Class AAAAAAA
1. Grayson (6-0)
2. Wheeler (6-0)
3. McEachern (2-2)
4. Berkmar (3-0)
5. Newton (4-1)
6. Osborne (2-3)
7. Peachtree Ridge (3-1)
8. Archer (4-0)
9. Walton (2-0)
10. Mountain View (4-0)
Class AAAAAA
1. Alexander (5-0)
2. Shiloh (5-0)
3. Riverwood (4-1)
4. Woodward Academy (1-2)
5. Jonesboro (1-3)
6. St. Pius X (2-2)
7. Lakeside-Evans (2-1)
8. South Paulding (0-0)
9. Langston Hughes (1-1)
10. South Cobb (3-0)
Class AAAAA
1. Kell (1-3)
2. Eagle’s Landing (2-1)
3. Maynard Jackson (4-0)
4. Dutchtown (2-2)
5. Mays (5-0)
6. Tucker (4-2)
7. Chapel Hill (1-2)
8. Tri-Cities (2-2)
9. Winder-Barrow (5-1)
10. Decatur (5-1)
Class AAAA
1. Pace Academy (2-0)
2. McDonough (2-0)
3. Holy Innocents’ (2-2)
4. North Oconee (4-0)
5. Madison County (2-0)
6. Walnut Grove (4-0)
7. Fayette County (2-0)
8. Central-Carrollton (1-0)
9. Seckinger (3-1)
10. Baldwin (3-0)
Class AAA
1. Sandy Creek (2-1)
2. Cross Creek (3-1)
3. Cedar Grove (3-2)
4. Douglass (3-2)
5. Dougherty (3-1)
6. Hebron Christian (5-0)
7. Long County (2-0)
8. Richmond Academy (4-0)
9. Johnson-Savannah (2-2)
10. Groves (2-2)
Class AA
1. Columbia (3-0)
2. Westside-Augusta (3-0)
3. Butler (0-1)
4. Dodge County (1-0)
5. Thomson (2-0)
6. Spencer (1-0)
7. North Cobb Christian (2-0)
8. ELCA (2-1)
9. Walker (2-1)
10. Athens Academy (3-1)
Class A D-I
1. Mt. Vernon (3-2)
2. Darlington (0-0)
3. Savannah (3-1)
4. King’s Ridge (3-0)
5. St. Francis (3-4)
6. Paideia (2-4)
7. Oglethorpe County (3-0)
8. Woodville-Tompkins (5-0)
9. Mt. Pisgah (3-3)
10. Temple (0-0)
Class A D-II
1. Christian Heritage (1-0)
2. Portal (0-0)
3. Calhoun County (0-0)
4. Greenforest (3-1)
5. Mitchell County (1-0)
6. Macon County (0-0)
7. Clinch County (0-0)
8. Randolph-Clay (1-0)
9. Jenkins County (0-0)
10. Charlton County (0-0)
Thanksgiving week afforded us loads of Top 10 matchups between signature events like Holiday Hoopsgiving and Hard in the Paint to name a few. While it is early in the season, a few teams are already starting to separate themselves from the field.
Class 7A No. 1 Grayson is nationally ranked and for good reason. The Rams are rolling, scoring wins over No. 7 Peachtree Ridge 80-71 at the On The Radar Thanksgiving Showcase, Class 5A No. 1 Kell 70-54 at Holiday Hoopsgiving and Class 3A No. 1 Sandy Creek 64-63 at Hard in the Paint, rallying in the final minute behind a late go-ahead bucket from UGA-commit Jacob Wilkins who finished with 15 points. Over the three-game span, Amir Taylor averaged 19.3 points per game. No. 2 Wheeler moves up after scoring two wins at the 5 for the Fight Showcase and topping Class 4A No. 3 Holy Innocents’ (66-54) and Class 5A No. 7 Chapel Hill (63-52) at Holiday Hoopsgiving. No. 3 McEachern suffered an 86-59 loss to Columbus, FL at Holiday Hoopsgiving before bouncing back with a 63-47 win over Class 5A No. 4 Dutchtown at Hard in the Paint. No. 5 Newton is on a nice run, polishing off a 3-0 week between the OTR Thanksgiving Showcase and Hard in the Paint, earning wins over Class 5A No. 1 Kell (83-75), Westlake (72-60) and Class 6A No. 3 Riverwood (62-54), Tim Prather and Ted Neal scoring 16 apiece against the Raiders. No. 6 Osborne holds tight following a 1-2 week. The Cardinals knocked off Class 3A No. 3 Cedar Grove 64-50 at OTR, but lost to Class 5A No. 4 Dutchtown 56-52 at Hard in the Paint and to Class 4A No. 1 Pace Academy 71-67 at Holiday Hoopsgiving.
There is no movement in Class 6A. No. 1 Alexander survived Class A D-I No. 1 Mt. Vernon in overtime 62-58 at the Jared Cook Classic behind Gregory Dunson’s 24 points and Kennesaw State-commit Braedan Lue’s 19 before going 3-0 at the National Classic in Chicago. No. 3 Riverwood had close calls at the Cambridge Thanksgiving Classic, outlasting Sequoyah 80-72 and Cambridge 66-65 before falling 62-54 to Class 7A No. 5 Newton at Hard in the Paint. No. 4 Woodward Academy blew past Class 4A No. 3 Holy Innocents’ 69-49 at Hard in the Paint, Deke Cooper (17), Brandon Peters (16) and Payton Waites (14) combining for 47 points. No. 5 Jonesboro went 3-2 in the Bahamas at the William Dale Burns Classic finishing in third-place. The Cardinals clipped Southwest DeKalb 50-48 and fell in the semifinal game against Class 2A No. 1 Columbia 48-46. No. 7 Lakeside-Evans lost to Greenbrier 85-72 but bounced back at the 100 Black Men Classic, beating Augusta Christian 59-56.
Class 5A No. 1 Kell is on the verge of dropping from the top spot after losing to Class 7A No. 5 Newton 83-75 at the OTR Thanksgiving Showcase and 70-54 to Class 7A No. 1 Grayson 70-54 at Holiday Hoopsgiving. No. 2 Eagles’s Landing split with Florida teams losing to Mater Lakes 55-53 and beating Sagemont 62-57. No. 3 Maynard Jackson netted a pair of Top 10 wins on their home floor at Hard in the Paint, topping Class A D-I No. 6 Paideia 75-57 and Class 3A No. 4 Douglass 64-58, Cam Dover shining in both victories. No. 4 Dutchtown went 1-1 at Hard in the Paint, defeating Class 7A No. 6 Osborne 56-52 and losing to Class 7A No. 3 McEachern 63-47. No. 5 Mays rises a spot with wins over Druid Hills 90-81 and Class 3A No. 3 Cedar Grove 63-46 at HITP, Derron Lindsey scoring 26 points apiece including hitting eight threes against the Saints. No. 6 Tucker climbs four spots after beating Hillgrove in overtime 66-63 but falling to Buford in double overtime 75-73 at the Sprayberry Thanksgiving Tournament. No. 7 Chapel Hill is down two spots following losses to Valdosta (72-70) and Class 7A No. 2 Wheeler (63-52). Region 2 teams Union Grove (3-2) and Warner Robins (1-1) drop out. The Wolverines went 0-2 at the Thanksgiving HoopFeast while the Demons lost at home at the HypeSouth Hardwood Invitational, defeated by Valdosta 71-62. No. 9 Winder-Barrow debuts after winning the North Georgia Report Thanksgiving Classic with victories over Lambert 60-52 and Mill Creek 59-54, Tyrin Sims scoring 16 points followed by Jerrin Samuel’s 15 in the title game. No. 10 Decatur bursts into the rankings after beating Class 3A No. 4 Douglass 63-48 at Hard in the Paint, Alden Daniels and Luke Brooks netting 15 apiece to pair with Jason Welborn’s 14 points.
In Class 4A, No. 1 Pace Academy slipped past Class 7A No. 6 Osborne 71-67 at Holiday Hoopsgiving for Coach Sharman White’s 500th career win while No. 2 McDonough survived Houston County 55-53 at the HypeSouth Hardwood Invitational, Nigel Thomas netting five threes en route to finishing with 17 points and 7 rebounds. No. 3 Holy Innocents’ hangs onto their place after losing to Class 7A No. 2 Wheeler 66-54 at Holiday Hoopsgiving and Class 6A No. 4 Woodward Academy 69-49 at Hard in the Paint. No. 4 North Oconee held off Class A D-I No. 9 Mt. Pisgah 59-50 at the Truett McConnell Pro Sports Showcase. Mason Smith poured in 31 points for No. 5 Madison County in their 86-77 win at Clarke Central in the Billy Wade Classic. No. 6 Walnut Grove outlasted Parkview in overtime at the Jared Cook Classic 53-51 as Marcus Smith II and Tyler Jewell scored 16 points each. Westover (2-1) falls out following a 59-51 loss to Lovejoy. No. 10 Baldwin climbs into the Top 10 after hammering last week’s Class 2A No. 4 Southwest-Macon 60-42 at the HypeSouth Hardwood Invitational, outscoring the Patriots 34-17 in the second half. Tre Lawrence led the way with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 steals.
Six teams ranked teams suffered losses in Class 3A including everyone in the Top 4. No. 1 Sandy Creek blasted Milton 69-50 at the Jared Cook Classic but fell in heartbreaking fashion to Class 7A No. 1 Grayson 64-63 at Hard in the Paint, Amari Brown leading all scorers with 20 points. No. 2 Cross Creek rises two spots after a 2-1 showing at the Tip-Off at the Dam, beating Dutch Fork, SC 56-52 and Gaston Day, NC 80-73 before losing 63-52 to Wilson, SC. No. 3 Cedar Grove holds onto their spot after losses to Class 7A No. 6 Osborne (64-50) and Class 5A No. 5 Mays (63-46) with a 56-42 win over Grovetown sandwiched in between. No. 4 Douglass slips two spots with Hard in the Paint losses to Class 5A No. 10 Decatur 63-48 and Class 5A No. 3 Maynard Jackson 64-58. No. 5 Dougherty and No. 6 Hebron Christian went 2-0 at their respective tournaments in Florida. No. 9 Johnson-Savannah slips a spot after splitting at the Savannah Hoops Shootout, losing 46-42 to Class A D-I No. 3 Savannah and demolishing Benedictine 71-47. Adairsville (0-2) is out of the poll with an 0-2 showing in the Ridgeland Thanksgiving Tournament, defeated by Signal Mountain, TN 78-63 and East Hamilton, TN 64-63. No. 10 Groves debuts behind wins over Windsor Forest (72-62) and St. Andrew’s (58-50) at the Savannah Hoops Shootout, Sidney Flaggs collecting 17 points, 4 assists and 4 steals against the Lions.
Class 2A No. 1 Columbia recorded five wins in the Bahamas en route to capturing the William Dale Burns Classic Championship. The Eagles scored notable wins over Class 6A No. 5 Jonesboro 48-46 and Oak Ridge, TN in the title game 45-44. No. 2 Westside-Augusta buzzsawed Greenbrier at the 100 Black Men Classic, 83-47. No. 5 Dodge County breezed by Central-Macon at the HypeSouth Hardwood Invitational 54-37, Jadon McClendon tallying 12 points, 5 assists and 4 steals. Southwest-Macon (1-2) tumbles out of the poll after losing 60-42 to Class 4A No. 10 Baldwin at the HypeSouth Hardwood Invitational. Vidalia (1-1) is also out with a 68-65 loss to Veterans. No. 9 Walker resurfaces with quality wins over Class A D-I No. 5 St. Francis 55-49 and Lovett 75-61 at Holiday Hoopsgiving, Moustapha Diop dominating the Lions with 23 points, 21 rebounds and 3 blocks. No. 10 Athens Academy squeezes in at the bottom of the poll for the first time after winning at Athens Christian 52-48 but losing to Class A D-I No. 7 Oglethorpe County at the Billy Wade Classic 50-43.
Class A D-I No. 1 Mt. Vernon fell to Class 6A No. 1 Alexander in overtime 62-58 at the Jared Cook Classic before seeing Dennis Scott get hot averaging 24 points and 8.5 rebounds in wins over North Gwinnett (70-53) and Pebblebrook (83-80 OT). No. 3 Savannah went 2-0 at the inaugural Savannah Hoops Shootout, topping Class 3A No. 9 Johnson-Savannah 46-42 and routing Calvary Day 62-46 behind Maki Joyner’s 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 2 blocks. No. 5 St. Francis holds firm following a 55-49 loss at Class 2A No. 9 Walker, but bouncing back to beat Rabun Gap 86-77 as Triston McDonald (22), Greg Howard (21) and Deniz Ozbek (21) combined for 64 points. No. 6 Paideia won at Cedar Shoals in the Peach State Explosion 64-59 in overtime before losing at Class 5A No. 3 Maynard Jackson 75-57 at Hard in the Paint. No. 7 Oglethorpe County climbs two spots after a 3-0 opening week was highlighted by a 50-43 win over Class 2A No. 10 Athens Academy at the Billy Wade Classic, Javaun Pittard posting 15 points, 12 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. No. 8 Woodville-Tompkins is a perfect 5-0 against opposition with a combined record of 0-14. Mt. Bethel (3-2) departs after a 70-64 loss to Wesleyan at the Raider Classic. No. 9 Mt. Pisgah bounces back into the rankings after two wins at the Roswell Rotary Veterans Appreciation Invitational and a 59-50 loss to Class 4A No. 4 North Oconee at Truett McConnell.
Class A D-II sees no movement in the poll. No. 1 Christian Heritage blasted Chattooga 81-52 while No. 4 Greenforest used Caleb Kawela’s 21 points to beat Pebblebrook 68-64 at the OTR Thanksgiving Showcase before defeating Meadowcreek 64-45 at Holiday Hoopsgiving.