Class AAAAAAA
1. Newton (9-0)
2. Pebblebrook (6-1)
3. Berkmar (3-1)
4. Grayson (5-1)
5. Milton (3-2)
6. North Gwinnett (7-3)
7. Norcross (6-3)
8. South Gwinnett (10-0)
9. McEachern (4-4)
10. East Coweta (7-1)
Class AAAAAA
1. Buford (5-1)
2. Wheeler (5-3)
3. Osborne (7-0)
4. Westlake (6-3)
5. Shiloh (5-0)
6. Centennial (9-0)
7. Kell (3-3)
8. Statesboro (6-0)
9. Alexander (4-0)
10. Grovetown (9-1)
Class AAAAA
1. Eagle’s Landing (6-0)
2. Tri-Cities (6-1)
3. St. Pius X (6-1)
4. Southwest DeKalb (6-1)
5. Jonesboro (4-3)
6. Chapel Hill (7-2)
7. Walnut Grove (4-2)
8. Jones County (6-4)
9. Lithia Springs (7-0)
10. Calhoun (2-2)
Class AAAA
1. Baldwin (7-0)
2. McDonough (7-1)
3. Fayette County (4-3)
4. Monroe (5-1)
5. Mays (6-2)
6. Jefferson (7-1)
7. Spencer (3-2)
8. Westover (6-0)
9. North Oconee (6-1)
10. Marist (6-2)
Class AAA
1. Windsor Forest (4-1)
2. Sandy Creek (7-1)
3. Salem (4-2)
4. LaFayette (5-0)
5. Cross Creek (6-1)
6. Thomson (4-1)
7. Johnson-Savannah (2-2)
8. GAC (5-2)
9. Groves (5-1)
10. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (7-0)
Class AA
1. Columbia (7-1)
2. Pace Academy (6-3)
3. Westside-Augusta (6-0)
4. Butler (2-3)
5. Thomasville (4-2)
6. Putnam County (4-1)
7. Washington County (1-0)
8. Vidalia (6-1)
9. Rabun County (6-3)
10. Lovett (5-4)
Class A-Private
1. Greenforest (5-4)
2. Galloway (8-2)
3. North Cobb Christian (5-2)
4. Providence Christian (7-3)
5. WD Mohammed (5-2)
6. King’s Ridge (7-2)
7. Christian Heritage (5-2)
8. Darlington (4-0)
9. Mt. Pisgah (4-2)
10. George Walton Academy (5-1)
Class A-Public
1. Drew Charter (7-1)
2. Social Circle (7-0)
3. Portal (4-0)
4. Chattahoochee County (3-0)
5. Dublin (6-1)
6. Lanier County (6-0)
7. Warren County (3-1)
8. Bowdon (8-0)
9. Manchester (4-0)
10. Turner County (5-0)
Georgia beat up on Alabama in Huntsville at Braggin’ Rights, sweeping the 6-game slate while the Hawks-Naismith Holiday Classic provided us with some shuffling in the Top 10. Two new number ones have risen. As region play nears, a lot is yet to be decided.
No. 1 Newton has held serve in Class 7A, beating Class A-Private No. 1 Greenforest 85-62 without Daniel Pounds or Miokaye Grant and pounding Pinson Valley, AL at the Legends Classic 69-41. No. 5 Milton is down two more spots. After looking like they regained their momentum with a crushing 96-63 rout of Etowah (4-5), booting the Eagles from the poll, Milton fell victim to No. 3 Berkmar 73-62 at Hawks-Naismith. The Patriots received 25 points and 10 rebounds from Ole Miss-signee Malique Ewin, topping Kanaan Carlyle’s 21-point effort. The Patriots vault up four spots after also beating Archer (7-4) 61-41 and No. 7 Norcross 68-67, a perfect 3-0 week with three Top 10 wins. Norcross lost 45-43 to Class 6A No. 4 Westlake at Hawks-Naismith but didn’t have London Johnson for the week, the star junior playing with the U17 Jamaica team at the FIBA Centrobasket U17 Championship. Etowah and Archer are both out of the rankings following a combined 0-5 record. The Eagles lost 65-62 to Roswell and 66-56 to Denmark at the BCB Cherokee vs. Forsyth Challenge. Archer lost 68-63 at Meadowcreek. Debuting in the poll is No. 9 McEachern, who has won three-straight after a 1-4 start. The Indians beat rival Hillgrove 82-65 before upsetting No. 6 North Gwinnett 64-54 at Hawks-Naismith. Back in the rankings is No. 10 East Coweta who beat county rival Newnan 56-47 behind Josh Cameron’s 20 points and Kent State-signee Delrecco Gillespie’s 16.
In Class 6A, No. 2 Wheeler pulled out close wins over Pope (61-55) and South Cobb (67-61). No. 3 Osborne blitzed South Cobb 77-57 on the road. No. 4 Westlake scored a 45-43 win at Class 7A No. 7 Norcross at Hawks-Naismith, Mitchell Taylor scoring at the buzzer to win. Jalal McKie netted 17 points and Charleston Southern-signee Gaddis Heath added 12. No. 7 Kell escaped Pope 68-67 before earning a signature win over last week’s Class 3A No. 1 Sandy Creek 61-46 at Hawks-Naismith, Jaylen Colon hitting 5 threes and finishing with 19 points. No. 8 Statesboro picked up a 64-54 win at region foe Effingham County as Albert Mikell scored 16 points and Leslie Black double-doubled with 13 points and 15 rebounds. Lanier (3-3) falls out with a 76-71 loss to Collins Hill at the Gold City Shootout. No. 10 Grovetown surfaces following wins over North Augusta, SC 54-53 and Class 3A No. 6 Thomson 78-68.
Class 5A No. 1 Eagle’s Landing won at No. 8 Jones County 57-52. The Greyhounds also lost 60-53 to Class 4A No. 1 Baldwin, but their strength of schedule keeps them secured at No. 8. No. 2 Tri-Cities took care of Tucker 70-51. No. 6 Chapel Hill slips two spots with a 76-74 loss to Class 4A No. 3 Fayette County in overtime. No. 4 Southwest DeKalb moves up two places with a resounding 69-41 win over Lithonia. No. 5 Jonesboro is rounding into form with a 3-0 week highlighted by an 84-57 rout at Dutchtown. No. 7 Walnut Grove earned county road wins over last week’s Class 3A No. 10 Monroe Area 53-37 and Loganville 47-39. No. 10 Calhoun won 66-63 at Chattooga and lost 72-70 to Paulding County. Dylan Faulkner recorded 32 points and 23 rebounds in the win over the Indians and will now have help returning as football season has finally concluded, adding Preseason All-State selection 6-foot-6 wing Peyton Law to the lineup. We warned about Mundy’s Mill (6-2) and their weak schedule last week. It came back to bite them as the Tigers are out of the poll following a 62-61 loss to Creekside and another narrow win over an under .500 team, 54-51 vs. 2-4 Stone Mountain. No. 9 Lithia Springs breaks into the Top 10 with wins over Maynard Jackson (78-75) and Villa Rica (56-50). They see a step up in competition this week against No. 6 Chapel Hill and 8-1 Heritage-Conyers.
It was another perfect week for No. 1 Baldwin in Class 4A, surviving Hancock Central 63-56, blowing out Westside-Macon 76-47 and winning at Class 5A No. 8 Jones County 60-53. No. 5 Mays falls two spots with a 72-62 overtime loss at Stephenson. No. 6 Jefferson is also down two places with a surprising 62-53 defeat at home to Mill Creek. No. 3 Fayette County earned a 76-74 overtime win over Class 5A No. 6 Chapel Hill to climb two spots. No. 4 Monroe handled their business against Colquitt County (63-42) and Terrell County (79-45). No. 9 North Oconee slides a place following a 60-45 loss at rival Oconee County. Cedar Shoals (2-3) finished the week with a solid 60-37 win over East Hall but it wasn’t enough to save them from dropping out after suffering an 86-58 loss at Tucker. No. 10 Marist creeps into the rankings following a 59-41 win at Hapeville Charter and a sluggish 37-33 loss at Miller Grove.
Class 3A is changing. No. 1 Windsor Forest ascends to the top spot following wins over Southeast Bulloch (66-50) and No. 7 Johnson-Savannah (74-61). No. 2 Sandy Creek had key wins over No. 3 Salem (60-55) and No. 8 GAC (54-47) but their 61-46 loss to Class 6A No. 7 Kell at Hawks-Naismith highlights just how razor thin the margin of error is between the top two teams. No. 6 Thomson moves down a spot with a 78-68 loss to Class 6A No. 10 Grovetown. Monroe Area (1-4) is searching for their identity following an 0-3 rivalry week saw the Hurricanes lose 53-37 to Class 5A No. 7 Walnut Grove, 56-55 at Winder-Barrow and 75-39 to Class A-Public No. 2 Social Circle. No. 10 Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe climbs back into the Top 10 for the first time since the preseason. They survived a trap game with Ringgold, 72-68 in overtime before winning at North Murray 52-36. The junior backcourt 6-foot-1 point guard Jamichael Davis and 6-foot-3 Brent Bowman has been unstoppable. Both holding D-I offers, Davis is averaging 28.6 points (63% FG), 13.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 3 steals and 1.8 blocks while Bowman is adding 20.2 points, 6 rebounds, 4.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.
For the first time since the final regular season poll of 2018-19, No. 2 Pace Academy is not ranked No. 1. No. 1 Columbia took control of Class 2A with a 71-69 win at the two-time defending state champs as Mason Lockhart provided 23 points and 9 rebounds while Jamari Piercy scored 17 points and Rashad Headges and Daquavious Harrison netted 13 apiece. Cincinnati-signee Josh Reed led Pace Academy with 25 points while freshman Bryson Tiller scored 15. No. 5 Thomasville hangs tight following a 59-50 loss to Bainbridge and will now welcome back football players. No. 7 Washington County is up two spots with a season-opening 67-38 win over Jenkins at the Blue Storm Classic. Woodville-Tompkins (4-5) and Northeast-Macon (1-5) depart. The Wolverines were defeated by debutant No. 7 Vidalia 66-45 at home while the Raiders lost to Veterans 75-50 and Class 5A No. 2 Tri-Cities 94-55. No. 10 Lovett breaks in with wins over McNair (79-53) and KIPP Atlanta (65-50). No one has been able to slow down 5-foot-8 sophomore Christian Anderson, the Michigan-commit pouring in 32.5 points per game while 6-foot-4 junior Kyle Walters has averaged 16.3 points, 10 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 1 block.
Class A-Private is tough to call outside of No. 1 Greenforest who lost 85-62 to Class 7A No. 1 Newton before bouncing back with a 56-48 win over Hueytown, AL at Braggin’ Rights. No. 3 North Cobb Christian falls a spot after losing 70-61 to No. 6 King’s Ridge. The Tigers could have climbed higher than one spot, but they were knocked off by No. 9 Mt. Pisgah 72-64. The same can be said about the Patriots; they were stymied by Holy Innocents’ 63-62 at Hawks-Naismith and remain stagnant in their position. No. 4 Providence Christian had a strong crosstown win over Parkview 73-70 as VMI-signee Chance Thacker scored 22 points while Citadel-signee Tony Carpio added 16 points and 9 rebounds and Sam Witt pitched in 13 points.
There are no changes in Class A-Public. No. 2 Social Circle really are the Kings of Walton County, beating last week’s Class 3A No. 10 Monroe Area 75-39 on the road behind Cam Gaither (22), Tyrhell Branch (22) and KJ Reid (12). No. 3 Portal rallied from down 17 to beat Beach 69-64, Joseph Thomas scoring 22 points followed by Elijah Coleman’s 20 and Amir Jackson’s 14. No. 4 Chattahoochee County won at Taylor County 43-33 with Jay Beauford netting 11 points. No. 5 Dublin beat Wilkinson County 58-40 before going 2-1 in Jacksonville, losing 42-31 to Nease and beating Impact Christian (55-54) and Episcopal School of Jacksonville (51-44). EJ Brown poured in 30 points in No. 6 Lanier County’s 77-69 win over previously unbeaten Charlton County.