The eight teams that have held the top spots in the high school girls basketball rankings for most of the season will enter the state playoffs at No. 1 after winning their region tournaments last week.
Grayson (Class 7A), River Ridge (6A), Union Grove (5A), Baldwin (4A), Hebron Christian (3A), Mount Paran Christian (2A), St. Francis (A Division I) and Greenforest (A Division II) reached No. 1 by early December at the latest, and all have held the position ever since despite suffering a combined 24 losses.
River Ridge, Hebron Christian, Mount Paran Christian and St. Francis are defending state champions. Baldwin is seeking its first state title since winning three consecutive from 1986 to 1988. Grayson, Union Grove and Greenforest have never won a state championship.
The state tournament begins Tuesday night. There will be 16 first-round games in each classification at the higher-seeded schools, and the second round will be played Friday and Saturday. The championships will be March 6-9 at the Macon Coliseum.
All 80 teams that were ranked last week advanced to the state tournament, although nine lost their spots in the top 10s to teams that also reached the tournament. That’s the most new teams entering the rankings in a week this season.
Then-No. 9 Lassiter and No. 10 Sequoyah dropped out of the Class 6A rankings after losing in their region tournaments. Lassiter was the No. 1 seed in the 7-6A tournament but lost to Pope in the final. Sequoyah was seeded No. 2 in the 6-6A tournament but lost to Rome in the semifinals before salvaging a victory in the consolation game. Ironically, Lassiter and Sequoyah will meet in the first round at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Lassiter. The were replaced in this week’s rankings by Brunswick and Rome.
Other new teams in the top 10s this week were Lowndes, which replaced Mill Creek in Class 7A; North Oconee and Trinity Christian, who replaced Cherokee Bluff and Heritage-Catoosa in 4A; Oconee County and Mary Persons, who replaced Hart County and Peach County in 3A; and Columbia and Dodge County, who replaced Callaway and Sumter County in 2A.
Class 7A
1. Grayson (27-0)
2. Buford (23-4)
3. Campbell (20-7)
4. Carrollton (23-4)
5. Norcross (22-5)
6. North Paulding (21-6)
7. Milton (24-2)
8. McEachern (16-11)
9. Cherokee (21-6)
10. Lowndes (19-4)
Class 6A
1. River Ridge (23-4)
2. North Forsyth (27-0)
3. Marist (25-1)
4. Hughes (21-6)
5. Woodward Academy (22-5)
6. New Manchester (21-5)
7. Tift County (23-4)
8. Veterans (21-6)
9. Brunswick (18-9)
10. Rome (19-9)
Class 5A
1. Union Grove (26-1)
2. Jackson-Atlanta (24-1)
3. Midtown (23-5)
4. Jefferson (24-3)
5. Jones County (21-6)
6. Ware County (20-6)
7. Creekside (19-8)
8. Statesboro (21-4)
9. Harris County (23-3)
10. Warner Robins (19-7)
Class 4A
1. Baldwin (24-2)
2. Hardaway (23-4)
3. Holy Innocents’ (22-6)
4. Stockbridge (21-6)
5. Chestatee (23-5)
6. Fayette County (21-4)
7. Southwest DeKalb (21-7)
8. Starr’s Mill (21-7)
9. North Oconee (19-9)
10. Trinity Christian (18-9)
Class 3A
1. Hebron Christian (25-2)
2. Wesleyan (23-3)
3. Carver-Columbus (20-6)
4. Cross Creek (22-4)
5. Pickens (24-4)
6. White County (20-8)
7. Dawson County (17-11)
8. Monroe (18-9)
9. Oconee County (16-11)
10. Mary Persons (22-5)
Class 2A
1. Mount Paran Christian (23-3)
2. Josey (24-3)
3. Central-Macon (23-4)
4. Thomson (22-4)
5. Banks County (23-4)
6. Butler (19-9)
7. Murray County (21-6)
8. Model (22-5)
9. Columbia (22-5)
10. Dodge County (21-4)
Class A Division I
1. St. Francis (19-7)
2. Galloway (15-10)
3. Athens Christian (22-4)
4. Rabun County (21-6)
5. Oglethorpe County (23-2)
6. Swainsboro (17-6)
7. Lamar County (22-5)
8. Bryan County (24-3)
9. East Laurens (17-7)
10. Mount Pisgah Christian (15-10)
Class A Division II
1. Greenforest (22-5)
2. Montgomery County (26-1)
3. Taylor County (24-3)
4. Wilcox County (25-2)
5. Early County (21-6)
6. Clinch County (18-4)
7. Lake Oconee Academy (19-8)
8. Terrell County (19-7)
9. Seminole County (21-6)
10. Chattahoochee County (21-6)
About the Author
