Elbert County, which beat fourth-ranked Rabun County last week for the second time this season, swapped places with Early County in the high school girls basketball rankings and moved to No. 1 in Class 2A.
The Blue Devils beat Rabun County 51-47 and Union County 60-35 last week to improve to 19-2 overall and 6-0 in Region 8-2A, clinching the region’s regular-season title. Elbert County has won 10 consecutive games since a 55-41 loss to Class 4A Cedar Shoals on Jan. 8.
Rabun County was ranked No. 1 in early January after an 11-0 start, but consecutive losses to Class 4A No. 4 Jefferson and Elbert County the following week knocked the Tigers down to No. 4, where they have remained since.
Early County (10-0), which did not play last week, dropped to No. 2. The Bobcats are the only remaining unbeaten team in Class 2A, but their schedule has been weaker than Elbert County’s, according to the MaxPreps strength-of-schedule ratings.
The other seven No. 1 teams remained the same. They are Collins Hill in Class 7A, Westlake in 6A, Woodward Academy in 5A; Luella in 4A, Upson-Lee in 3A; Hebron Christian in A Private and Lake Oconee Academy in A Public. All have been No. 1 for at least three consecutive weeks.
The busiest No. 1 team last week was Woodward Academy, which won four games in five days to improve to 14-1. The War Eagles beat Banneker (87-23), Mundy’s Mill (70-30), Drew (72-22) and Creekside (76-14) by an average of 51.5 points. Woodward Academy, 11-0 in Region 3-5A, plays its final three regular-season games this week, with the finale coming Friday against No. 2 Forest Park.
Seven new teams moved into the top 10s. Tift County replaced Brookwood in Class 7A; Mount Zion-Jonesboro replaced Pickens in 4A; Burke County replaced Greater Atlanta Christian in 3A; Butler replaced Laney in 2A; Trinity Christian replaced Savannah Country Day in Class A Private; and Wilcox County and Turner County replaced Pelham and Brooks County in Class A Public.
Class 7A
1. Collins Hill (20-1)
2. Campbell (11-1)
3. McEachern (12-4)
4. Cherokee (21-3)
5. Marietta (15-5)
6. Norcross (16-6)
7. West Forsyth (16-6)
8. North Forsyth (18-4)
9. Tift County (10-1)
10. North Paulding (17-5)
Class 6A
1. Westlake (15-0)
2. Buford (19-0)
3. Carrollton (23-1)
4. Lovejoy (15-5)
5. Hughes (15-5)
6. Kell (20-3)
7. Sprayberry (17-4)
8. Statesboro (18-0)
9. Rockdale County (17-3)
10. River Ridge (20-3)
Class 5A
1. Woodward Academy (14-1)
2. Forest Park (13-4)
3. Jackson-Atlanta (16-2)
4. Cass (21-0)
5. St. Pius (13-1)
6. Warner Robins (16-3)
7. Southwest DeKalb (15-6)
8. Hiram (13-4)
9. New Manchester (19-3)
10. Loganville (21-3)
Class 4A
1. Luella (21-2)
2. Baldwin (14-0)
3. Spalding (12-3)
4. Jefferson (17-4)
5. Marist (18-3)
6. Troup (10-4)
7. Arabia Mountain (13-1)
8. Carver-Columbus (6-2)
9. Mt. Zion-Jonesboro (13-6)
10. Cairo (14-1)
Class 3A
1. Upson-Lee (18-0)
2. Lumpkin County (20-4)
3. Cross Creek (14-2)
4. Sonoraville (18-4)
5. Coahulla Creek (20-2)
6. Westminster (12-1)
7. Johnson-Savannah (9-2)
8. Americus-Sumter (12-3)
9. Beach (10-3)
10. Burke County (11-3)
Class 2A
1. Elbert County (19-2)
2. Early County (10-0)
3. East Laurens (13-2)
4. Rabun County (16-5)
5. Lamar County (16-4)
6. Washington County (10-1)
7. Woodville-Tompkins (12-3)
8. Fannin County (15-4)
9. Heard County (15-4)
10. Butler (13-4)
Class A Private
1. Hebron Christian (21-2)
2. Holy Innocents’ (7-5)
3. Mount Paran Christian (22-3)
4. St. Francis (15-4)
5. Greenforest (9-5)
6. Galloway (15-2)
7. Eagle’s Landing Christian (13-4)
8. Calvary Day (15-2)
9. Wesleyan (8-4)
10. Trinity Christian (13-8)
Class A Public
1. Lake Oconee Academy (17-0)
2. Clinch County (16-1)
3. Greenville (9-0)
4. Dublin (20-3)
5. Georgia Military (12-1)
6. Trion (17-3)
7. Calhoun County (7-1)
8. Armuchee (14-6)
9. Wilcox County (7-2)
10. Turner County (14-5)
About the Author
