Four Georgia basketball teams are ranked No. 1 in the final high school basketball poll for the first time, the final reward for their first-ever state championships.

Langston Hughes, a 7-year-old school in Fairburn, won the Class AAAAAA boys title. Hughes was only the No. 3 seed from its Region 5 but was ranked No. 4 statewide entering the state tournament. No. 1 South Paulding, the Region 5 champion, went out in the quarterfinals while Hughes defeated four straight region champions – Lee County, Gainesville, Allatoona and Brunswick – to claim the championship.

It was the first state championship in any sport for Hughes.

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Kirby Smart (left) and Georgia beat Brent Key and Georgia Tech 44-42 in eight overtimes last November in Athens. The Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets bring Clean Old-Fashioned Hate off campus for 2025, playing at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2024)

Credit: HYOSUB SHIN / AJC

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Atlanta art and antiques appraiser and auctioneer Allan Baitcher (right) takes bids during a 2020 auction. Baitcher and his company, Peachtree Antiques, are being sued by a Florida multimillionaire who says he paid them $20 million for fakes. (AJC 2020)

Credit: Phil Skinner / Staff