With football season behind us, it's time to shift the focus to a prep sport already in progress - basketball. There will be plenty of opportunities explore in-depth who's who amongst Class AA, but as an introduction to the 2015-16 season, lets take a look at the current top 10 for both the boys and girls to establish where the state's better teams currently stand.
So far, the defending state champions on both the boys and girls sides sit atop the rankings.
1. Seminole County (5-1, 2-1 in Region 1): The defending-champion Indians dropped their first game of the season, a narrow 84-81 defeat to No. 8 Early County - a Region 1 foe. The loss snapped a 20-game win streak that dated back to last season. They'll look to get back on track with back-to-back home games against unranked Pelham on Friday and Baker County on Saturday.
2. Crawford County (7-0, 3-0 R7): The Eagles could be in line for a No. 1 ranking in next week's polls with Seminole County losing. No team has come closer than nine points to the Eagles, who last beat Putnam County 85-35 on Tuesday. They don't play again until they host Northside next Tuesday.
3. Thomasville (9-0, 2-0 R1): After edging Lowndes 70-69 on Nov. 24 at Valdosta, the Bulldogs have coasted to five double-digit victories. They play a back-to-back home-away pair against Brooks County and Bainbridge on Friday and Saturday. They won't play another game until Jan. 2.
4. GAC (6-3, 3-0 R6): Sure the three losses aren't a great look for the Spartans, but two were to out-of-state teams and the other was to AAAAA's No. 7 team, Riverwood. They have the pedigree to compete at a very high level and have won four of the last six AA titles. They haven't played since Dec. 11 and won't again until they travel to St. Pius X (No. 7 in AAAA) on Dec. 22.
5. Vidalia (9-0, 4-0 R2): The Indians have been tested just once thus far, edging Swainsboro 59-58 on the road on Dec. 1. They've played more road games (five) than home games this season (four) and travel again to take on McIntosh County Academy on Friday in Darien. It will be their final game before they play in a three-day holiday tournament that begins Dec. 28.
6. Pace Academy (1-3, 1-1 R6): The record looks ugly, but it's not for a lack of effort. No AA team has challenged itself quite like the Knights have to this point. Their losses are to Westlake - the No. 1 team in the state's highest classification - Greenforest (No. 1, Class A-Private) and GAC. They beat KIPP last week to end their three-game skid and will be at Hopkins, S.C. for the Chick-Fil-A Classic, which runs from Dec. 19-22.
7. Lovett (6-1, 2-0 R6): The Lions are coming off their first loss of the season, a narrow 60-57 defeat to AAAAAA's Mountain View on Dec. 12. They'll look to get back on track with three games in four days, starting Friday at home with Stockbridge before traveling to Woodstock on Saturday, then hosting Chattahoochee County on Monday. All three opponents are unranked.
8. Early County (5-1, 2-0 R1): The Bobcats are in line for a rankings boost, having upset top-ranked Seminole County on the road on Dec. 15. The win puts them atop the early region standings lead as they prepare for a back-to-back game home stand that begins tonight against Miller County and continues on Saturday against Brooks County.
9. Holy Innocents' (5-3, 1-2 R6): The Golden Bears haven't played since a Dec. 11 loss to region rival Lovett, when they fell 67-63. Two of their three losses come to ranked region opponents - the other being to GAC on Dec. 4. Riverwood, the No. 7 team from AAAAA is their other loss. They'll take on Alcovy on Dec. 21 and Sparkman (Harvest, Ala.) on Dec. 22.
10. Temple (7-1, 0-0 R5): The Tigers will get through 2015 without having played a region contents and will make their league debut on Jan. 5 when they host Bremen. Their lone loss came on Nov. 24 on the road to Villa Rica - a convincing 64-37 defeat. They're currently playing in the Carroll County Christmas Classic, where on Thursday they defeated Randolph County 64-32. They'll also play games in the classic on Friday and Saturday.
1. Wesleyan (8-0, 2-0 R6): The well-oiled machine that is Lady Wolves basketball has won a state title in six of the last seven seasons including last year. They opened the season with a 76-4 win over Druid Hills and have coasted to wins ever since. They last played on Dec. 12, defeating Mill Creek 66-34 and, according to MaxPreps, won't play again until Jan. 5 against region rival GAC.
2. Holy Innocents' (8-1, 3-0 R6): The Lady Golden Bears' lone loss is a quality one, coming at the hands of AAAAAA's No. 4-ranked Collins Hill on Dec. 12. They haven't played a game since and are gearing up for holiday tournaments at Woodward Academy and in Naples, Fla.
3. Model (11-0, 4-0 R7): The Lady Blue Devils have run the tables on their competition thus far, and that includes quality wins over ranked opponents - Lovett (No. 5) and Armuchee (No. 9). They defeated Calhoun 69-57 on Thursday in a holiday tournament in Rome and will take another shot at Armuchee on Friday. They'll host Christian Heritage on Dec. 22.
4. Pelham (4-0, 2-0 R1): The Lady Hornets edged Lowndes 64-62 at home in the season opener and haven't been challenged since. They also don't seem to have too challenging of a schedule. They're the only team ranked in their region, and nearly all remaining games are against region opponents outside of a holiday tournament. They'll play AAAAAA's Colquitt County on Dec. 30, and Lowndes gets another shot at them on Jan. 5, but other than that we may have to wait until the playoffs to see what this team is made of.
5. Lovett (8-2, 1-1 R6): The Lady Lions' only loss came to No. 2 Holy Innocents', though it was a convincing 72-56 defeat. On the flip side, they're more than battle tested early this season after the loss that compliments two overtime wins over Centennial and Rabun Gap. They host Stockbridge on Friday before heading to a holiday tournament in Tennessee.
6. Jeff Davis (9-0, 4-0 R2): The Lady Jackets have steamrolled through their schedule with double-digit wins, save a 48-45 region win on the road over Bryan County. They play two road games on Friday and Saturday against Atkinson County and Brantley County, respectively. However, calendars need to be circled on the date of Jan. 5, when they play Vidalia for the first of two times in a matchup that has serious region standings implications.
7. Vidalia (9-1, 4-0 R2): The Lady Indians have a minor blemish on their record, but it's nothing to be frowned upon - a Nov. 24 loss to West Laurens, the No. 9 team in AAAA. They're coming off a 55-11 road win over Bacon County on Dec. 15 and will travel to play McIntosh County Academy on Friday. Again, see the paragraph above and mark Jan. 5 on your calendar if you're following Region 2.
8. Putnam County (8-2, 2-1 R4): The Lady Eagles dropped a region road game to No. 10 Bleckley County on Dec. 8 by a score of 58-49. They also lost 54-39 on the road to Grovetown, the No. 6 team in AAAAA. They play back-to-back games home and away on Friday with Crawford County and Greene County, respectively, before heading to a holiday tournament to close out the calendar year.
9. Armuchee (6-3, 2-1 R7): The Lady Indians played a Thursday game against Darlington in a holiday tournament at Berry College, however the score of that game has not been confirmed. Apparently, the game went to overtime. They look to even the series against Model on Friday in the same holiday tournament after previously losing to the Lady Blue Devils.
10. Bleckley County (4-2, 3-0 R4): The Lady Royals opened their season with a loss to West Laurens, the No. 9 team from AAAA. Unfortunately for them, they followed that up with a 50-38 loss to Dodge County. They've won ever since and are riding a four-game win streak into a region matchup with Lamar County, which takes place in Cochran on Jan. 8.
NOTE: All record and schedule information is provided by MaxPreps.com. Boys and Girls basketball rankings are provided by ScoreATL.com.
