With football season over, we jump into a basketball season five weeks in the works. Here’s a look at the top five girls teams so far:
Mount Paran Eagles (7-0, 4-0 Region 6-2A)
2022 finish: 25-4, 1A Private champions
2023 outlook: Last year’s title run marked the end of Kara Dunn’s prep career. The AJC player of the year is Kara Dunn is now at Georgia Tech. The Eagles are undefeated thus far, with all but one of their games double-digit wins. They beat No. 2 Josey 48-40 on Nov. 25. They also beat 4A’s No. 4 Hardaway 50-32. The rest of their opponents have been unranked. They’ve outscored their Region 6 competition 236-66 and play one more region game — Friday at South Atlanta — before the calendar year’s end. They’ll play in two holiday tournaments — Battle of Champions at Walnut Grove (Dec. 21-22), and the Deep South Classic at Brookwood (Dec. 28-30).
Josey Eagles (6-1, 1-0 Region 4)
2022 finish: 24-6, 2A semifinals
2023 outlook: The Eagles are shooting for their fourth season with a quarterfinals-or-better finish. Their semifinals finish last year was an encore from their 2021 championship, and the reached the quarterfinals in 2019, and the championship in 2018 — all under coach Juwan Bailey. Their lone loss was to top-ranked Mount Paran, and Josey is the only team so far to come within single digits of Mount Paran. They beat 3A’s Carver 88-84 in overtime on Nov. 26, and on Tuesday they won their league opener 53-28 over Westside. They’re led in scoring by senior Arieonna Booker (12.7 points) and sophomore Keasia Henderson (11). Booker also leads the team in rebounds with 9.1, followed by senior Jasiiyah Holmes (8.9), who leads the team in blocks (1.7).
Central-Macon Chargers (9-1, 2-0 Region 2)
2022 finish: 23-6, 3A quarterfinals
2023 outlook: The Chargers have played three ranked teams this season, all in 4A, and went 2-1. They lost 56-40 to No. 3 Griffin on Nov. 25, then beat No. 6 Baldwin 39-38 their next game, on Nov. 25. On Dec. 10, they beat No. 3 Stockbridge, 48-37). They nearly pitched a shutout against Region 2 opponent Kendrick on Dec. 6, winning 59-2. They’ll play West Laurens and Dodge County Dec. 17 and 19, respectively, as part of holiday tournaments. They’ll resume region play Jan. 10 against ACE Charter.
Fannin County Rebels (6-2, 2-0 Region 7)
2022 finish: 28-1, 2A quarterfinals
2023 outlook: The Rebels started 2-2, with losses to 3A’s No. 5 Pickens (54-4) and Rabun Gap-Nachoochee (58-25), a small Georgia private school that competes in the North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association, where it’s the No. 2 team in 4A. They’ve since won four straight, though all wins have come against unranked teams. They’ll play three out-of-state teams during holiday tournaments, facing Gulf Breeze (Fla.), Unicoi County (Tenn.) and Demopolis (Ala.). They are led by guard Courtney Davis, an AJC all-state first team selection last year as a sophomore.
Banks County Leopards (9-3, 0-0 Region 8)
2022 finish: 10-18, 2A second round
2023 outlook: If the Leopards beat Commerce at home Friday, they’ll match their win total from last season before the calendar year is over. Two of their losses have come to ranked teams — 3A’s No. 6 White County, and 1A Division 1′s Rabun County — with the other coming to a North Hall team that’s 6-3 and No. 16 in the MaxPreps computer rankings. They’ll play Rabun County again Dec. 20 as their last currently ranked opponent. The Leopards are led by junior Addison Hoard’s 10.6 points and 3.3 assists. Carley Segars, also a junior, leads the team in rebounds (7.2), and sophomore Ryleigh Murphy leads the team with 3.7 steals. Senior Kamryn Grier has a team-high 1.5 blocks.
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