Every Sunday, the AJC releases its top 10 polls for both boys and girls. Here's a rundown of those teams and where they're at at this point in the season.
1. Glenn Hills (16-0)
Region record: 7-0 in Region 4 (first place)
Notes: The Spartans coasted through the week with a pair of region wins over Screven County and Westside, with both coming by 30 or more points. This week could prove to be much tougher with two more 4-AA games this week against Butler (9-9, 5-2) and at No. 5 Laney (14-3, 5-1). The Spartans are led in scoring by seniors Tim Williamson (12.8 points per game), Timmy Sellers (10.7) and sophomore John Whitehead (10.4).
2. Thomasville (15-2)
Region record: 2-1 in Region 1 (second place)
Notes: It may seem like it's taking forever for the Bulldogs region schedule to get moving — Region 1 has just five teams — and last week didn't bring much progress. They played just one game — though it was a region game — and barely won it, 71-70 at home against unranked Early County. Though not an impressive win, their overall and league records still have them positioned as one of the top teams in AA. They'll play three games this week, but again just one region game. Their opponents are Class A-public's No. 9 Pelham (13-3), region rival Fitzgerald (5-7, 1-2) and Thomas County Central (5-12).
3. Dublin (13-2)
Region record: 3-1 in Region 3 (second place)
Notes: The Fighting Irish lived up to their name and earned two hard-fought 3-AA wins over Northeast (82-67) and Dodge County (65-51). Next comes the big challenge on Friday, when they'll take on No. 8 and first-place Bleckley County (13-3, 6-1) at home on six days rest. The next day they'll be at East Laurens (0-17, 0-6) to close out the week.
4. South Atlanta (15-2)
Region record: 5-1 in Region 6 (first place)
Notes: The Hornets climbed two spots in the rankings with three wins, including two against Florida teams at a Martin Luther King holiday tournament in Orange Park, Florida. They beat region opponent Washington 77-54 before traveling to the Sunshine State and beating Northeast-Oakland Park 73-65 and Fleming Island 74-56. Northeast is ranked No. 9 in Florida's Class AAAAAAA according to MaxPreps. This week the Hornets have three games, including league contests against Douglass (5-10, 2-4) and second-place Therrell (11-7, 4-1), then play Carver (2-13).
5. Laney (14-3)
Region record: 5-1 in Region 4 (second place)
Notes: The Wildcats went 2-0 last week, beating Screven County 81-59 and Josey 55-44. On Monday, they beat South Carolina's Midland Valley 65-41, the first of three games this week. The other two are league games against Westside (3-14, 2-5) and top-ranked Glenn Hills (16-0, 7-0), which beat them 51-46 on Dec. 22.
6. Chattooga (14-2)
Region record: 7-0 in Region 7 (first place)
Notes: The Indians went 3-0 last week with region wins over Gordon Central (88-42) and Model (49-48) and over Southeast Whitfield (58-39). They play three region games at home this week against Armuchee (4-13, 4-4), Rockmart (10-6, 4-3) and Dade County (6-11, 4-2).
7. Bleckley County (13-3)
Region record: 6-1 in Region 3 (first place)
Notes: The Royals maintain a 1.5 games lead over No. 3 Dublin in the standings and have played three more region games. Dublin (13-2, 3-1) will have a chance to chip away at that lead and pass them in the loss column when the two play each other at Dublin on Friday. The Royals also play league games against Northeast (13-8, 5-4) on Tuesday and Southwest (7-9, 3-4) on Saturday.
8. Washington County (11-5)
Region record: 4-3
Notes: Last week was a rough go for the Golden Hawks, who took a plunge from their No. 3 ranking with back-to-back losses last week to unranked region opponents Dodge County (65-59) and Southwest (47-45). Both Dodge County and Southwest have losing region records and it's a wonder how the Golden Hawks managed to stay ranked. In fact, Washington County beat Southwest by 60 on Dec. 12, so that's a shocking turn. For reasons unclear, they played Southwest last week without Jawan Dukes and Jamarius Dixon, their high scorers from the first Southwest contest. So they absence of key players last week could account for the drop in production. They closed last week with a 49-47 region win over Northeast and opened this week with a 61-44 win over Stone Mountain in the Martin Luther King Shootout at Evans. They play two more games this week against league opponent East Laurens (0-17, 0-6), followed by Baldwin (13-5, 4-0).
9. Swainsboro (12-3)
Region record: 8-0 in Region 2 (first place)
Notes: The Tigers picked up a pair of league wins over Metter (65-57) and Toombs County (83-47) last week and play two more this week against Benedictine (6-8, 3-4) and Bacon County (4-13, 2-6) before playing AAAAA's Statesboro (14-3).
10. Elbert County (16-2)
Region record: 6-0 in Region 8 (first place)
Notes: The Blue Devils beat Oglethorpe County (82-52) and Rabun County (73-44) for a pair of easy region wins and look to pick up three more this week against Monticello (10-7, 3-3), Social Circle (5-11, 0-6) and Putnam County (5-10, 4-2).
1. Laney (16-0)
Region record: 6-0 in Region 4 (second place)
Notes: Barring a major upset, the Lady Wildcats will head into the AA playoffs undefeated. Last week they fended off No. 8 Josey for the second time this season, 67-60, in their closest game to date. They'll host Josey one more time on Feb. 2 and likely play them in the 4-AA tournament. Josey appears to be the only team that has a chance for the upset. After the Lady Wildcats beat Johnson-Savannah 73-53 on Monday at the MLK Shootout at Evans, they have nothing but league games in front of them. They have three more region games this week against Westside (8-8, 4-3), Glenn Hills (2-10, 1-6) and Jefferson County (8-5, 3-3).
2. Banks County (16-3)
Region record: 6-0 in Region 8 (first place)
Notes: The Lady Leopards took control of 8-AA with a huge week that catapulted them from their previous No. 6 ranking. First, they beat then-No. 4 Rabun County 59-49 and followed that with a 61-40 thrashing of then-No. 3 Putnam County. The next day, they avoided a let-up to Oglethorpe County with a 76-25 win. They'll play two region games this week against Monticello (10-8, 2-4) and Social Circle (2-12, 0-5).
3. Dodge County (14-2)
Region record: 4-2 in Region 3 (second place)
Notes: The Lady Indians went 1-1 last week, losing 71-52 to Washington County and beating Dublin 65-39. Destanee Wright led the team by averaging 23 points in those games. They play three games this week, two against region opponents Southwest (9-7, 4-3) and East Laurens (11-5, 3-3) before playing West Laurens (10-7).
4. Swainsboro (13-2)
Region record: 8-0 in Region 2 (first place)
Notes: The Lady Tigers posted a pair of double-digit wins over region opponents, beating second-place Metter (59-43) and Toombs County (49-29). They have three games this week, including a stiff region challenge against fourth-place St. Vincent's (13-3, 5-2), followed by Bacon County (3-12, 2-6). The Lady Tigers close the week with a non-league game against Statesboro (9-8).
5. Washington County (14-3)
Region record: 7-0 in Region 3 (first place)
Notes: The Lady Golden Hawks' place in the rankings is the biggest head-scratcher of any AA team, especially when comparing it to Dodge County's No. 3 ranking. How is it that Washington County is ranked two places behind the Lady Indians despite not only having an undefeated record in the same region, but by beating them head-to-head last week by 19 points? Perhaps this is an oversight by the pollsters, or maybe they're strictly looking at the overall win-loss records, which would be shortsighted. Either way, they got this one wrong. The Lady Golden Hawks won two more league games last week over Southwest (53-42) and Northeast (58-46) and beat host Evans 54-43 in the MLK Shootout to start this week. They play a league game against East Laurens (11-5, 3-3) next, followed by a non-league game against AAAA's No. 9 Baldwin (17-2, 3-1).
6. Putnam County (14-2)
Region record: 4-2 in Region 8 (tied for second place)
Notes: The Lady Eagles went 2-1 last week, beating Oglethorpe County (60-14) and Monticello (62-49) while losing to No. 2 Banks County (61-40). The loss to the Lady Leopards led to the Lady Eagles sliding three spots in the rankings. They face another region challenge this week with No. 7 Rabun County (14-3, 3-2), plus two more league games against Social Circle (2-12, 0-5) and Elbert County (11-7, 4-2).
7. Rabun County (14-3)
Region record: 3-2 in Region 8 (fourth place)
Notes: The Lady Wildcats were Banks County's other victim, sliding three spots in the rankings along with Putnam County after the Lady Leopards beat them 59-49. The Lady Wildcats rebounded with two region wins to close out the week over Social Circle (72-15) and Elbert County (70-51). They have three more region games this weekend, including against Putnam County (14-2, 4-2) in a game that could very well determine their stay in the rankings. Luckily, they also play Oglethorpe County (0-14, 0-4) twice.
8. Josey (16-2)
Region record: 6-1 in Region 4 (second place)
Notes: The Lady Eagles have just two losses on the season and both are to region rival Laney, including 67-60 last week. They won their other game over Jefferson County 46-28 and have two region games this week against Harlem (4-14, 2-5) and Butler (6-11, 5-2).
9. Model (14-3)
Region record: 8-0 in Region 7 (first place)
Notes: The Lady Blue Devils went 3-0 last week against league opponents. Though not score was reported to MaxPreps, Model High's twitter account confirmed a win over Dade County and they beat Chattooga 50-35 and Gordon Central 69-26. They play region games against Coosa (6-10, 3-5) and Pepperell (4-9, 2-5) and a non-region game at Calhoun (8-7).
10. Bryan County (15-2)
Region record: 6-2 in Region 2 (tied for second)
Notes: The Lady Redskins enter the rankings coming off three wins, including region wins over then-No. 10 St. Vincent's (46-36), Bacon County (67-32). They also beat Portal 53-16. This week, they can claim sole possession of second place with a win over Metter (13-4, 6-2) or, with a loss perhaps Metter takes their spot in the rankings. They also play Toombs County (1-14, 0-6).
All stats and records are sourced from MaxPreps. Follow the AJC's Class AA coverage on Twitter.
Credit: Adam Krohn
Credit: Adam Krohn
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