Holiday tournaments and top 10 matchups have shuffled the leaders of the Class 4A pack to start the new year and today’s blog will take a deeper look into their current records and provide additional context. On the boys side, Holy Innocents’ opened up 2024 with a massive 72-33 road victory over Miller Grove to improve its record to 9-5. The Golden Bears are 5-0 in Region 6 and have not lost within Class 4A this season. Holy Innocents’ five losses came to Class 7A Wheeler 66-54, Class 6A Woodward Academy 69-49, Class 7A McEachern 80-57, North Carolina’s North Mecklenburg and Florida’s Oak Ridge. In terms of signature wins, Holy Innocents’ resume includes wins over St. Pius and Tucker and more recently a 53-48 win over Class 6A powerhouse and No. 1 ranked Alexander. Holy Innocents’ will take on Druid Hills on Tuesday in its next region showdown and will close out the regular season with 10-straight region showdowns with an opportunity to reach the playoffs as a top seed with a flawless Class 4A record.
Defending state champion Pace Academy also continues cruising this season and is 5-0 in Region 5 with an 11-2 overall record. Pace Academy has both a flawless record within Class 4A this season and against in-state opponents. The Knights’ lone losses came to Nationally ranked Christ the King (NY) and Vashon (MO). The big test for Pace Academy is likely to come on Jan. 19 when the Knights host region rival McDonough. The Warhawks are 14-2 and also 5-0 in Region 5. McDonough has one in-state loss to Westside-Macon and also fell to Little Rock (AR). In terms of signature wins, McDonough boasts victories over Cedar Grove, Lovett and Pope.
On the girls side, No. 1 ranked Baldwin has won seven-straight since dropping back-to-back games to St. Francis and Norcross. The Braves opened up the new year on Jan. 2 with a 66-46 win over rival Griffin to avenge last year’s championship loss. After that, Baldwin flexed its prowess with a 62-13 region win over Westside and a 63-33 win over Washington County. Stockbridge is arguably the most improved team in the classification this season and the Tigers are off to an 11-4 start with a 6-0 Region 5 record and a flawless record within Class 4A. Like Baldwin, Hardaway previously fell to Norcross in a tight 39-34 loss and has since won eight-straight to lead the Region 1 pack. Finally, last year’s semifinalist Holy Innocents’ is 6-6 with its only Class 4A loss coming to Baldwin 59-45.
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