GHSA, GHSA Basketball, Rankings

Week 2 Rankings

Class AAAAAA

  1. Westlake (4-0) [d. 3ANo. 5 East Jackson 94-70, IMG Academy (FL) 71-54, 2ANo. 2 Pace 79-72]
  2. Shiloh (2-1) [d. Grissom (AL) 66-33, Pebblebrook 68-63, L. Southwind (TN) 82-76]
  3. Wheeler (1-1)
  4. Norcross (3-1) [d. 4ANo. 2 Jonesboro 70-65, L. 1ANo. 1 Greenforest 77-48]
  5. Collins Hill (3-0) [d. Central Gwinnett 62-52, Olympic (NC) 73-52, Concord Academy (NC) 61-50]
  6. Tift County (4-0) [d. McEachern 56-48, Tucker 65-54]
  7. Pebblebrook (1-3) [L. 1ANo. 1 Greenforest 87-59, No. 1 Shiloh 68-63]
  8. Lambert (4-0) [d. North Gwinnett 63-60, Hardaway 79-41, Langston Hughes 72-65]
  9. Milton (2-2) [L. Arlington Country Day (FL) 80-68, 1ANo. 2 St. Francis 86-81]
  10. Newton (2-1) [d. Berkmar 62-58]

Class AAAAA

  1. Miller Grove (3-0) [d. Columbus (MS) 64-54]
  2. Gainesville (1-0) [d. 1ANo.2 St. Francis 70-58]
  3. McIntosh (2-1) [L. Douglas County 84-81, d. IMG Academy (FL) 61-53]
  4. Allatoona (1-0) [d. Americus-Sumter 67-55]
  5. Heritage (5-0) [d. Discovery 80-47]
  6. Brunswick (2-0) [d. Johnson-Savannah 57-54, Wayne County 72-59]
  7. Warner Robins (3-0) [d. Perry 85-55]
  8. Cedar Shoals (4-0) [d. Creekside 67-52, Tri-Cities 62-56]
  9. Riverwood (6-0) [d. West Forsyth 64-49, 2ANo. 6 GAC 51-40, 3ANo. 9 Blessed Trinity 58-50]
  10. LaGrange (2-0) [d. Newnan 63-59, Mundy’s Mill 87-72]

Class AAAA

  1. Lithonia (2-2) [L. Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) 72-53, 3ANo. 3 Morgan County 44-41]
  2. Jonesboro (0-2) [L. 6ANo. 4 Norcross 70-56, Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) 52-51]
  3. Liberty County (1-0)
  4. Bainbridge (0-0)
  5. St. Pius (3-0) [d. Decatur 54-56]
  6. Henry County (3-0)
  7. Grady (3-0) [d. No. 8 Sandy Creek 67-66, Mays 76-59]
  8. Sandy Creek (4-2) [d. Griffin 91-51, L. No. 7 Grady 67-66, Wasatch Academy (UT) 97-72]
  9. Fayette County (3-0) [d. Walton 67-60]
  10. Worth County (2-1)

Class AAA

  1. Laney (2-0) [d. Grovetown 102-71]
  2. Jenkins (1-0) [d. Creekview 74-67]
  3. Morgan County (3-1) [d. Hampton 71-27, Stone Mountain 71-54, 4ANo.1 Lithonia 44-41]
  4. South Atlanta (2-0)
  5. East Jackson (2-2) [L. 6ANo.1 Westlake 94-70, Grayson 72-68, d. Huntsville (AL) 83-78]
  6. Calhoun (0-0)
  7. Cedar Grove (1-0)
  8. Callaway (0-0)
  9. Blessed Trinity (3-1) [d. Chapel Hill 50-46, L. 5ANo.9 Riverwood 58-50]
  10. East Hall (2-1) [d. Rabun County 84-63, Paideia 68-54, L. 1ANo. 8 Lakeview Academy 87-69]

Class AA

  1. Seminole County (0-0)
  2. Pace Academy (0-1) [L. 6ANo.1 Westlake 79-72]
  3. Crawford County (0-0)
  4. Thomasville (5-0) [d. Lowndes 70-69, Bay (FL) 63-36, Cairo 70-24]
  5. Holy Innocents’ (2-1) [d. Duluth 61-60, Sacred Heart (AL) 64-62]
  6. GAC (3-2) [d. River Ridge 66-47, L. 5ANo. 9 Riverwood 51-40]
  7. Vidalia (2-0) [d. West Laurens 85-48]
  8. Early County (1-0) [d. Quitman County 80-46]
  9. Swainsboro (1-1) [d. Effingham County 66-65]
  10.  Lovett (2-0)

Class A-Private

  1. Greenforest (5-0) [d. Lee (AL) 87-46, 6ANo. 7 Pebblebrook 87-59, 6ANo. 4 Norcross 77-48]
  2. St. Francis (2-2) [L. 5ANo. 2 Gainesville 70-58, d. 6ANo. 9 Milton 86-81]
  3. North Cobb Christian (3-0) [d. Woodland 82-28, Coahulla Creek 68-44, Darlington 74-41]
  4. Whitefield Academy (1-1) [d. Hillgrove 64-54]
  5. Landmark Christian (4-0) [d. Jackson 84-57]
  6. SWAC (2-2)
  7. St. Anne-Pacelli (1-0) [d. Strong Rock 77-30]
  8. Lakeview Academy (2-1) [d. Stephens County 67-57, 3ANo.10 East Hall 87-69]
  9. Stratford Academy (0-0)
  10. Tattnall Square Academy (0-0)

Class A-Public

  1. Calhoun County (1-0) [d. Miller County 82-45]
  2. Hancock Central (3-0) [d. Putnam County 78-72, Baldwin 65-57]
  3. Treutlen (0-0)
  4. Wilkinson County (0-0)
  5. Turner County (0-0)
  6. Randolph-Clay (2-0)
  7. Greenville (0-0)
  8. Dooly County (0-0)
  9. Portal (0-0)
  10. Terrell County (1-2) 

The depth of quality teams in Class AAAAAA continues to make it tough. With only a handful of games played, each team is still trying to sort itself out and find its identity. One team that has had no problem so far has been No. 1 Westlake (4-0) who takes over the top spot over No. 2 Shiloh (2-1) by the slightest of margins. This past week the Lions have blown out 3ANo. 5 East Jackson, 94-70 and IMG Academy (FL), 71-54 before rallying to beat the No. 1 ranked prospect in the Class of 2017, Wendell Carter Jr. and his 2ANo. 2 Pace Academy Knights in the finale of Holiday Hoopsgiving, 79-72. Chuma Okeke and Jamie Lewis continued to be superstars for Coach Darron Rodgers’ team. Okeke went for 24 points, 11 rebounds and six steals while Lewis dropped in 22 points to complete the comeback after trailing 41-30 at the half.  Shiloh’s lone loss came to Southwind (TN) 82-76, but quickly rebounded at the On the Radar Hoops Showcase, downing No. 7 Pebblebrook 68-63 in a back and forth game. No. 4 Norcross (3-1) slips a spot after a 77-48 loss to 1ANo. 1 Greenforest Christian. Collins Hill (3-0) and Tift County (4-0) rise to No. 5 and No. 6 respectively after the Eagles picked up a pair of wins in North Carolina and Tift added quality notches to its belt, beating McEachern 56-48 and Tucker 65-54. No. 9 Milton (2-2) slips four spots after falling to Arlington Country Day (FL) 80-68 and 1ANo. 2 St. Francis, 86-81. No. 10 Newton (2-1) continues to cling onto a top ten spot after defeating Berkmar 62-58. Douglas County (3-1) looked like they would enter the polls after defeating 5ANo. 3 McIntosh 84-81, but Dacula (3-0), who might not be out of the top ten for much longer, turned them back with a 78-71 win behind Derek St. Hilaire’s 29 points and Kevon Tucker’s 22. Grayson (3-0) is also off to a hot start and came from behind to beat East Jackson 72-68. In the win Alphonso Willis scored 23 and Austin Dukes dropped 20 points, all in the second-half, to lead the charge.

In Class AAAAA, No. 1 Miller Grove (3-0) held on against Columbus (MS) in the Lighthouse Classic for a 64-54 win. No. 2 Gainesville (1-0) defeated 1ANo. 2 St. Francis 70-58 in the Jared Cook Classic while Kobi Simmons sat out with a bad ankle. No. 3 McIntosh (2-1) matches its loss total from all of last season after splitting in Holiday Hoopsgiving, losing to Douglas County by three, but rebounding to beat IMG Academy (FL), 61-53. Will Washington, Jordan Lyons and Dishon Lowery were all sensational for the Chiefs. Lowery pulled down 35 rebounds all together in the two-day stint while Lyons averaged 25 points and Washington 17.5 points. No. 5 Heritage (5-0) jumps No. 6 Brunswick (2-0) after an impressive start to the season. No. 9 Riverwood (6-0) forces its way into the rankings and jumps both No. 10 LaGrange (2-0) and Southwest DeKalb (4-0) after already knocking off three top ten teams. The Raiders have beaten 2ANo. 5 Holy Innocents’ 54-46, 2ANo. 6 GAC 51-40 and 3ANo. 9 Blessed Trinity 58-50.

The top of Class AAAA saw some vulnerability and shaky play, but No. 1 Lithonia (2-2) and No. 2 Jonesboro (0-2) hold serve and aren’t penalized for early losses. The Bulldogs were drilled by Wesleyan Christian Academy (NC) 72-53 at ATL Hardwood Jam Fest and fell to 3ANo. 3 Morgan County, 44-41. Jonesboro also struggled at Jam Fest, but played well, losing to 6ANo. 4 Norcross 70-65 and Wesleyan Christian Academy 52-51. The Cardinals might be deserving of the No. 1 spot with how close they played both teams, especially WCA compared to how Lithonia played them, but I could not place a winless team over Lithonia just yet. Consider them 1A and 1B at this point of the season, while No. 3 Liberty County (1-0) and No. 4 Bainbridge (0-0) have yet to really kickoff their seasons and won’t face the quality of competition the Cardinals and Bulldogs will throughout the season. No. 5 St. Pius (3-0) remained undefeated against a much improved Decatur team. The Golden Lions rallied behind Kerney Lane’s career-high 31 points to secure the win at the X-Dome. No. 7 Grady (3-0) moves up two spots after knocking off No. 8 Sandy Creek (4-2), 67-66. Bucknell commit Avi Toomer has caught fire for the Knights and has posted three straight double-doubles. He went for 38 points and 12 rebounds to defeat the Patriots who were paced by Elias Harden’s 15. No. 9 Fayette County (3-0) debuts in the polls behind 6-foot-7 junior forward Noah Gurley, who leads the Tigers in scoring at 20 per game while grabbing 7.7 rebounds. He has improved by leaps and bounds after appearing in 22 games last season and when he averaged just 2.1 points.

The wake-up call served to Morgan County (3-1) a week ago must have worked. The Bulldogs opened the season ranked No. 3 in Class AAA before going unranked after a bad loss to Cherokee. Coach Jamond Sims’ group has rebounded and are back at No. 3 after drilling Hampton 71-27 and Stone Mountain 71-54. The big win came against 4ANo. 1 Lithonia 44-41 at ATL Jam Fest. Defense has turned the early season woes around as in their three wins the Bulldogs have allowed just 40.6 points per game. They face their toughest test yet on 12/4 as they visit No. 1 Laney (2-0). No. 2 Jenkins (1-0) struggled out of the gates by beating Creekview 74-67 in overtime in the Dai Jon Parker Classic. No. 5 East Jackson (2-2) falls two spots after losing to 6ANo.1 Westlake and Grayson. Central-Macon (0-0) was bounced out of the poll to make room for Morgan County’s reemergence.

Pace Academy (0-1) holds on to their No. 2 ranking in Class AA after falling 79-72 to 6A No. 1 Westlake. Wendell Carter Jr. fouled out in the fourth quarter which allowed the Lions to storm back for the victory on a 15-5 run with Carter out. He finished with 20 points, 17 rebounds and five blocks in the loss. No. 4 Thomasville (5-0) drilled Cairo 70-24 on Saturday. No. 10 Lovett (2-0) makes an appearance in the top ten.

Class A-Private might be home to the best team in the entire country. No. 1 Greenforest (5-0) left fans in awe at Holiday Hoopsgiving, destroying both 6ANo. 7 Pebblebrook 87-59 and 6ANo. 4 Norcross, 77-48. No. 2 St. Francis (2-2) holds onto their ranking thanks to an 86-81 win over 6ANo.9 Milton at the Dai Jon Parker Classic. The Knights’ 70-58 loss to 5ANo. 2 Gainesville at the Jared Cook Classic was without Kobi Simmons. In Class A-Public, No. 2 Hancock Central (3-0) defeated up-and-coming Baldwin 65-57. The Bulldogs face 2ANo. 3 Crawford County (0-0) on Tuesday.