings after beating Warner Robins (2-2) 71-61 behind Jaylen Sanford’s 22 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists. Jones County also has a 63-55 win over Class 2A No. 4 Butler under their belt. Walnut Grove fell 80-68 at Class 6A No. 6 Lanier but bounced back with a 69-54 win against Warner Robins at the Sweet South Classic, knocking the Demons from the Top 10. Shawn Walker dominated the interior vs. Warner Robins with 21 points, 16 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks while DeMyron Williams scored 12 points and John Knott had 11. No. 9 Decatur is up one position with a 67-64 win over Paideia. No. 10 Southwest DeKalb is off to a hot start, bursting into the poll following a 58-53 defeat of Chapel Hill. Jordan Sanders posted 18 points to pace the Panthers. Southwest DeKalb opened their season last week with a 52-37 win against shorthanded Class 4A No. 9 Cedar Shoals. New Manchester (0-2) has challenged themselves early in the season and will be better for it in the long run but for now they must sit outside the Top 10. The Jaguars suffered losses to Alexander (58-50) and Class 7A No. 5 North Gwinnett (76-41) this week.
The defending Class 4A state champs No. 1 Baldwin opened up their title defense with a 78-42 homecoming win for Coach Anthony Webb at Hancock Central. No. 3 Spencer ate up Banneker 76-45 and steamrolled Colquitt County 74-43, Vasean Moody leading five players that cracked double digits with 12 points. Tycen McDaniels collected 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks. No. 4 Fayette County got into the win column behind Indiana-signee Kaleb Banks’ 29 points and 11 rebounds in a 73-51 win against Southwest Atlanta Christian. No. 7 North Oconee climbs a spot with a 59-54 season-opening win at Stephens County, Jake Chandler scoring 19 points while Brodie Scott double-doubled with 18 points and 10 rebounds. No. 9 Cedar Shoals is down two spots after a 69-54 loss to Langston Hughes, but don’t write off the Jaguars just yet. Their top three guards are all injured with Jerdavian Colbert and Elijah Curry sidelined while Kashik Brown has gutted through his own ailment to remain on the floor. Six JV players have seen significant playing time as the Jaguars try to hold down the fort waiting for reinforcements to come.
There is no change in the Class 3A poll. No. 1 Sandy Creek beat Class A-Private No. 1 Providence Christian 71-50, pulling away in the second half. Vic Newsom netted 18 points and Amari Brown scored 14 to pace the Patriots. No. 2 Windsor Forest crushed Richmond Hill on the road 68-31, Georgetown-signee D’ante Bass scoring 15 points. No. 5 Thomson pounded Elbert County 88-45 with Tydrekis Braswell (23), Lavonta Ivery (17) and Timmy Steed (12) doing the bulk of the damage. No. 6 Hart County endured a 76-62 loss to Rabun Gap without the services of Tahj Johnson. JC Curry had 24 points and 7 rebounds in the loss while Sean Teasley racked up 19 points and 7 assists. No. 8 Oconee County was in prime position to climb the poll following wins over Class 5A No. 8 Clarke Central (72-59) and Athens Academy (87-55) but a 50-46 loss in the first round of the Jackson EMC Tip-Off Classic to Marietta soured their opportunity.
Class 2A stays steady. No. 1 Pace Academy beat McEachern 63-55 at the Jared Cook Classic as Cincinnati-signee Josh Reed led the way with 21 points. Freshman Bryson Tiller scored 15 while LJ Moore (13) and Kyle Greene (10) each reached double figures. No. 3 Westside-Augusta earned another Top 10 win, this time dispatching of last week’s Class 6A No. 9 Evans 72-60, Jalexs Ewing pouring in 31 points. There were plenty of losses in the middle of the rankings. No. 5 Woodville-Tompkins avoided a disastrous start, losing 67-52 to Groves and 76-69 at Richmond Hill before hitting a buzzer beater to survive Starr’s Mill 63-62 at the Sweet South Classic. No. 6 Thomasville fell 55-54 to Bainbridge decimated by sickness and missing football players, the Bulldogs were left with just five true varsity players. No. 7 Chattooga saw Damien Head score 18 points, but were stunned by Rockmart 64-49. No. 8 Northeast-Macon had a skeleton crew in their 65-37 loss to Locust Grove at the Sweet South Classic as All-State guard Travion Solomon along with others are still on the gridiron.
Class A-Private holds firm even though the Top 3 all lost. No. 1 Providence Christian got 23 points and 6 rebounds from Citadel-signee Tony Carpio in the Storm’s 71-50 loss to Class 3A No. 1 Sandy Creek at OTR. No. 2 Galloway was knocked off by Class 6A No. 10 Shiloh 51-44 at the Jared Cook Classic, Anthony Arrington providing 22 points, 6 rebounds and 3 steals. No. 3 Greenforest dropped to Class 7A No. 4 Pebblebrook 66-62 at OTR, Florian Tenebay scoring 19 points. No. 4 Christian Heritage trounced Fellowship Christian 69-18 while No. 5 North Cobb Christian went on the road and beat Hardaway 64-56 at the GWC Tip-Off Classic, Jack Hewitt posting 16 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.
Nothing changes in Class A-Public. No. 1 Drew Charter blasted Atlanta Classical Academy 100-41 while No. 8 Bowdon beat the Cavaliers 96-69, Authur Johnson erupting for 39 points, 13 rebounds and 8 assists. No. 7 Lanier County opened up with a 58-42 win against Hamilton County, FL.