Class AAAAAAA
1. Milton (8-2)
2. Grayson (9-3)
3. McEachern (8-2)
4. Pebblebrook (10-2)
5. Berkmar (9-3)
6. Cherokee (10-2)
7. Newton (6-4)
8. North Gwinnett (7-4)
9. Discovery (10-2)
10. Denmark (7-4)
Class AAAAAA
1. Wheeler (9-2)
2. Kell (7-2)
3. Evans (8-1)
4. Shiloh (7-1)
5. Richmond Hill (8-0)
6. Centennial (7-2)
7. Chattahoochee (6-1)
8. Lanier (6-3)
9. Allatoona (9-3)
10. Tucker (6-2)
Class AAAAA
1. St. Pius X (8-0)
2. Eagle’s Landing (10-0)
3. Tri-Cities (7-3)
4. Veterans (5-0)
5. Woodward Academy (5-0)
6. Forest Park (4-0)
7. Jonesboro (7-0)
8. Lithonia (5-1)
9. Griffin (7-1)
10. Dutchtown (6-4)
Class AAAA
1. Spencer (4-0)
2. Baldwin (4-0)
3. Luella (11-1)
4. Fayette County (5-6)
5. Monroe (5-1)
6. Westover (4-1)
7. Miller Grove (2-2)
8. Stephenson (1-1)
9. Jenkins (6-4)
10. Bainbridge (2-1)
Class AAA
1. Sandy Creek (5-3)
2. Johnson-Savannah (6-0)
3. Hart County (7-1)
4. Windsor Forest (2-0)
5. Salem (4-1)
6. LaFayette (4-0)
7. Cross Creek (6-3)
8. GAC (3-4)
9. Southeast Bulloch (3-2)
10. Monroe Area (5-4)
Class AA
1. Pace Academy (9-1)
2. Swainsboro (5-1)
3. Lovett (4-3)
4. Washington County (3-0)
5. Columbia (3-2)
6. Woodville-Tompkins (7-1)
7. Westside-Augusta (8-1)
8. Thomasville (5-1)
9. Banks County (8-4)
10. Chattooga (5-2)
Class A-Private
1. Greenforest (2-2)
2. Mt. Pisgah (7-2)
3. St. Francis (4-3)
4. Providence Christian (8-2)
5. Galloway (6-0)
6. Trinity Christian (5-5)
7. St. Anne-Pacelli (2-1)
8. Holy Innocents’ (3-1)
9. Walker (7-0)
10. Tallulah Falls (6-2)
Class A-Public
1. Drew Charter (9-0)
2. Hancock Central (0-0)
3. Dublin (8-1)
4. Lanier County (5-2)
5. Towns County (4-0)
6. Turner County (6-2)
7. Chattahoochee County (2-0)
8. Manchester (2-1)
9. Calhoun County (1-1)
10. Warren County (4-1)
The final week of 2020 is finally here and lucky for us, the ball is still bouncing. Hopefully 2021 gets off on the right foot as we start to venture into region play as showcase tournaments are coming to a close. Playing For A Change, Tournament of Champions and Lemon Street Classic have successfully altered the state picture. No one is running from anyone as top teams in Georgia have all gone head-to-head, giving us a clearer picture of not only who the state title favorites are, but who are the best teams regardless of classification in the state of Georgia.
Class 7A has solidified itself as there have been very few surprises and not many new entries each week. No. 2 Grayson defeated Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler 60-59 at Playing For A Change behind Robert Cowherd’s 15 points and Clemson-signee Ian Schieffelin’s 12 points, 13 rebounds and 2 blocks before falling to Class 2A No. 1 Pace Academy 66-55, plagued by an ice-cold shooting night that saw the Rams go 4-18 from deep and 15-29 from the line. They finished the week on a high note however, drilling Victory Christian Center, NC at Tournament of Champions 80-52, Schieffelin pouring in 24 points, 12 rebounds, 2 steals and 2 blocks. No. 3 McEachern is gelling with their dynamic core. They won the Lemon Street Classic MCS Foundation Bracket Championship after beating Class 6A No. 3 Evans 69-58. The Indians then defeated Class 6A No. 4 Shiloh at Tournament of Champions 67-61 as Arkansas-signee Chance Moore returned to action. No. 5 Berkmar defeated No. 10 Denmark 58-48 at TOC, Malique Ewin posting 29 points and 14 rebounds. No. 6 Cherokee clicked on all cylinders at the Lemon Street Classic, drilling 17 threes to bury Class 2A No. 5 Columbia 99-69 for the most points scored in the Roger Kvam era. Xavier-signee Elijah Tucker scored 27 points followed by Taihland Owens’ 22. No. 8 North Gwinnett holds tough after losses at Playing For A Change to Class 2A No. 1 Pace Academy 73-60 and Class 6A No. 1 Wheeler 58-55 before winning at TOC vs. South Cobb in overtime 64-59, RJ Godfrey leading the way with 28 points, 11 rebounds and 6 blocks. Norcross (7-5) falls out of the Top 10 after losses to Class 6A No. 3 Evans 69-63 and Class 4A No. 7 Miller Grove 72-69 at the Lemon Street Classic. They are replaced by No. 9 Discovery, who breaks into the rankings for the first time this season. The Titans went 3-0 at the Lemon Street Classic to win the Facility Armor Bracket Championship beating Valdosta (66-59), Marietta (71-40) and Class 6A No. 10 Tucker (57-44) along the way. Navaughn Maise collected 19 points and 12 rebounds while Ian Davis had 16 points and 8 rebounds in the title game.
The top of Class 6A is starting to separate itself as Region 6 powers No. 1 Wheeler and No. 2 Kell continue to impress. The Wildcats lost to Class 7A No. 2 Grayson 60-59 at Playing For A Change before bouncing back to beat Class 7A No. 8 North Gwinnett 58-55 and then defeat No. 8 Lanier 79-64 at Tournament of Champions. Lanier sinks one spot, buoyed by a 60-57 win over Grovetown to start the week. Kell ripped apart No. 7 Chattahoochee 94-63 at Tournament of Champions, dropping the previously undefeated Cougars four spots. Scoot Henderson was masterful, dumping in 35 points, 8 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals while Jaylen Harris added 20 points, 9 rebounds and drew 5 charges. Aaron Smith collected 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win. AJ White scored 27 in the loss. Up two spots is No. 3 Evans. The Knights beat Norcross 69-63 before falling to Class 7A No. 3 McEachern 69-58 in the Lemon Street Classic MSC Foundation Bracket Championship. No. 4 Shiloh holds onto their spot after also losing to McEachern, 67-61 at TOC. No. 6 Centennial climbs three spots following a 55-42 win over Central Gwinnett. No. 9 Allatoona went 3-0 to win their Lake City Classic Championship defeating North Cobb 58-54. Out of the rankings is Heritage-Conyers (5-5). The Patriots were pounded by Region 3 foe Grovetown 92-75 and lost to Valdosta 68-66 at the Lemon Street Classic. Breaking into the Top 10 is No. 10 Tucker. The Tigers edged Class 4A No. 4 Fayette County at TOC 70-67 as 6-foot-6 senior David Giddens scored 20 points. Giddens has taken his game to another level, no longer in the shadows offensively. He is averaging 19.1 points per game followed by 6-foot-4 senior Tyler Pendergrass (10.5 ppg), 6-foot-1 junior Raylan Barrion (10.1 ppg) and 5-foot-9 junior Christian Yeates (10 ppg). Even with a late start to the season, the Tigers have already recorded three wins vs. Top 10 opponents (Dutchtown & Miller Grove).
One of Georgia’s best regular season teams over the past five years, No. 2 Eagle’s Landing is at it again in Class 5A, jumping two spots after scoring wins over East Coweta (80-77) and Class 3A No. 1 Sandy Creek (72-58) at the Lemon Street Classic. Puzzling to me is how 6-foot-2 sophomore David Thomas’ name is almost never brought up in the discussion of top 2023 guards. It seems like only Kanaan Carlyle (Milton) and Isaiah Collier (Wheeler) get bounced around nationally but that is going to change after Thomas put on a show on the big stage, dropping in 34 points against East Coweta and netting 22 vs. Sandy Creek. Thomas is not only an efficient three-level scorer, he has a terrific all-around floor game, consistently stuffing stat sheets on both ends of the floor. Elite in the classroom as well as an Honors student, Mid-Major and High Major programs will want to get on him early. Though they are down a spot, No. 3 Tri-Cities had a strong week of their own, picking up wins over Parkview 78-62 and East Coweta 90-74. No. 8 Lithonia lost at Buford 57-55 before beating Mt. Vernon Presbyterian 55-46 at TOC, getting 27 points from Raheem Swain. Woodland-Stockbridge (11-4) sinks from the poll after losing twice on the road to ML King (58-42) and Alcovy (68-59). Returning is No. 10 Dutchtown. The Bulldogs netted wins against Stockbridge (71-59) and last week’s Class 4A No. 9 Cedar Shoals (61-49) in a rematch of the Class 5A state championship.
Class 4A saw No. 3 Luella surpass last year’s win total by picking up their 11th victory of the season beating Carrollton 65-50. 6-foot-1 sophomore Kory Mincy recorded 27 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals on his birthday. 6-foot-2 senior Jocqua Keeton Jr. added 16 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals. No. 4 Fayette County suffered another close loss, this time to Class 6A No. 10 Tucker 70-67 at TOC. The Tigers are on the wrong side of the win-loss column sitting at 5-6 but they still remain in the top five. Fayette County has already played six games vs. Top 10 opponents. They have struggled at 1-5, but did defeat former Class 5A No. 1 Tri-Cities. The Tigers will need to beat up on their opponents outside of the Top 10 or they will start to fall quickly with a sub .500 record. No. 6 Westover dominated Deerfield-Windsor at the U-Save-It Classic 66-36, Isaac Abidde exploding for 37 points and 16 rebounds. No. 7 Miller Grove is waiting to climb back up the poll and it shouldn’t take long. They defeated Norcross 72-69 at the Lemon Street Classic getting 22 points, 5 assists and 3 steals from Tyreik Boyd while Jahmil Barber had 20 points and 6 rebounds. Cedar Shoals (5-4) exits the poll after a 61-49 loss at Class 5A No. 10 Dutchtown. No. 10 Bainbridge debuts. The Bearcats have boom or bust potential in Region 1 where they will find out exactly how good they are right away housed with No. 5 Monroe and No. 6 Westover. Bainbridge hasn’t played since December 12 but has two nice wins over 7A 4-2 Tift County 59-51 (who lost to Monroe 42-28 but beat Westover 56-50) and Class 2A No. 8 Thomasville 76-72, who they have split with.
No. 1 Sandy Creek suffered their third loss of the season, a 72-58 defeat at the hands of Class 5A No. 2 Eagle’s Landing, but until someone in Class 3A knocks them off, the Patriots remain atop the heap. No. 3 Hart County got 24 points, 9 rebounds and 2 assists from JC Curry and 23 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals from Shone Webb in a narrow 72-66 win over Thomson. No. 5 Salem returned to action with a 62-37 blowout of The Heritage School at Tournament of Champions. Avion Young netted 19 points. No. 7 Cross Creek routed Grace Christian Academy 59-22 at TOC as Corey Trotter scored 14 points to pace the Razorbacks. Morgan County (3-3) drops out after a 56-50 loss at Jefferson. No. 10 Monroe Area is back in the rankings. The Hurricanes are starting to find a groove. They beat Winder-Barrow 55-51 on December 19 and defeated last week’s Class A-Public No. 9 Social Circle 61-47.
No. 1 Pace Academy keeps stacking their resume in Class 2A. They went undefeated at Playing For A Change, beating Class 7A No. 8 North Gwinnett 73-60 and No. 2 Grayson 66-55. No. 5 Columbia falls three spots after losing twice at the Lemon Street Classic. Gainesville clipped the Eagles 69-68 before Class 7A No. 6 Cherokee unloaded a three-point barrage in a 99-69 blowout. No. 8 Thomasville took care of Cairo 71-54. No. 9 Banks County climbs over No. 10 Chattooga following wins over Chestatee (61-47) and Cherokee Bluff (63-60). Pierce Martin drilled 6 threes en route to 20 points in the win over Cherokee Bluff. Garrett Presley added 17 points and 12 rebounds while Dakota Orr had 12 points and 13 boards. Chattooga lost 53-44 to Spring Garden, AL.
For the second consecutive week there is no movement in Class A-Private. No. 2 Mt. Pisgah defeated Westminster 65-38 while No. 7 St. Anne-Pacelli used Travis Harper II’s 26 points and Auburn football-signee Ian Mathews’ 20 to rally for a 76-59 win against Maynard Jackson at Tournaments of Champions, Harper scoring his 1,000th career point in the process.
Class A-Public No. 3 Dublin swept Wilkinson County with a 74-59 win in The Palace. Senior Tyquan Davis netted 24 points. Dropping down are No. 8 Manchester and No. 9 Calhoun County. The Blue Devils are down due to inactivity, not playing since December 11 while Calhoun County was upended 63-54 at home by debutant No. 7 Chattahoochee County. Former Webster County Head Coach Keeyon Battle has the Panthers 2-0 in his first-year on the job. 6-foot-2 sophomore Dex Holloman dropped 25 points followed by 6-foot junior Naketa Ellington’s 14 in the win over Calhoun County. Falling from the rankings are Social Circle (4-2) and Terrell County (0-0). The Redskins depart momentarily after a 61-47 loss to Class 3A No. 10 Monroe Area. Both of Social Circle’s losses have come against ranked opponents, their other a 64-58 defeat at No. 5 Towns County which started their mini two-game slide. Terrell County still hasn’t played a game and must exit due to inactivity. No. 10 Warren County cracks into the poll. After a 51-43 loss to North Oconee, the Screaming Devils rebounded with a 61-60 win at Thomson. Junior Lorenzo Johnson Jr. scored 11 of his team-high 16 points in the second half. Junior Ken’Vonte Brinkley scored 11 points and junior RaQuan Myers added 10.