A week of region tournaments that were free from major upsets led to very few changes in the high school girls basketball rankings heading into the state tournament this week.
There was just minor shuffling among the top 10s in each of the eight classifications, and only two teams broke into the rankings.
Greater Atlanta Christian (11-7) returned to the Class 3A rankings at No. 10 after beating No. 5 Westminster 55-38 to win the Region 5-3A championship. Westminster had won the two regular-season meetings by a total of six points. Six of GAC’s seven losses have come against teams currently ranked in the top five of their classifications. The Spartans replaced previous No. 9 Beach, whose season was shut down by the Savannah-Chatham County Public School System as the result of an altercation after its semifinal victory over Savannah.
Columbia moved into the top 10 for the first time this year after beating Lovett and South Atlanta on consecutive nights to win the Region 6-2A championship. The Eagles started the season 1-6 but enter the state tournament with a 12-game winning streak. Columbia, ranked No. 10 in Class 2A, replaced previous No. 9 Heard County, which lost to Callaway 56-50 in the Region 5-2A final.
All but five of the 80 ranked teams this week will enter the state tournament as a No. 1 or No. 2 seed. The exceptions were Class 7A No. 10 West Forsyth, Class 6A No. 6 Hughes, Class 4A No. 4 Spalding, Class A Private No. 6 Wesleyan and Class A Private No. 7 Galloway.
West Forsyth lost to South Forsyth in its region semifinal and will be the No. 3 seed from Region 6-7A. Wesleyan and Galloway lost to Holy Innocents’ and Hebron Christian, the top two teams in Class A Private, in the Region 5-A Private semifinals. Wesleyan then beat Galloway 59-51 in the consolation game to earn the No. 3 seed, relegating Galloway to No. 4. Hughes and Spalding finished as the No. 3 seeds in regions that did not have a postseason tournament.
The eight No. 1 teams remain Collins Hill of Class 7A, Westlake of 6A, Woodward Academy of 5A, Luella of 4A, Upson-Lee of 3A, Elbert County of 2A, Hebron Christian of Class A Private and Lake Oconee Academy of A Public.
The final rankings will be released after the state tournament, which concludes March 13 in Macon.
Class 7A
1. Collins Hill (23-1)
2. McEachern (15-4)
3. Cherokee (22-3)
4. Campbell (13-3)
5. Marietta (16-5)
6. North Forsyth (21-4)
7. Norcross (19-7)
8. North Paulding (18-5)
9. Woodstock (18-8)
10. West Forsyth (17-7)
Class 6A
1. Westlake (15-0)
2. Buford (24-0)
3. Carrollton (26-1)
4. Lovejoy (17-5)
5. Kell (23-3)
6. Hughes (16-6)
7. Sprayberry (20-5)
8. Statesboro (21-0)
9. Rockdale County (18-3)
10. River Ridge (24-3)
Class 5A
1. Woodward Academy (17-1)
2. Forest Park (19-5)
3. Southwest DeKalb (17-6)
4. New Manchester (22-3)
5. Cass (24-1)
6. St. Pius (18-2)
7. Warner Robins (19-3)
8. Hiram (17-4)
9. Loganville (24-3)
10. Jackson-Atlanta (18-4)
Class 4A
1. Luella (21-2)
2. Baldwin (14-0)
3. Jefferson (21-4)
4. Spalding (13-3)
5. Marist (20-3)
6. Carver-Columbus (12-2)
7. Arabia Mountain (14-2)
8. Troup (12-5)
9. Mt. Zion-Jonesboro (13-6)
10. Cairo (14-1)
Class 3A
1. Upson-Lee (20-0)
2. Lumpkin County (22-4)
3. Cross Creek (18-2)
4. Sonoraville (21-4)
5. Westminster (16-2)
6. Johnson-Savannah (10-2)
7. Americus-Sumter (13-4)
8. Coahulla Creek (21-4)
9. Stephens County (17-6)
10. Greater Atlanta Christian (11-7)
Class 2A
1. Elbert County (21-2)
2. Early County (14-0)
3. East Laurens (15-2)
4. Washington County (14-1)
5. Rabun County (18-6)
6. Fannin County (19-4)
7. Butler (18-4)
8. Lamar County (17-5)
9. Woodville-Tompkins (15-4)
10. Columbia (15-7)
Class A Private
1. Hebron Christian (24-2)
2. Holy Innocents’ (9-6)
3. Mount Paran Christian (22-3)
4. St. Francis (18-4)
5. Greenforest (12-5)
6. Wesleyan (11-5)
7. Galloway (16-6)
8. Eagle’s Landing Christian (14-6)
9. Calvary Day (17-3)
10. Trinity Christian (15-8)
Class A Public
1. Lake Oconee Academy (23-0)
2. Clinch County (18-1)
3. Greenville (12-0)
4. Dublin (21-3)
5. Georgia Military (16-1)
6. Calhoun County (9-1)
7. Trion (18-4)
8. Armuchee (17-6)
9. Turner County (16-6)
10. Montgomery County (15-5)
