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Thursday, February 22, 2007
Finally! Ranking 2007’s best teams
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The high school wrestling season has come to an end with a familiar face at the top of the poll. McEachern took over the top spot several weeks ago and never left, wrapping up the Class AAAAA Traditional title last weekend in Gwinnett.
Here’s a look at the final rankings:
Wrestling writer Kurt Aschermann Jr. ranks the top pre-state tournament wrestling teams in the state, regardless of class: Week of Feb. 22 (last week’s ranking in parenthesis)
FINAL 2007 RANKINGS
1: McEachern (1) - Class AAAAA Duals and Traditional champions; Cobb County champions
T-2: Collins Hill (2) - 3rd at AAAAA Duals and Traditional; Gwinnett County runner-up Walton (3) - 2nd AAAAA Traditional; 4th at Duals; Cobb County runner-up
4: Parkview (4) - 2nd at AAAAA Duals; 4th at Traditional; Gwinnett County champions
5: Stockbridge (5) - Class AAAA Duals and Traditional champions
6: West Laurens (T-7) - Class AAA Traditional champions; 3rd at Duals
7: Union Grove (10) - Tied-5th at AAAAA Duals; 5th at Traditional
8: Jefferson (9) - Class A Duals and Traditional champions
9: Cass (T-7) - 2nd at Class AAA Duals and Traditional
10: Harrison (11) - T-5th at AAAAA Duals; 6th at Traditional
11: Gilmer (6) - Class AAA Duals champions; 4th at Traditional
12: Lafayette (T-12) - Class AA Traditional champions; Duals runner-up
On the cusp: Camden County (NR) - 7th at Class AAAAA Traditional; Wesleyan (NR) - Class AA Duals champions; Traditional runner-up; Whitewater (NR) - Class AAAA Duals and Traditional runner-up; Eastside (T-12) - T-2nd at Class AAAA Traditional; 3rd at Duals
Pin it down and rank the rankings: Let us know who your final Top 12 are and how they stack up against Kurt’s picks.
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Does one loss help won-loss?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Each Friday, the AJC’s Jay Stone breaks down the state basketball scene online. Got comments about this roundup or have questions for Jay? Submit them below.
Unbeaten entering the state tournament? That’s great. But some coaches would rather not have the extra pressure that comes with a zero in the loss column. The adversity of a loss, they say, can galvanize a team come playoff time.
The girls teams at Randolph-Clay, Carrollton and Greenbrier enter the state tournament unbeaten, for instance, but undefeated seasons are not created equal.
“I told the girls that they had a wonderful season,” said Randolph-Clay coach James Bland, “but now it doesn’t mean anything. If we don’t work just as hard as we did to win the region in the next four or five games, people will look at it like, ‘Well, you won the region, but when you got against the big dogs, you couldn’t do it.’”
Randolph-Clay, 26-0 and ranked No. 2 in Class AA, has had seven games decided by 10 points or less, four of them by five or fewer, and two of those by one point.
Against Early County in a Region 1-AA game, the Eagles trailed with seven seconds left and hit a last-second shot to win.
On the other hand, Carrollton, No. 2 in AAA, has had only six games closer than 20 points the entire season, and just three closer than 10. None have come down to a last-second shot.
Both schools have lost key players to knee injuries. Randolph-Clay lost guard Ashley Talls four weeks ago, but senior post player Brittany Daniels (22 points per game and 11 rebounds) and guard Precious Peak (11 points) have made sure there was little drop-off in performance.
Carrollton lost leading scorer Velicia Bell (17 points) a month ago, but Karisma Boykin (17) and Janyce Ealey (10) have carried the load for the Trojans who are 27-0 and have won by an average of 33 points. Their closest call: a 61-54 win over Cartersville in the regular-season finale and a 49-42 victory over Buford.
A Closer Look: Here’s a glance at some one-loss teams
Kendrick girls • Record: 26-1
Lost to: Hardaway, 64-57 on Jan. 19
Avenged: The Cherokees beat Hardaway 69-68 in overtime for 2-AAA title; also beat the Hawks 70-61 on Dec. 23.
Coach Sterling Hicks’ psych assessment: “I think the win [over Hardaway] will help us down the road when we get in tough situations … Neither one [undefeated or one loss] is any better. We were undefeated until the same time last year.”
Keys to tournament: Janae McKinney is the team leader in scoring and rebounds, but the Cherokees don’t fall apart with her out of the lineup. She fouled out with two minutes left against Hardaway, and Kendra Smith was there to make the winning basket in overtime.
East Hall girls • Record: 26-1
Lost to: Chestatee, 50-44 on Jan. 23.
Avenged: Vikings won 50-48 on Feb. 9
Coach Allen Pritchett’s psych assessment: “It doesn’t do anything. Sometimes one loss kind of takes a little pressure off of you. I’ve never been unbeaten going into the tournament. Having a loss, you know you can lose. It refocuses you sometimes if somebody knocks you off.”
Keys to tournament: Balance. The Vikings have just one player averaging double figures in scoring (6-foot-3 Jr. Sada Wheeler, 12.7 ppg), but they get a lot of people involved.
Cedar Shoals boys • Record: 25-1
Lost to: Clarke Central, 84-78 on Dec. 9
Avenged? Cedar Shoals beat Clarke Central 71-49 on Jan. 6.
Coach Ron Link’s psych assessment: “We definitely were hungry after that one loss, because we led most of the game. No one likes to lose, but it sure is better to have lost once, just because it reminds you not to let up.”
Keys to tournament: Guards Chris Kupets (26 ppg) and Luvante Rhines (21.3) force opponents to devote resources to the perimeter. Post player Torrey Ball is also capable of big numbers. He recorded 20 rebounds,16 points, six assists and four steals in one game.
East Hall boys • Record: 26-1
Lost to: Rufus King (Wisc.), 79-73 in Charleston Roundball Classic on Dec. 27.
Avenged? No opportunity.
Coach Joe Dix’s psych assessment: “I guess the biggest difference for us is our kids know what it feels like to lose. Ours was pretty early, and we’ve won 20 in a row since then. The kids want to work to make sure it doesn’t happen again. My goal is never to go undefeated. I only want to win the last game.”
Keys to tournament: Georgia football signee Walter Hill averages 23 points and eight rebounds, Ken Wise 15 points and 12 rebounds and Trevor Bishop, 12 points. This is East Hall’s third straight one-loss regular season, and the Vikings average 86 points per game.
Around the State
Tape it up: Trion’s Jordan Reynolds, who leads the Bulldogs in scoring at 19 points per game, sprained his left ankle in the final minute of the first half of Trion’s Region 6-A semifinal against Bowdon. Reynolds missed the rest of that game, which the Bulldogs won, then scored 11 points in 11 minutes in the finals against Bremen.
Hot hand: Shaw’s Demarcus McCrory has scored 30 points in back-to-back games in the Region 2-AAA Tournament.
Longtime rivals: When the Buford boys travel to Rome to take on Darlington in the first round, it’ll be old home tour time for Wolves coach Milt Travis, who coached at Rome’s Model High School in the 1990s and faced Darlington’s Jim Van Es on numerous occasions.
And a sophomore will lead them: Madison County’s girls rode sophomore sensation Courtney Freeman to the Region 8-AAAA title. Freeman averages 24 points and 10 rebounds per game for a team that two years ago won just one game.
Finishing strong: Woodland 6-5 senior Scott Windom finished with 1,630 career points and more than 1,000 career rebounds.
Now state your thoughts: Got a team or player you’d like to see profiled? Let Jay know who’s heating up the hardcourts around the state. E-mail: jstone@ajc.com.
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