Class AAAAAAA

1. Grayson (13-1)
2. Shiloh (15-0)
3. Norcross (14-1)
4. Milton (11-3)
5. Wheeler (10-5)
6. Newton (11-3)
7. East Coweta (9-4)
8. Cherokee (14-1)
9. Pebblebrook (9-7)
10. Archer (11-5)

Class AAAAAA

1. Tri-Cities (13-1)
2. South Cobb (12-1)
3. Tucker (13-2)
4. Lanier (10-4)
5. Allatoona (10-2)
6. New Manchester (11-4)
7. Pope (10-3)
8. Evans (10-2)
9. Richmond Hill (14-2)
10. Chattahoochee (9-6)

Class AAAAA

1. Lithonia (16-1)
2. Dutchtown (14-2)
3. Eagle’s Landing (12-1)
4. Cedar Shoals (13-1)
5. Kell (11-4)
6. Veterans (12-0)
7. Warner Robins (11-1)
8. Buford (10-3)
9. Walnut Grove (11-1)
10. Statesboro (9-5)

Class AAAA

1. Woodward Academy (14-1)
2. Sandy Creek (8-3)
3. Americus-Sumter (13-0)
4. Eastside (12-2)
5. Cross Creek (12-3)
6. Chapel Hill (8-4)
7. Denmark (11-4)
8. St. Pius X (10-3)
9. Baldwin (7-4)
10. LaFayette (14-0)

Class AAA

1. Pace Academy (11-4)
2. Windsor Forest (11-3)
3. Johnson-Savannah (11-3)
4. Hart County (11-0)
5. Dawson County (14-2)
6. Franklin County (13-3)
7. Lovett (10-3)
8. Monroe (8-4)
9. GAC (9-4)
10. Westminster (11-4)

Class AA

1. Therrell (11-4)
2. Swainsboro (12-1)
3. Douglass (12-4)
4. Glenn Hills (11-5)
5. Butler (8-4)
6. Jeff Davis (9-4)
7. Laney (7-4)
8. Hephzibah (8-5)
9. Vidalia (11-4)
10. Spencer (8-3)

Class A-Private

1. St. Francis (12-1)
2. Greenforest (6-8)
3. Walker (12-1)
4. Mt. Pisgah (11-2)
5. Trinity Christian (10-6)
6. Galloway (11-1)
7. Christian Heritage (10-0)
8. Mt. Vernon Presbyterian (8-2)
9. Whitefield Academy (9-5)
10. Wesleyan (5-5)

Class A-Public

1. Treutlen (12-0)
2. Wilcox County (9-0)
3. Terrell County (9-0)
4. Calhoun County (8-2)
5. Hancock Central (10-2)
6. Lanier County (11-2)
7. Wilkinson County (6-6)
8. Drew Charter (8-5)
9. Turner County (8-2)
10. Macon County (8-3)

Holiday tournaments afforded teams great non-region tests to get ready for the stretch run as events such as the Tournament of Champions, Big South Shootout, Roundball Classic and many more pitted unfamiliar foes against one another to build their resume and challenge themselves one last time this decade.

There is major movement in Class 7A as defending 32-0 state champion McEachern (10-4) has fallen from the Top 10 after squeaking out a 70-69 win over John Marshall, VA at TOC before getting thumped by blazing-hot undefeated No. 2 Shiloh 82-64 as five Generals cracked double digits led by Zawdie Jackson and Caleb Golden’s 16 points apiece. To set up the match with McEachern, Shiloh defeated No. 7 East Coweta 73-71. Region 8 now places four teams in the Top 10 as No. 1 Grayson shined at TOC, defeating Class 5A No. 1 Lithonia 87-66 and No. 9 Pebblebrook 78-71 in overtime while No. 6 Newton climbed two more spots after two wins at the Dwight Madison Classic and No. 10 Archer re-enters the poll after a 2-0 week at TOC, beating Lambert 76-50 and Class A-Private No. 5 Trinity Christian 56-39. Grayson meets Shiloh this Friday in Loganville in a star-studded No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown. Outside of Region 8, No. 3 Norcross slips a spot following a 63-45 loss to California power Mater Dei at the Les Schwab Invitational.

There are a handful of teams knocking at the door of the Class 6A Top 10, most notably Heritage-Conyers (12-3) and Valdosta (13-1), but they will have to wait another week as no one drops out. No. 10 Chattahoochee is hanging in by a thread after slipping five spots following an 0-2 showing at TOC, losing to No. 2 South Cobb 89-75 and to Class 5A No. 5 Kell 79-53. Five of Chattahoochee’s six losses have come against Top 10 teams, giving their strength of schedule the boost needed to stay in the rankings.  Aforementioned South Cobb is up a spot after also beating Class 7A No. 5 Wheeler 65-60 at TOC. No. 3 Tucker went 1-1 at TOC, losing 73-72 to Class 5A No. 2 Dutchtown before beating Langston Hughes 56-53. No. 1 Tri-Cities suffered their first loss of the year at the Sunshine State Explosion, falling to Sickles, FL 70-68 after defeating Apopka, FL 56-49, but the Bulldogs remain atop the heap. No. 8 Evans scored a big 56-53 win over Class 3A No. 2 Windsor Forest to win the Monterrey Christmas Classic.

We have a new number one in Class 5A as No. 1 Lithonia takes the throne even after an 87-66 loss to Class 7A No. 1 Grayson at TOC. The Bulldogs bounced back with a 63-46 win over Westside-Macon. No. 3 Eagle’s Landing falls two spots after a 51-48 loss to Class 4A No. 3 Americus-Sumter at the Lee County Roundball Classic. No. 2 Dutchtown edges ahead of their rival thanks to wins over Class 6A No. 3 Tucker 73-72 and Roswell 62-27 at TOC.  No. 5 Kell lost a tough one in overtime to Class 7A No. 5 Wheeler 78-74 at TOC but earned a 79-53 win over Class 6A No. 10 Chattahoochee to close out the event. No. 6 Veterans is gaining momentum, blasting 10-3 Mary Persons 80-50 behind the balanced attack of Horace Johnson (20), TJ Grant (18), Jalyn Williams (14) and Rodney James (12). Hiram (9-4) will try to avoid another December swoon which cost them last season, but for now the Hornets have still tumbled out of the rankings after struggling at the Gentleman’s Classic at Statesboro, losing to returnee No. 10 Statesboro, winners of 8-straight, 45-43 and to Greenbrier 57-50.

Even with a new coach and a new cast of characters around Trae Brown (18 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 3.6 apg, 2.3 spg), No. 3 Americus-Sumter is still perfect in Class 4A and is inching closer to the top spot after knocking off previously undefeated Class 5A No. 3 Eagle’s Landing 51-48. No. 2 Sandy Creek had a statement win, defeating Class 2A No. 1 Therrell 84-62. No. 6 Chapel Hill edged Jonesboro 77-72 in overtime as Micah Bell poured in 30 points while KJ Doucet chipped in 19. Howard (9-4) exits the poll after an idle week and is replaced by No. 10 LaFayette. The Ramblers will have their biggest test of the year at the Adairsville Ace Christmas Classic Championship as they take on Class A-Private No. 3 Walker.

In Class 3A, No. 1 Pace Academy went 1-1 at the NXT LVL Hoopsfest, losing 78-76 to Briarcrest Christian, TN before knocking out Mt. Bethel 86-39. At the Monterrey Christmas Classic, No. 2 Windsor Forest fell to Class 6A No. 8 Evans 56-53 while No. 3 Johnson-Savannah defeated Class 2A No. 7 Laney 59-58 at the Roundball Classic before losing in the championship game without Emondre Bowles to Class 2A No. 8 Hephzibah 72-62. Long County (11-3) falls out of the Top 10 after an 82-68 loss to Heritage-Conyers. Back into the poll is No. 10 Westminster who bounced back after two losses the previous week to earn wins over quality 7A schools Etowah (70-67) and South Forsyth (59-56) to set up a championship matchup with Class 7A No. 8 Cherokee at the Hounds Holiday Hoops Classic at Pope.

Region 4’s CSRA grouping is starting to flood Class 2A as no one can pull ahead of one another. No. 4 Glenn Hills, No. 5 Butler, No. 7 Laney and debutant No. 8 Hephzibah crash the party, challenging Region 2 for the state’s deepest as they counter with No. 2 Swainsboro, No. 6 Jeff Davis and No. 9 Vidalia. The two regions hook up in the first round of the state playoffs, sure to provide fireworks. Glenn Hills holds onto their No. 4 spot after taking down Class 4A No. 5 Cross Creek 71-60 but then losing to a streaking Hephzibah 73-56. The Rebels went on to beat an Emondre Bowles-less Class 3A No. 3 Johnson-Savannah in the Roundball Classic Championship 72-62 as tournament MVP Robert Johnson dumped in 20 points followed by Quentin Friendly (16), Jaylen Blount (13) and Breylon Davis (12). The Rebels took the place of Dublin (8-2) who narrowly falls out after a 50-42 loss to Class A-Public No. 1 Treutlen. No. 10 Spencer is next on the chopping block, tumbling five spots after a 73-60 loss to Harris County.

The Top 7 in Class A-Private remains unchanged. For those wondering about No. 2 Greenforest’s sudden change in record, they had to forfeit their first four games of the season due to playing an ineligible player which according to MaxPreps, may have been highly-touted 7-foot freshman Gai Atem who hasn’t had any stats posted since their first four forfeitures. At the bottom of the poll, finding legitimate Top 10 teams has been difficult due to some teams overscheduling and others beating up on cupcakes. No. 9 Whitefield Academy reappears after WD Mohammed got cracked by Newnan 70-33. The Wolfpack had a nice week against larger schools, scoring wins over Mundy’s Mill (43-41) and ML King (51-49) with a loss to Stockbridge (64-59) sandwiched in between.  No. 10 Wesleyan holds on another week after two tight losses at the Big South Shootout, falling to Morrow 64-62 and to Carrollton 60-68.

No. 1 Treutlen is handling their business in Class A-Public on their march to avenging last year’s state championship loss at the buzzer. The Vikings defeated No. 7 Wilkinson County 84-73 at the Palace before taking down last week’s Class 2A No. 9 Dublin 50-42. In their win over Wilkinson County, Sabo Mitchell had 23 points while Kamron Jordan (22) and Chris Floyd (17) combined for 39.