Region basketball tournaments begin in earnest this week. If the final days of the regular season are telling, expect the unexpected.
No. 1-ranked Wheeler and No. 2 Tift County lost Saturday in Class AAAAAA boys games, and four other regular-season champions in the highest class were beaten last week by unranked opponents.
Wheeler remained No. 1 after losing 48-41 to No. 9 Milton, which had lost twice earlier last week to Walton and Cherokee. Tift County dropped one spot to No. 3 after losing 65-51 to Valdosta.
Wheeler and Tift had been the only AAAAAA boys teams that were unbeaten in Georgia and their regions. They had clinched their regions’ No. 1 seed before their final regular-season games.
Other No. 1 seeds in AAAAAA that lost were Luella (to Morrow), Pebblebrook (to Campbell), Lambert (to Centennial) and Berkmar (to Central Gwinnett). The only two No. 1 seeds that didn’t lose last week were No. 2 North Gwinnett and No. 4 Westlake.
Noteworthy boys results in other classifications were Stephenson’s victory over previous No. 3 Tucker in AAAAA and Alexander’s victory over No. 4 Fayette County in AAA. Stephenson and Alexander each moved up in the rankings.
Newly ranked boys teams are Berkmar for Douglas County in AAAAAA, Effingham County and South Paulding for Villa Rica and M.L. King in AAAAA, Westover and Statesboro for Rutland and Worth County in AAAA, St. Pius for Thomson in AAA and Landmark Christian for Holy Innocents’ in A.
In the girls rankings, Kendrick (22-0) is the new No. 1 team in Class AA ahead of Wesleyan, which lost to Region 6 rival Greater Atlanta Christian 53-43 on Wednesday and dropped one spot to No. 2. Wesleyan has won six consecutive state championships.
Kendrick is one of only five undefeated girls teams in the state and one of two in Class AA along with fourth-ranked Pelham (23-0). The others are all ranked No. 1 – Redan (25-0) in AAAA, Washington County (22-0) in AAA and Holy Innocents’ (23-0) in A. Kendrick won its four games last week by an average score of 92-21.
Otherwise, the girls rankings had few changes this week. Ranked teams lost a total of 18 games last week, and 12 of those came against other top 10 teams. The only new team in the rankings is Richmond Academy (18-6), which replaced Fayette County in Class AAAA. Fayette County went 3-1 last week, losing to second-ranked Columbus 47-43.
BOYS
1. Wheeler (20-5)
2. North Gwinnett (22-3)
3. Tift County (22-3)
4. Westlake (23-2)
5. Norcross (20-5)
6. Walton (21-4)
7. Pebblebrook (19-5)
8. Hillgrove (19-6)
9. Milton (15-8)
10. Berkmar (19-6)
1. Miller Grove (20-5)
2. Allatoona (24-1)
3. Stephenson (19-6)
4. Tucker (20-4)
5. Jenkins (22-2)
6. Clarke Central (23-1)
7. Warner Robins (21-2)
8. Sprayberry (21-4)
9. Effingham County (17-8)
10. South Paulding (21-4)
1. Columbia (20-4)
2. Alexander (21-3)
3. Eagle’s Landing (18-4)
4. Fayette County (19-6)
5. Glenn Hills (19-4)
6. Eastside (21-2)
7. Liberty County (18-6)
8. Westover (18-5)
9. Statesboro (19-6)
10. South Atlanta (18-7)
1. Washington County (21-1)
2. Johnson-Savannah (20-4)
3. Cartersville (23-2)
4. Savannah (21-3)
5. Buford (20-5)
6. Morgan County (20-5)
7. Cedar Grove (16-6)
8. Blessed Trinity (20-5)
9. St. Pius (21-4)
10. Elbert County (19-4)
1. Greater Atlanta Christian (25-0)
2. Vidalia (25-0)
3. Laney (21-4)
4. Model (21-2)
5. Manchester (21-3)
6. Calhoun (20-2)
7. Pelham (20-3)
8. Jefferson (20-5)
9. McIntosh County Academy (15-8)
10. Crawford County (18-5)
1. Whitefield Academy (19-5)
2. Aquinas (19-4)
3. Greenforest Christian (18-7)
4. St. Francis (17-7)
5. Athens Christian (20-4)
6. Calhoun County (22-1)
7. North Cobb Christian (18-6)
8. Seminole County (19-2)
9. Portal (22-3)
10. Landmark Christian (21-3)
GIRLS
1. McEachern (22-2)
2. Parkview (23-2)
3. Archer (22-3)
4. Hillgrove (21-3)
5. Westlake (21-4)
6. North Forsyth (23-2)
7. Brunswick (23-2)
8. Douglas County (20-3)
9. Norcross (19-5)
10. Hughes (21-4)
1. Southwest DeKalb (23-2)
2. Tucker (22-3)
3. Salem (21-2)
4. Drew (20-3)
5. Effingham County (23-2)
6. Hiram (21-3)
7. Osborne (18-6)
8. Stephenson (17-7)
9. Forest Park (18-7)
10. Creekview (19-5)
1. Redan (25-0)
2. Columbus (24-1)
3. Cross Creek (20-2)
4. Monroe (21-4)
5. Mary Persons (22-3)
6. Columbia (11-4)
7. Rutland (20-3)
8. Woodland-Stockbridge (21-4)
9. South Effingham (20-4)
10. Richmond Academy (18-6)
1. Washington County (22-0)
2. St. Pius (22-3)
3. Buford (23-2)
4. Tattnall County (23-2)
5. Beach (24-1)
6. Morgan County (18-4)
7. Johnson-Savannah (19-6)
8. Dodge County (20-4)
9. Southwest-Macon (18-3)
10. Peach County (19-5)
1. Kendrick (22-0)
2. Wesleyan (21-3)
3. Laney (24-1)
4. Pelham (23-0)
5. Greater Atlanta Christian (20-5)
6. Armuchee (19-5)
7. Pepperell (19-3)
8. Putnam County (22-2)
9. Bleckley County (19-5)
10. Vidalia (19-5)
1. Holy Innocents’ (23-0)
2. SW Atlanta Christian (20-4)
3. St. Francis (20-2)
4. George Walton Academy (23-1)
5. Randolph-Clay (20-4)
6. Claxton (21-4)
7. Calvary Day (19-3)
8. Darlington (16-7)
9. Gordon Lee (19-6)
10. Mount Paran Christian (18-4)
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