Week 6 GHSA Boys Basketball State Rankings
Rankings

Week 6 GHSA Boys Basketball State Rankings


PRO Movement

Class AAAAAAA

1. Newton (9-0)
2. Pebblebrook (8-2)
3. Berkmar (4-2)
4. Milton (4-2)
5. McEachern (6-4)
6. North Gwinnett (8-3)
7. Norcross (8-3)
8. Grayson (5-2)
9. South Gwinnett (12-0)
10. East Coweta (7-1)

Class AAAAAA

1. Buford (7-1)
2. Wheeler (6-3)
3. Osborne (8-0)
4. Shiloh (7-0)
5. Westlake (9-4)
6. Kell (4-3)
7. Centennial (10-1)
8. Statesboro (8-0)
9. Alexander (7-0)
10. Tucker (8-3)

Class AAAAA

1. Eagle’s Landing (8-0)
2. St. Pius X (8-1)
3. Tri-Cities (7-2)
4. Jonesboro (6-3)
5. Southwest DeKalb (8-1)
6. Chapel Hill (9-2)
7. Walnut Grove (6-2)
8. Woodland-Stockbridge (10-1)
9. Lithia Springs (8-1)
10. Lithonia (7-3)

Class AAAA

1. McDonough (9-1)
2. Baldwin (8-1)
3. Fayette County (5-4)
4. Jefferson (9-1)
5. Mays (9-2)
6. Spencer (5-2)
7. Westover (8-0)
8. Monroe (5-2)
9. Marist (9-2)
10. Bainbridge (8-1)

Class AAA

1. Windsor Forest (6-2)
2. Sandy Creek (7-2)
3. Salem (5-2)
4. LaFayette (7-0)
5. Thomson (6-1)
6. Cross Creek (6-2)
7. GAC (6-2)
8. Groves (7-1)
9. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (9-0)
10. Sumter County (8-1)

Class AA

1. Columbia (9-2)
2. Pace Academy (7-3)
3. Butler (4-3)
4. Westside-Augusta (7-1)
5. Thomasville (6-2)
6. Putnam County (7-1)
7. Washington County (3-0)
8. Vidalia (9-1)
9. Rabun County (8-3)
10. Lovett (5-4)

Class A-Private

1. Greenforest (6-4)
2. Galloway (8-2)
3. King’s Ridge (9-2)
4. North Cobb Christian (5-3)
5. WD Mohammed (5-2)
6. Darlington (7-0)
7. Christian Heritage (7-2)
8. Mt. Pisgah (6-2)
9. Providence Christian (7-5)
10. Heritage School (9-1)

Class A-Public

1. Drew Charter (9-1)
2. Social Circle (9-0)
3. Dublin (8-1)
4. Lanier County (8-0)
5. Manchester (8-0)
6. Portal (5-1)
7. Calhoun County (4-0)
8. Chattahoochee County (5-1)
9. Warren County (4-2)
10. Turner County (7-1)

With holiday tournaments in full effect, expect plenty of shifting in the state rankings as the close of 2021 nears. The Lemon Street Classic, War Eagle Classic and Peach State Classic all have given us Top 10 matchups with more to come this upcoming week.Class 7A is evolving with No. 5 McEachern’s five-game winning streak. Following a 1-4 start, the Indians have found their footing led by seniors Michael Jacobs and Braden Sparks. McEachern climbs four spots with a 64-62 win over No. 8 Grayson at Play For A Change, leading by as many as 22 late in the third quarter. Jacobs scored 18 points while Sparks netted 17 and dished out 5 assists, helping the Indians hold off a furious Ram rally. With the loss, Grayson slips four places. No. 2 Pebblebrook crushed Newnan 90-61 and went 1-1 at the Tarkanian Classic in Las Vegas losing 57-47 to Durango, NV before beating Oak Ridge, FL 68-62. No. 3 Berkmar took a 76-51 loss to Montverde Academy, FL at City of Palms while No. 4 Milton won their first game in Florida 65-42 over Charlotte, FL. Unsigned 6-foot-6 senior Thomas Allard shattered records for No. 6 North Gwinnett at the Lemon Street Classic, burying 13 threes and scoring 43 points in a 91-60 blowout of Cedar Shoals. No. 7 Norcross escaped Archer 60-59 on a late London Johnson bucket while No. 9 South Gwinnett remained perfect with a 63-53 win over Dacula and a 50-44 victory against Dillard, FL at the Kreul Classic, Kamren Heathington netting 16 points.

No. 1 Buford has taken care of business in Class 6A, scoring wins over Peachtree Ridge (74-52) and Lanier (83-73). No. 5 Westlake falls a spot following a 73-56 loss to Class 5A No. 4 Jonesboro. The Lions bounced back with three wins to close the week, highlighted by victories against Langston Hughes (49-46) and at Class 4A No. 3 Fayette County (60-59) at the Peach State Classic. No. 4 Shiloh rises in the poll after beating Winder-Barrow 75-52 and surviving North Cobb in overtime at the War Lodge Invitational, 67-63 behind Seryl Slater’s 20 points. No. 7 Centennial slips a spot following a 65-58 loss to Parkview at the Raider Invitational after the Knights had won at Lanier 65-59 earlier in the week. No. 9 Alexander dismantled East Paulding 98-43 before scoring narrow victories over Paulding County (77-72) and Class 5A No. 10 Lithonia (54-52) at the Lemon Street Classic. Zion Fruster had 25 points and Braedan Lue scored 23 in their win over Paulding County while Jah’Kim Payne collected 21 points and 10 rebounds for Cougars against Lithonia. Grovetown (9-2) fails to survive a week in the Top 10 with a 63-59 loss to Langston Hughes at the Lemon Street Classic. Returning to the poll is No. 10 Tucker who beat Pinson Valley, AL 62-53 at the Peach State Classic.

Spots two through five have been shuffled in Class 5A as No. 2 St. Pius X rises after blowout wins over ML King (89-42) and Northview (73-44). No. 3 Tri-Cities slips after drilling Mundy’s Mill 92-63 but injuries and sickness weighing on the Bulldogs in their 74-50 loss to Etowah at the Lemon Street Classic, Kennesaw State-signee Simeon Cottle carrying the load with 32 points. No. 4 Jonesboro replaces No. 5 Southwest DeKalb after hammering last week’s Class 6A No. 4 Westlake 73-56 on the road and outlasting Wenonah, AL 55-53 at the Peach State Classic. Southwest DeKalb earned wins over Clarkston (84-24) and ML King (76-35). No. 6 Chapel Hill topped No. 9 Lithia Springs 64-55 and held off Oxford, AL 49-47 at the War Eagle Classic, Peyton Weathersby leading the way with 15 points. The Lions hold tight to No. 9 thanks to a 61-56 win at Heritage-Conyers to finish the week. Falling out of the rankings are Jones County (7-5) and Calhoun (3-3). The Greyhounds have played a brutal schedule, a 53-48 loss at Stockbridge sealing their fate for now. Calhoun hasn’t been at full strength all season. Peyton Law finally returned from the gridiron this week, but 6-foot-8 Dylan Faulkner is now sidelined with an ankle injury. The Yellow Jackets lost 73-67 to Mill Creek at Santa Jam, Law dumping in 25 points in his season-debut, but bounced back with a 78-69 win against Lambert at the Bronco Holiday Classic, Law netting 29. No. 8 Woodland-Stockbridge debuts at 10-1. The Wolfpack won at Locust Grove 57-41 and defeated Stockbridge 51-47. Their only loss came to No. 1 Eagle’s Landing 62-46 back on December 3. No. 10 Lithonia creeps into the Top 10 with a 53-47 win over Decatur. Two of the Bulldogs’ three losses have come by two points, 51-49 at No. 2 St. Pius X and on Saturday vs. Class 6A No. 9 Alexander 54-52.

There is a new number one in Class 4A. It was a defensive slugfest, but No. 1 McDonough got the job done at the Peach State Classic, avenging last season’s Final Four loss to No. 2 Baldwin, beating the Braves 34-29 as Amon McDowell scored 13 points. No. 3 Fayette County fell 60-59 at the Peach State Classic to last week’s Class 6A No. 4 Westlake. No. 8 Monroe tumbles four spots with a 67-63 loss to newly ranked Class 3A No. 10 Sumter County. No. 4 Jefferson hops over No. 5 Mays with road wins vs. Cedar Shoals (74-53) and Flowery Branch (66-51). Tra Harrison and Dalen Gales scored 17 apiece in the win over the Jaguars.  Mays scored close victories against Miller Grove (57-54) and Woodward Academy (48-45). No. 9 Marist climbs a spot with a 62-57 win over Druid Hills. North Oconee (6-3) drops out following losses to Madison County (59-55) and Cedar Shoals (58-41). No. 10 Bainbridge marks the third team from Region 1 to enter the poll, joining No. 7 Westover and No. 8 Monroe. 6-foot-3 senior Ashton Parris leads the way with 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game while 6-foot-3 junior KJ Cochran is back after missing his sophomore season, tallying 10.7 points and 6.2 rebounds a night.

Class 3A No. 1 Windsor Forest and No. 2 Sandy Creek both suffered losses, the Knights falling 49-46 to Potter’s House, FL while the Patriots dropped 54-50 at Play For A Change at Class 2A No. 2 Pace Academy. No. 3 Salem pulled out a 47-45 win against Miller Grove at the Lemon Street Classic. No. 5 Thomson and No. 6 Cross Creek trade places as the Bulldogs won at last week’s Class A-Public No. 7 Warren County 70-56 behind Lavonta Ivery and Tydrekis Braswell’s 12 points apiece while the Razorbacks fell at North Augusta, SC 58-54.  Johnson-Savannah (4-4) sinks out of the Top 10 after losing to No. 8 Groves 52-38 and blowing a fourth quarter lead to Woodville-Tompkins, an 18-4 close leading to a 58-54 loss. No. 10 Sumter County breaks into the rankings following a 3-0 week which saw the Panthers notch wins over Tift County (46-35) and last week’s Class 4A No. 4 Monroe (67-63) before beating Blythewood, SC 54-43 at the Lemon Street Classic.

The only movement in Class 2A takes place in Region 4 as No. 3 Butler swaps with No. 4 Westside-Augusta following a thrilling 50-49 Bulldog win at Westside as Butler overcame an 11-point halftime deficit. Elijah Martinez led Butler with 12 points. No. 1 Columbia went 1-1 in Louisiana, losing 68-51 to Carver Collegiate Academy, LA and beating St. Augustine, LA 89-66. No. 2 Pace Academy received 12 points, 14 rebounds and 5 blocks from freshman Bryson Tiller in their 54-50 win over Class 3A No. 2 Sandy Creek at Play For A Change.

The state title picture has significantly changed in Class A-Private as No. 9 Providence Christian has fallen five spots after losing to Cherokee 73-60 at Santa Jam and 55-45 to Denmark at the Bronco Holiday Classic. VMI-signee Chance Thacker injured his knee against Cherokee and has the rest of his season in serious doubt. No. 3 King’s Ridge rises three places with wins over Lakeview Academy (67-41) and Wesleyan (60-36). The Tigers jump No. 4 North Cobb Christian who they split with and No. 5 WD Mohammed who was idle due to COVID and still hunting a signature win. North Cobb Christian lost 63-36 to Cypress Bay, FL at the Lemon Street Classic helping push them down a spot. No. 6 Darlington climbs two places after winning the Gold Ball at the Rome Seven Hills Rotary Christmas Tournament beating Model 46-40 as Patrick Shelley recorded 24 points and 10 rebounds. George Walton Academy (6-2) slips from the rankings after losing 80-61 at Oconee County. No. 10 Heritage School cracks into the Top 10 for the first time since joining the GHSA. The Hawks beat Holy Spirit Prep 55-47 and are buoyed by a season-opening 58-51 win over Walker.

A lot happened in Class A-Public this past week, reshaping the state. No. 1 Drew Charter remains atop the heap with a 60-49 win over Oxford, AL at the War Eagle Classic while No. 2 Social Circle fended off Region 8 rival Towns County 65-54 with KJ Reid scoring 16 points as the Redskins led 39-18 at the half. No. 6 Portal tumbles three spots. The Panthers beat Treutlen 76-63 but played without leading scorers Elijah Coleman and Amir Jackson in a 56-53 loss at previously winless ECI, Joseph Thomas shouldering the scoring burden with 34 points on 29 shots. No. 3 Dublin rises two places into the Top 3 following wins against Telfair County (61-47) and Johnson County (83-35). No. 8 Chattahoochee County sinks four spots with a 56-46 loss at newly ranked No. 7 Calhoun County. No. 9 Warren County is down a pair of slots with a 70-56 loss to Class 3A No. 5 Thomson. No. 4 Lanier County had a great week on the road, escaping Irwin County 68-66 and knocking off No. 10 Turner County 60-56 as EJ Brown scored 24 points to climb two places. No. 5 Manchester is on the rise from No. 9 with a 4-0 week highlighted by an 86-61 win over Columbus. Bowdon (9-2) falls out of the poll, struggling to compete at the SMI Holiday Classic with losses to Harrison (89-61) and Central-Carrollton (82-57).