Last season, Columbia and Wesleyan became only the 10th and 11th schools in GHSA history to win the boys and girls state championships in the same season. This year, they are two of the 16 schools that finished the regular season with their boys and girls teams ranked in the top 10. Here’s a look at the schools most likely to earn a boys/girls sweep when the champions are decided March 11-12.
Class AAAAA: The top-ranked Milton boys are the defending champions and favored to win the title again, and the girls teams is ranked No. 9. Another strong candidate is Norcross, which has the defending-champion girls team (ranked No. 4) and the fifth-ranked boys. Other schools with two teams in the top 10 are North Gwinnett (No. 8 boys, No. 1 girls) and Campbell (No. 10 boys, No. 6 girls).
Class AAAA: Miller Grove's top-ranked boys perhaps are the best team in the state, but a Wolverines sweep appears unlikely because the girls team probably won't run the table, despite its upset of top-ranked Chamblee on Wednesday. The only school with boys and girls teams in the top 10 is Fayette County (No. 3 boys, No. 2 girls).
Class AAA: Columbia had the top-ranked boys team and the No. 2 girls entering the quarterfinals of the Region 5-AAA tournament Thursday night at Arabia Mountain. However, don't overlook Washington County (No. 1 girls, No. 9 boys) or Westover (No. 5 girls, No. 10 boys).
Class AA: South Atlanta has the top-ranked boys team, but the girls were eliminated Wednesday. However, six schools (Greater Atlanta Christian, Laney, Thomasville, Northeast-Macon, Vidalia and Buford) have top 10 boys and girls teams. GAC won the boys title last season, and Buford's girls are the two-time defending champions.
Class A: Any chance of a sweep likely rests with the fate of the fifth-ranked Wesleyan boys. The top-ranked Wesleyan girls are the runaway favorites to win their eighth championship in 10 seasons. The boys team has won state in two of the past three seasons. The only other school with both teams ranked in the top 10 is Pace Academy (No. 7 boys, No. 8 girls).
Tournament update
Here are a few noteworthy results from the first few days of the region tournaments:
Region 6-AAAA girls: Miller Grove's upset of top-ranked Chamblee wasn't the only surprise from the region quarterfinals at Tucker on Wednesday. Three-time defending state champion Southwest DeKalb was eliminated by Carver-Atlanta, and third-seeded Mays knocked out second-seeded Marist. Seventh-ranked Redan was the only higher seed to survive, defeating host Tucker 51-42.
Archer boys: The second-year program pulled off Gwinnett County's first big upset of the postseason, knocking off top-seeded and seventh-ranked South Gwinnett 68-66 on Tuesday in the Region 8-AAAAA tournament. Archer advances to the state tournament for the first time, while South Gwinnett's season ends at 19-7.
Northwest Whitfield girls: Margaret Stockburger's 15-year tenure as head coach at Northwest Whitfield came to an end when the Bruins lost to Sequoyah 42-39 on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Region 7-AAAA tournament. Stockburger reached the state tournament 10 times at Northwest Whitfield and reached the championship game last season.
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