Class AAAAAA
1. Grayson (2-0)
2. Wheeler (2-0)
3. Norcross (3-0)
4. Newton (3-1)
5. Walton (3-0)
6. Etowah (4-0)
7. South Gwinnett (5-0)
8. Pebblebrook (3-2)
9. McEachern (2-2)
10. Lambert (0-0)
Class AAAAA
1. Milton (1-0)
2. Tri-Cities (2-1)
3. Woodward Academy (2-0)
4. Lee County (3-0)
5. Habersham Central (3-0)
6. Riverwood (3-0)
7. Winder-Barrow (4-1)
8. Gainesville (1-1)
9. Alexander (1-0)
10. Langston Hughes (1-2)
Class AAAA
1. Pace Academy (3-0)
2. North Oconee (1-1)
3. Kell (4-0)
4. Eagle’s Landing (2-0)
5. McDonough (2-1)
6. St. Pius X (1-1)
7. Maynard Jackson (3-1)
8. Westminster (4-1)
9. Marist (3-2)
10. Central-Carrollton (2-0)
Class AAA
1. Cedar Grove (3-1)
2. Cross Creek (2-0)
3. Westside-Augusta (2-1)
4. Dougherty (2-1)
5. Sandy Creek (0-0)
6. Pickens (3-0)
7. Cherokee Bluff (4-0)
8. Baldwin (0-0)
9. Upson-Lee (1-0)
10. Douglass (4-0)
Class AA
1. Carver-Columbus (2-0)
2. Columbia (2-1)
3. Butler (2-2)
4. South Atlanta (2-0)
5. KIPP Atlanta (3-2)
6. Westside-Macon (0-0)
7. Thomson (0-0)
8. Salem (3-2)
9. Union County (2-1)
10. Hart County (1-1)
Class A D-I
1. Southwest-Macon (2-0)
2. BEST Academy (3-0)
3. Putnam County (6-0)
4. Model (0-0)
5. Jasper County (0-0)
6. Toombs County (0-0)
7. Temple (1-0)
8. Rabun County (2-1)
9. Swainsboro (0-0)
10. East Laurens (1-0)
Class A D-II
1. Savannah (1-1)
2. Warren County (0-0)
3. Manchester (0-0)
4. Calhoun County (3-0)
5. McIntosh County Academy (1-0)
6. Mitchell County (2-0)
7. Randolph-Clay (2-0)
8. Macon County (1-0)
9. Jenkins County (0-0)
10. Mt. Zion-Carrollton (0-0)
Class 3A-1A Private
1. Holy Innocents’ (0-1)
2. Greenforest (1-0)
3. North Cobb Christian (1-1)
4. Darlington (1-0)
5. St. Francis (2-1)
6. GAC (4-1)
7. Mt. Paran (2-1)
8. Lovett (2-1)
9. King’s Ridge (2-2)
10. Mt. Vernon (1-1)
Thanksgiving Break is now upon us, affording us plenty of opportunities for heavyweight clashes across multiple holiday tournaments. The vast majority of Top 10 teams have tipped off their seasons, but with the football state playoffs heading into the Elite Eight round, rosters are not yet fully intact for some programs.
At the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic, Class 6A No. 2 Wheeler defeated Class 5A No. 8 Gainesville 66-50 as Colben Landrew (18), Ole Miss-signee Tylis Jordan (17) and Kevin Savage (16) powered the offense. No. 4 Newton fell to Class 5A No. 3 Woodward Academy 62-57 at the Jared Cook Classic, Appalachian State-signee Ted Neal dumping in 25 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and 1 block as the Rams’ rally ran out of time. No. 5 Walton secured at win at the Jared Cook Classic as well, beating Peachtree Ridge 59-48 with Kaeden Gilstrap and Sewanee-signee Nikolas Avaliani scoring 19 points apiece. No. 6 Etowah topped crosstown rival Woodstock 51-49 for Towne Lake supremacy as Cooper Heller netted 14 points. No. 8 Pebblebrook falls two spaces after beating Private No. 9 King’s Ridge 66-55 but losing 70-68 at Class 4A No. 3 Kell. No. 9 McEachern slips a spot after outlasting Decatur 61-58 at Hawks-Naismith, Ogo Ekweozor with 13 points and 7 rebounds. Buford (0-0) is squeezed out of the Top 10 due to inactivity to make way for No. 7 South Gwinnett who had a loud week, going 3-0 highlighted by a 73-55 win over Decatur led by Kaden Young’s 20 points and capped off with an 84-59 drubbing of last week’s Class 5A No. 6 Winder-Barrow, Dwayne Lawton recording 24 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals as four Comets scored 16 points or more.
Rumors of Jalan Wingfield leaving for Overtime Elite proved to be false as he posted 17 points, 4 steals and 4 blocks to help Class 5A No. 2 Tri-Cities defeat East Coweta 83-76. Tre Keith scored 19 points while former Indian Carby Martin chipped in 18 points. No. 3 Woodward Academy held off Class 6A No. 4 Newton 62-57 at the Jared Cook Classic. Clemson-signee Zac Foster was masterful, holding Marcus Smith to two points while hitting a dagger three with 15 seconds left and blocking a shot on the perimeter to clinch it, ending his night with 15 points, 11 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal and 3 blocks. No. 6 Riverwood climbs four spots, beating Dunwoody 60-53 and routing Berkmar 79-60 at the Jared Cook Classic. No. 7 Winder-Barrow slips a spot after winning at Private No. 6 GAC 70-59 but getting trounced by newly ranked Class 6A No. 7 South Gwinnett 84-59. No. 8 Gainesville holds tight with a 66-50 loss to Class 6A No. 2 Wheeler at Hawks-Naismith. No. 10 Langston Hughes tumbles six spots following a 62-54 loss to Westlake.
There are no changes in Class 4A. No. 1 Pace Academy opened up their season with a trio of wins, most notably winning at Private No. 1 Holy Innocents’ at the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic 78-70 as Texas State-signee Chandler Bing exploded for 37 point and 5 rebounds while Georgia Tech-signee Eric Chatfield contributed 24 points in the foul-ladened contest. No. 3 Kell defeated last week’s Class 6A No. 6 Pebblebrook 70-68 as Zach Graves racked up 26 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 4 steals. No. 8 Westminster won at Pope 65-62 but lost at newly ranked Class 2A No. 5 KIPP Atlanta 84-77.
A statement was made in Class 3A as No. 1 Cedar Grove clobbered three-time defending state champion No. 3 Westside-Augusta 83-57 at the Thanksgiving Classic to drop the Patriots a spot. Keith Gillespie posted 26 points, 3 assists and 4 steals while Manny Green collected 20 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Yusef Bowyer added 14 points and 8 assists while Harlim Perine chipped in 12 points. No. 2 Cross Creek rises a position with a 50-49 overtime win at Butler, as Morehead State-signee Jaden Priester scored 12 points. No. 6 Pickens defeated Mt. Bethel 47-43 while No. 7 Cherokee Bluff romped last week’s Class A D-I No. 10 Banks County 81-55 and Mill Creek at the Jackson EMC Tip-Off Tournament 74-43 as Boston Kersh scored 24 points and Cooper Glover had 17. Johnson-Savannah (0-1) slips out of the poll with a 79-69 loss at Bradwell Institute. No. 10 Douglass climbs in at 4-0, their best win a 74-66 victory at Mays.
In Class 2A, No. 3 Butler holds tight after losing 50-49 in overtime to Class 3A No. 2 Cross Creek and getting defeated by Augusta Christian 72-62. Spencer (1-1) drops out of the rankings after beating Banneker 54-52 and losing 54-51 at Therrell. Franklin County (2-2) departs after seeing Bentley Huff go down with a fractured ankle and losing at Commerce 51-49. No. 5 KIPP Atlanta surges into the Top 10 following an 84-77 win over Class 4A No. 8 Westminster, 5-foot-11 sophomore Quadarious Clemons catching fire with 36 points while Chane Bynum added 10 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals and 6 blocks. No. 8 Salem also debuts, fresh off a 56-53 win against Tucker.
Class A D-I No. 3 Putnam County won at Hancock Central 85-71 with J’Mari Greene pouring in 28 points. No. 8 Rabun County holds steady after a 61-59 loss at Lassiter. Banks County (1-3) exits after an 81-55 loss at Class 3A No. 7 Cherokee Bluff. No. 10 East Laurens claws into the Top 10 following a 50-48 win over Calvary Day.
There is no movement in Class A D-II. No. 6 Mitchell County won at Early County 67-58 while No. 7 Randolph-Clay opened their season with a 78-23 blowout of Stewart County, Tyrion Smith scoring 23 points while Jaleen Gibson and Nekevious Josey added 12 apiece.
Class 3A-1A Private No. 1 Holy Innocents’ opened their season with a home loss at the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic, defeated by Class 4A No. 1 Pace Academy 78-70. Caleb Wilson tallied 24 points, 16 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 4 blocks before fouling out. No. 3 North Cobb Christian traveled to St. Louis and came away with a split, defeated at Chaminade 84-54 before winning at Hazelwood 74-64 behind Brock Bass-Bonner’s 20 points and Xavier Butler’s 18. No. 5 St. Francis rallied from down 12 points in the first half to defeat Centennial 73-68 on the road. Reynolds Escher piled in 28 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists while Deniz Ozbek scored 23 points. No. 6 GAC lost 70-59 to Class 5A No. 7 Winder-Barrow but defeated No. 8 Lovett 73-58 as Mario Hill had 14 points and 11 assists while Mike Carpenter and freshman Baer Bailey each netted 14 points. No. 9 King’s Ridge suffered a 66-55 loss to last week’s Class 6A No. 6 Pebblebrook while No. 10 Mt. Vernon lost 68-65 to Osborne at the Jared Cook Classic. Paideia (1-4) tumbles out of the poll with an 83-56 loss at Hillgrove and a 63-62 defeat at the hands of Shiloh at the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic. No. 7 Mt. Paran debuts after beating Fellowship Christian 86-37 and losing last week to Hillgrove by just one point, 57-56.