The eight No. 1 girls basketball teams in last week’s rankings won their region tournament championships and held on to their positions at the top of their classes heading into the state playoffs, which begin Tuesday night.
Only two of the top-ranked teams faced challenges in their region tournament finals. In Class 7A, Brookwood held off No. 6 Archer 63-60 to win the Region 4 title. The victory was Brookwood’s third of the year against Archer but was the closest of the three games. The Broncos won the two regular-season meetings 70-49 and 65-53.
River Ridge of Class 6A rallied for a 66-62 victory over Woodstock in the Region 6 final. The Knights trailed 47-45 entering the fourth quarter but outscored Woodstock 21-15 in the final eight minutes for the victory. Region 6 player of the year Mataya Gayle scored 27 points, and Karson Martin had 30 for Woodstock. River Ridge won the two regular-season meetings 72-47 and 77-55. The Knights are 22-5 heading into the state playoffs but are undefeated against Georgia teams.
Lake Oconee Academy of Class A Division II cruised past No. 7 Towns County 60-21 in the Region 8 final, but the Titans got their tournament test in the semifinals, outlasting Greene County 53-44. Lake Oconee Academy was the Class A Public champion in 2022.
The other five No. 1-ranked teams – Kell in Class 5A, Holy Innocents’ in 4A, Hebron Christian in 3A, Mount Paran Christian in 2A and St. Francis in Class A Division I – won their 12 combined region tournament games by an average of 39 points.
Eleven new teams earned their way into the top 10s this week, the most in any week since the beginning of the year. McEachern and Pebblebrook replaced Grayson and Cherokee in Class 7A; Ware County replaced Statesboro in 5A; Chestatee and Trinity Christian replaced Walnut Grove and North Hall in 4A; Calvary Day and Mary Persons replaced Pickens and Hart County in 3A; Athens Academy replaced Fannin County in 2A; Pelham replaced Bacon County in Class A Division I; and Macon County and Early County replaced Manchester and Schley County in Class A Division II.
Three of the teams that fell out of the rankings – Walnut Grove, Pickens and Manchester – lost in their region tournament quarterfinals and failed to advance to the state tournament.
Class 7A
1. Brookwood (26-1)
2. Norcross (25-2)
3. Buford (24-3)
4. South Forsyth (24-3)
5. McEachern (17-8)
6. Archer (18-6)
7. North Paulding (24-3)
8. Peachtree Ridge (20-6)
9. Hillgrove (20-7)
10. Pebblebrook (17-9)
Class 6A
1. River Ridge (22-5)
2. Rockdale County (21-7)
3. Lovejoy (22-5)
4. Woodward Academy (21-7)
5. Brunswick (24-3)
6. Hughes (22-4)
7. Forest Park (19-7)
8. Veterans (23-4)
9. North Forsyth (21-6)
10. Tift County (21-5)
Class 5A
1. Kell (21-5)
2. Warner Robins (24-3)
3. Jackson-Atlanta (23-1)
4. Bradwell Institute (21-4)
5. Union Grove (21-7)
6. Calhoun (22-4)
7. Ware County (19-7)
8. Arabia Mountain (24-2)
9. Hiram (21-5)
10. Greenbrier (19-8)
Class 4A
1. Holy Innocents’ (22-4)
2. Luella (20-6)
3. Griffin (22-4)
4. Hardaway (21-4)
5. Baldwin (19-8)
6. Westminster (21-7)
7. Chestatee (21-7)
8. Westover (18-7)
9. Stockbridge (20-8)
10. Trinity Christian (23-5)
Class 3A
1. Hebron Christian (27-0)
2. Wesleyan (24-3)
3. Cross Creek (22-4)
4. Lumpkin County (22-4)
5. Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (25-1)
6. Carver-Columbus (18-9)
7. White County (19-9)
8. Calvary Day (19-6)
9. Mary Persons (23-4)
10. Monroe (20-7)
Class 2A
1. Mount Paran Christian (26-1)
2. Central-Macon (26-1)
3. Banks County (24-3)
4. Thomson (20-5)
5. Landmark Christian (20-8)
6. Murray County (20-4)
7. Josey (22-4)
8. Dodge County (24-2)
9. Columbia (20-7)
10. Athens Academy (18-6)
Class A Division I
1. St. Francis (21-7)
2. Elbert County (23-4)
3. Woodville-Tompkins (22-5)
4. Galloway (23-5)
5. Rabun County (23-3)
6. Lamar County (22-4)
7. Darlington (22-5)
8. Mount Pisgah Christian (16-6)
9. Swainsboro (16-6)
10. Pelham (16-5)
Class A Division II
1. Lake Oconee Academy (24-2)
2. Taylor County (24-1)
3. Montgomery County (26-1)
3. Turner County (23-3)
5. Clinch County (22-4)
6. Mt. Zion-Carroll (22-5)
7. Towns County (19-8)
8. Macon County (20-8)
9. Early County (20-7)
10. Jenkins County (19-7)
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