Grovetown, Spencer and Drew Charter are ranked No. 1 in the final boys basketball poll for the first time after winning state titles last week in Macon.
The city of Augusta is celebrating two champions: Cross Creek and Westside. A third metro-Augusta champion, Grovetown, is about 12 miles west of the city and the first from Evans County to claim a state title.
Also finishing No. 1 are Norcross, Tri-Cities and Greenforest Christian from metro Atlanta.
Norcross won Class 7A, the highest classification, with a 58-45 victory over Berkmar on Saturday night. The Blue Devils joined their girls team to sweep the class, which they also did in 2013, the last time either was a champion.
Norcross junior London Johnson scored 27 points, making 8 of 13 shots (3-of-3 from 3-point range), against No. 2 Berkmar. Johnson also had eight rebounds and four steals, playing all 32 minutes. Berkmar star Malique Ewin, an Ole Miss signee, had 13 points and eight rebounds. He was in foul trouble early on and fouled out in the final quarter.
Ranked No. 7 entering the state tournament, Norcross had been 0-3 this season against Berkmar, a fellow Gwinnett County school and Region 7 rival. But this was the first time they’d met when both teams had their full lineups.
“I felt like we came out and knew our game plan more today,” Johnson said. “We also came out with a chip on our shoulder, and that was the difference.”
Grovetown, the 6A champion, was the biggest underdog to win. The Warriors came in ranked No. 9 but defeated No. 1 Wheeler in the quarterfinals and No. 4 Buford 66-59 in the championship game.
Frankquon Sherman, his region’s player of the year and a transfer from Lincoln County, had 23 points and 13 rebounds in the final. Grovetown coach Darren Douglas won a state title at Aquinas of Augusta in 2018.
Tri-Cities of East Point won Class 5A for the second time in four seasons, both under coach Omari Forts. Tri-Cities entered the tournament ranked No. 3 and beat No. 1 Eagle’s Landing of McDonough 67-59 in the final. Kory Mincy had 19 points. Tri-Cities led almost entirely after the first quarter and made 9 of 10 free throws in the final minute after Eagle’s Landing cut the lead to two.
Spencer of Columbus is the 4A champion. The state title is the school’s second in GHSA history, first since winning boys track and field in 1973. Spencer beat Westover of Albany 62-42 in the final. Tycen McDaniels had 11 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots.
Spencer’s victory avenged last year’s one-point loss to Westover in the second round and gave coach Quantavias Allen a state championship in his first season on the bench.
Cross Creek of Class 3A defended its title in 2021 and is the only repeat boys champion this season. Cross Creek beat Windsor Forest of Savannah 60-53 in the final.
Cross Creek’s Antoine Lorick had 10 points, seven rebounds, four steals and three blocked shots. Windsor’s D’Ante Bass, a Georgetown signee, scored 22 points and had 10 rebounds.
Cross Creek coach Lawrence Kelly expressed pride for his team’s city.
“We talk about the Savannah area, the Atlanta area, but the Augusta area has some great basketball, too,” Kelly said. “It’s just a tremendous honor to represent Augusta.”
In Class 2A, Westside-Augusta won its first title since 1995 with a 64-55 victory over Butler in an all-Augusta final. Jalexs Ewing scored 16 points with eight rebounds. Butler was 2-0 against Westside in the regular season, once winning by 22 points.
The Augusta teams became the Class 2A favorites in the second round, when No. 4 Westside beat No. 2 Columbia and No. 3 Butler eliminated No. 1 Pace Academy.
Greenforest Christian, a DeKalb County private school ranked No. 1 almost the entire season, won its fourth title, beating King’s Ridge Christian of Alpharetta 61-52 in Class A Private.
Jalen Forrest scored 26 points. Forrest is a son of former Georgia Tech and NBA star James Forrest, who led his high school team, Atlanta’s Southside, to a title in 1990. Jalen’s brother Justin was part of Greenforest championship teams in 2016 and 2017.
Drew Charter, an Atlanta city school that opened in 2014, won its first boys basketball title. Drew finished on a 29-game winning streak. That included a controversial victory in the semifinals, when Social Circle was shorted two points in the second quarter that might’ve prevented overtime, which Drew dominated.
Drew beat Warren County 51-50 in the boys final that had the most suspense. Drew trailed 50-46 in the final 30 seconds but won on Kenyatta Bennett’s 3-pointer and Cedric Taylor’s two free throws.
“We’ve been in these tough games before,” Drew coach Kenyatta Bennett said. “We’ve played some 6A schools, 7A schools, so our guys have been used to being in these situations. We were down 15 and won a game, so you get used to being in the situation.”
Class 7A
1. Norcross (26-6)
2. Berkmar (26-5)
3. Pebblebrook (28-3)
4. Newton (24-6)
5. Milton (22-8)
6. North Gwinnett (26-4)
7. Grayson (20-9)
8. Archer (20-10)
9. East Coweta (18-11)
10. McEachern (14-9)
Class 6A
1. Grovetown (29-3)
2. Wheeler (25-5)
3. Westlake (20-6)
4. Buford (25-7)
5. Shiloh (21-6)
6. Tucker (22-5)
7. Hughes (19-13)
8. Sequoyah (25-7)
9. Kell (19-11)
10. River Ridge (24-6)
Class 5A
1. Tri-Cities (23-5)
2. Eagle’s Landing (27-4)
3. Jonesboro (21-9)
4. St. Pius (26-4)
5. Chapel Hill (26-5)
6. Lithonia (21-9)
7. Hiram (18-10)
8. Calhoun (22-7)
9. Woodland-Stockbridge (24-6)
10. Walnut Grove (23-6)
Class 4A
1. Spencer (30-2)
2. Westover (25-4)
3. McDonough (26-3)
4. Marist (21-10)
5. Monroe (24-4)
6. Druid Hills (25-5)
7. Jefferson (25-4)
8. Baldwin (22-4)
9. Fayette County (21-9)
10. Dougherty (15-12)
Class 3A
1. Cross Creek (26-6)
2. Windsor Forest (23-6)
3. Thomson (23-3)
4. Sandy Creek (26-4)
5. Sumter County (27-3)
6. LaFayette (26-1)
7. Groves (18-6)
8. Beach (16-9)
9. Greater Atlanta Christian (23-7)
10. Johnson-Savannah (17-11)
Class 2A
1. Westside-Augusta (28-3)
2. Butler (22-7)
3. Pace Academy (25-5)
4. Columbia (25-5)
5. Washington County (23-5)
6. Northeast-Macon (21-10)
7. Vidalia (27-2)
8. Woodville-Tompkins (18-11)
9. Rabun County (23-6)
10. Model (22-7)
Class A Private
1. Greenforest Christian (28-4)
2. King’s Ridge Christian (28-5)
3. Galloway (20-8)
4. First Presbyterian Day (23-4)
5. Heritage-Newnan (23-8)
6. North Cobb Christian (19-8)
7. Mount Pisgah Christian (21-7)
8. Providence Christian (19-9)
9. Mount Vernon (16-11)
10. Christian Heritage (19-7)
Class A Public
1. Drew Charter (31-1)
2. Social Circle (30-1)
3. Warren County (25-4)
4. Calhoun County (26-1)
5. Manchester (28-3)
6. Dublin (28-2)
7. Towns County (20-8)
8. Turner County (20-5)
9. Wilkinson County (15-12)
10. Dooly County (18-7)
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