Boys basketball rankings: Monroe takes No. 1 after McDonough loses in region final

ajc.com

McDonough’s boys basketball team, ranked No. 1 almost every week this season, will enter the state tournament as a No. 2 seed.

McDonough lost to No. 6 Fayette County 68-60 in the Region 5-4A championship game Saturday and fell to No. 2 in the classification rankings.

The new top-ranked team is Monroe of Albany, which will play for the Region 1 title Wednesday against No. 4 Westover.

McDonough finished first in the Region 5 regular season, beating Fayette County twice, but it’s the region tournament that decides how teams are seeded for the state tournament, which begins Feb. 22-23.

Class 4A should be one of the more interesting brackets to follow. McDonough has never won a state title in boys basketball but made the semifinals last season and beat Monroe along the way.

Fayette County was the 2021 runner-up and beat Westover in the semifinals. Baldwin, the defending champion, is ranked No. 5 this season.

The other seven No. 1-ranked teams remained the same. Most region tournaments continue through this week.

The final rankings until after the state tournament will come next week when all 64 region tournaments are complete.

Class 7A

1. Pebblebrook (23-2)

2. Newton (21-4)

3. Berkmar (21-4)

4. Milton (18-7)

5. North Gwinnett (22-3)

6. Grayson (16-8)

7. Norcross (20-5)

8. McEachern (14-8)

9. Hillgrove (21-2)

10. Archer (17-8)

Class 6A

1. Wheeler (21-4)

2. Westlake (18-4)

3. Alexander (22-3)

4. Buford (20-5)

5. River Ridge (21-4)

6. Osborne (20-5)

7. Centennial (20-3)

8. Tucker (18-4)

9. Grovetown (22-3)

10. Shiloh (19-5)

Class 5A

1. Eagle’s Landing (23-3)

2. St. Pius (22-3)

3. Tri-Cities (16-5)

4. Chapel Hill (21-4)

5. Jonesboro (16-7)

6. Walnut Grove (21-4)

7. Southwest DeKalb (19-6)

8. Woodland-Stockbridge (22-5)

9. Calhoun (18-5)

10. New Manchester (15-7)

Class 4A

1. Monroe (22-2)

2. McDonough (23-2)

3. Spencer (23-2)

4. Westover (20-3)

5. Baldwin (19-3)

6. Fayette County (20-8)

7. Jefferson (20-3)

8. Marist (17-8)

9. Druid Hills (21-4)

10. LaGrange (20-5)

Class 3A

1. Sandy Creek (22-3)

2. Salem (20-4)

3. Cross Creek (20-5)

4. Windsor Forest (18-4)

5. Sumter County (25-2)

6. Thomson (18-3)

7. LaFayette (23-0)

8. Greater Atlanta Christian (20-5)

9. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (21-2)

10. Groves (14-5)

Class 2A

1. Columbia (22-3)

2. Pace Academy (21-4)

3. Butler (17-5)

4. Westside-Augusta (20-3)

5. Vidalia (23-1)

6. Thomasville (20-4)

7. Washington County (19-4)

8. Northeast-Macon (17-8)

9. Callaway (16-6)

10. Rabun County (20-5)

Class A Private

1. Greenforest Christian (20-4)

2. Galloway (16-7)

3. Mount Pisgah Christian (19-5)

4. Christian Heritage (18-5)

5. King’s Ridge Christian (21-4)

6. Providence Christian (16-7)

7. St. Francis (16-7)

8. North Cobb Christian (15-7)

9. Darlington (18-6)

10. Mount Vernon (13-9)

Class A Public

1. Drew Charter (25-1)

2. Calhoun County (22-0)

3. Dublin (24-1)

4. Social Circle (25-0)

5. Manchester (23-2)

6. Lanier County (19-2)

7. Turner County (20-3)

8 Warren County (18-3)

9. Towns County (17-6)

10. Chattahoochee County (15-6)