Over in South Carolina, the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational was as good as it gets with a handful of Georgia powers in attendance. One of those state championship favorites was Class AAAAAAA No. 1 Norcross, who went 3-1 with their lone loss coming to eventual tournament champion Monacan, VA 58-57. Along the way the Lady Blue Devils knocked off Wesleyan 58-53. Back in Georgia, No. 6 Westlake and No. 9 Colquitt County were tested at the Peach State Classic. The Lions went 2-1 with a win over Colquitt 45-42. The Packets finished 1-2 with losses to Southwest DeKalb and Westlake.
The Olivia Nelson-Ododa tour went to the CresCom Bank Holiday Invitational and nearly captured the championship. Class AAAAAA No. 2 Winder-Barrow went 3-1, beating Wesleyan 65-60 and falling to Monacan in the finals 54-49. In the loss Nelson-Ododa finished with 16 points and 22 rebounds.
Class AAAAA is shaping up to be tons of fun with No. 1 Buford as the early favorite. They crushed Morgan County 74-17 heading into the holiday break. Southwest DeKalb jumps Griffin for No. 3 in the state. The Panthers won the Peach State Classic beating Tucker (52-46), Colquitt County (60-51) and No. 7 Maynard Jackson 72-58 in the title game.
It's now nine straight wins for No. 2 West Hall heading into Lanierland. The Spartans won the Holidays on the Hardwood Championship in North Carolina over Cherokee, NC 76-71. No. 3 Carver-Columbus pounded No. 5 Columbus 69-53, dropping them three spots in the Class AAAA poll. Heritage-Catoosa departs the rankings after a 60-45 loss to Ringgold and is replaced by No. 10 Americus-Sumter, who drilled Monroe 61-40 at the Phoebe Sumter Shootout, the Tornadoes first loss of the year.
No. 1 Beach and No. 2 Johnson-Savannah will battle for Region 3-AAA supremacy all season long and even though it wasn't a region game, it was Beach's turn to stun the Atomsmashers. The Bulldogs won the Memorial Health Holiday Classic Championship in overtime 62-56 just six days after losing 45-42 on a buzzer beater to Johnson. The Bulldogs take ahold of No. 1 and will see Johnson for the third time on January 27.
No. 2 Model is starting to heat up in Class AA, beating Darlington 56-47 and Rome 60-54. Dodge County leaps Rabun County for No. 3 due to more resume building wins, their most recent coming at Wayne County 50-45. Bryan County and Pepperell exit the Top 10. Bryan County was upset by Long County while the Dragons have dropped three straight by double digits. Entering is No. 9 Hapeville Charter and No. 10 Dublin. The Hornets have some sting and are a team to keep an eye on with a High Major player leading the way.
There's shuffling along the top of Class A-Private with St. Francis reclaiming No. 1 even after two losses at the Nike Tournament of Champions. The Knights have played the toughest schedule in the state and are still a force in Georgia. Holy Innocents' climbs up to No. 2 after a clean week with a win over Jonesboro. Wesleyan went 2-2 at the CresCom Invitational, their only two losses coming to GHSA opponents in Winder-Barrow and Norcross. Darlington has lost two in a row and is out of the rankings, replaced by No. 10 Tattnall Square Academy.
No. 1 Pelham is a monster in Class A-Public, beating Tift County 40-38 just to show their dominance from the state's smallest classification. Below Pelham there were some state-changing results. Wheeler County jumps up two spots to No. 2 following No. 3 Greenville and No. 9 Terrell County's losses.
Class AAAAAAA
1. Norcross (15-1)
2. Collins Hill (12-0)
3. McEachern (5-4)
4. Mill Creek (11-1)
5. Archer (9-2)
6. Westlake (9-3)
7. Newton (8-1)
8. Hillgrove (7-4)
9. Colquitt County (9-2)
10. Brookwood (8-4)
Class AAAAAA
1. Harrison (9-1)
2. Winder-Barrow (8-4)
3. Douglas County (10-2)
4. Grovetown (8-4)
5. Mays (5-4)
6. Sequoyah (10-0)
7. Lovejoy (9-2)
8. Northview (11-1)
9. Stephenson (8-4)
10. Jonesboro (7-4)
Class AAAAA
1. Buford (8-0)
2. Flowery Branch (9-2)
3. Southwest DeKalb (10-3)
4. Griffin (13-0)
5. Warner Robins (13-0)
6. Carrollton (9-0)
7. Maynard Jackson (9-1)
8. Villa Rica (11-1)
9. Arabia Mountain (9-0)
10. Harris County (10-2)
Class AAAA
1. North Oconee (10-1)
2. West Hall (9-3)
3. Carver-Columbus (11-1)
4. Cross Creek (8-4)
5. Columbus (7-2)
6. Northwest Whitfield (7-3)
7. Sandy Creek (7-1)
8. Jefferson (8-3)
9. Perry (10-2)
10. Americus-Sumter (8-2)
Class AAA
1. Beach (11-1)
2. Johnson-Savannah (12-1)
3. Greater Atlanta Christian (10-4)
4. Ringgold (10-2)
5. Hart County (10-1)
6. Monroe (8-1)
7. Redan (8-2)
8. Calhoun (11-3)
9. Franklin County (8-2)
10. Haralson County (8-3)
Class AA
1. Laney (9-1)
2. Model (8-2)
3. Dodge County (8-1)
4. Rabun County (11-1)
5. Vidalia (8-1)
6. Fitzgerald (6-0)
7. Heard County (10-2)
8. Dade County (10-3)
9. Hapeville Charter (8-2)
10. Dublin (5-2)
Class A-Private
1. St. Francis (8-3)
2. Holy Innocents’ (9-1)
3. Wesleyan (10-2)
4. Lakeview Academy (10-2)
5. Pinecrest Academy (8-2)
6. Landmark Christian (9-3)
7. Calvary Day (9-2)
8. Fellowship Christian (5-3)
9. Christian Heritage (6-4)
10. Tattnall Square Academy (6-3)
Class A-Public
1. Pelham (10-0)
2. Wheeler County (9-1)
3. Greenville (9-1)
4. Telfair County (9-1)
5. Woodville-Tompkins (10-3)
6. Macon County (6-0)
7. Treutlen (7-3)
8. Taylor County (7-2)
9. Terrell County (6-2)
10. Wilcox County (7-4)
