AJC Varsity

Public school leads GHSA in state championships for first time in 48 years

Creekview’s five state championships this school year led 10 other schools that had four. East Laurens, North Paulding and Islands won state titles for the first time this academic year.
Creekview head coach Jennifer Maloney holds her GHSA championship trophy high Thursday, April 23, 2026, after beating Cherokee in a slow-pitch softball game at Twin Creeks Softball Complex. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)
Creekview head coach Jennifer Maloney holds her GHSA championship trophy high Thursday, April 23, 2026, after beating Cherokee in a slow-pitch softball game at Twin Creeks Softball Complex. (Daniel Varnado for the AJC)
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East Laurens, North Paulding and Islands won their first state titles in any sport this academic year, and Creekview claimed five championships to become the first public school to lead the GHSA title chase outright in 48 years.

East Laurens’ maiden championship, won in girls basketball, was among the more extraordinary of 180 state titles contested in 2025-26.

East Laurens is a 70-year-old school, and the girls basketball coach, Danielle Lowther, is an alumna and former East Laurens player.

“We’ve been hoping and wishing and praying for years and years and years,” Lowther said three days before her team’s 63-55 victory over Elbert County in the Class A Division I final in Macon.

North Paulding, opened in 2007, won its first state title, in competitive cheer, and earned a second in girls basketball four months later. The school nearly got a third in baseball but lost in the Class 6A final to Etowah last month.

Islands, opened in 2010, won Class 3A boys soccer, becoming the first Savannah public school to win a boys spring sport since 1976. Another Savannah public school, Savannah Arts Academy, won Class A Division II boys soccer the next day.

Other schools broke remarkable droughts.

Johnson County’s boys tennis team won the school’s first state title since Herschel Walker starred on the 1979-80 football and track-and-field teams.

Pickens’ baseball team won the school’s first boys state title and first of any kind since 1974 (girls basketball).

Worth County’s football team and Rabun County’s boys basketball team, both in Class A Division I, won their schools’ second championships in history and first in more than 30 years.

The most titles went to Creekview, a Class 5A school that earned victories in boys cross country, fast-pitch softball, wrestling team duals, girls basketball and slow-pitch softball.

The basketball title was the school’s first in the sport. The cross-country title was the first for any Cherokee County school.

Tied behind Creekview with four titles were Bleckley County, Blessed Trinity, Buford, Greater Atlanta Christian, Hebron Christian, Holy Innocents’, Marist, Pierce County, West Forsyth and Westminster.

The last time a public school won the most titles of any GHSA school, with no ties, came in 1978, when Lakeside of DeKalb County won three of the 49 held.

“That’s insane,” Creekview athletic director Matt Cates said. “I didn’t know that stat. It’s very cool. I said last year, after we won four, that I didn’t think we could top that, and we did. And we were runner-up in another (traditional boys wrestling). It’s all credit to our coaches and the time they put in and the good run of athletes we have right now in multiple sports.”

Creekview was among eight schools winning four last year, six of which were public schools. Only seven other public schools since 1980 have finished tied for first.

A big reason for the recent public-school surge is the GHSA’s private playoff setup, implemented in 2024-25. Private schools in classes 3A, 2A and A Division I play in a private-only state-playoff division, guaranteeing public school champions in those classes.

Private schools won 34 of the 180 state titles, or 18.9%, this academic year. They won 32.2% of titles from 2000 to 2024, before the GHSA introduced the broader private division. Twelve of those 34 won this year came from Westminster, Blessed Trinity and Marist competing in Class 4A, out of the private division.

Here are the GHSA’s 180 sports champions for 2025-26. They were won by 106 of the GHSA’s more than 450 schools.

By school

By sport

Baseball

Basketball (boys)

Basketball (girls)

Cheer (game Day)

Cheerleading

Cross Country (boys)

Cross Country (girls)

Flag football

Football

Golf (boys)

Golf (girls)

Gymnastics

Lacrosse (boys)

Lacrosse (girls)

Riflery

Soccer (boys)

Soccer (girls)

Softball (fastpitch)

Softball (slow-pitch)

Swimming (boys)

Swimming (girls)

Tennis (boys)

Tennis (girls)

Track and field (boys)

Track and field (girls)

Volleyball

Wrestling (duals)

Wrestling (traditional)

Note: These do not include bass fishing, esports and dance, which did not hold traditional classification team championships.

About the Author

Todd Holcomb covers high school sports across the state. He rejoined The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2025 and has worked with the AJC in varying capacities since 1985. He is a co-founder and editor of Georgia High School Football Daily.

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