Upson-Lee, Holy Innocents’ rise in rankings

Upson-Lee’s boys and Holy Innocents’ girls are new No. 1-ranked teams in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s high school basketball rankings.

Upson-Lee, one of only five remaining undefeated boys teams in any classification, rose to the top of Class AAAA with its 15-0 start. Previous No. 1 Sandy Creek (8-4) fell one spot after losing to Fayette County rival McIn- tosh, a Class AAAAA team, 73-66 last week.

Upson-Lee has advanced in the state playoffs only once (2015 quarterfinals) and lost in the first round last season, leading to some hesitancy to prop the Knights higher in the rankings sooner.

Holy Innocents’ girls, the Class AA champion in 2016, are on top of the Class A private-school division. The Golden Bears jumped from the No. 3 spot after their 61-54 victory against Wesleyan, the previous No. 1 team.

Wesleyan dropped to No. 3 andSt.FrancisremainedNo.2. Holy Innocents’ and Wesleyan played each other four times last season, Wesleyan winning the first game, but Holy Innocents’ taking the final three, including the AA championship game.

The winter storm that covered most of North Georgia led to many postponed games and relatively mild movement among teams in the rankings.

Boys Class AAAAAAA

1. McEachern (12-0) 2. Newton (13-0) 3. Pebblebrook (9-6) 4. Norcross (14-3) 5. Westlake (8-7) 6. Wheeler (11-4) 7. Tift County (16-1) 8. Berkmar (12-5) 9. Collins Hill (13-3) 10. Colquitt County (12-2)

Class AAAAAA

1. Gainesville (13-0) 2. Jonesboro (10-4) 3. South Paulding (13-1) 4. Hughes (9-4) 5. Heritage-Conyers (10-3) 6. South Cobb (12-2) 7. Alpharetta (16-1) 8. Alexander (10-4) 9. Brunswick (13-3) 10. Dacula (9-5)

Class AAAAA

1. Buford (12-2) 2. Miller Grove (9-6) 3. Cedar Shoals (14-2) 4. Fayette County (11-5) 5. Eagle’s Landing (10-2) 6. Warner Robins (12-3) 7. New Hampstead (10-4) 8. Southwest DeKalb (10-6) 9. Columbia (9-5) 10. Flowery Branch (13-3)

Class AAAA

1. Upson-Lee (15-0) 2. Sandy Creek (8-4) 3. Henry County (12-5) 4. Richmond Academy (14-3) 5. LaGrange (13-2) 6. Eastside (10-4) 7. Carver-Columbus (11-3) 8. Perry (13-3) 9. Americus-Sumter (11-3) 10. Cartersville (9-2)

Class AAA

1. Morgan County (10-3) 2. Westside-Macon (10-3) 3. Greater Atlanta Chr. (11-4) 4. Islands (11-4) 5. Central-Macon (11-3) 6. Liberty County (9-5) 7. Jenkins (11-6) 8. Cedar Grove (5-4) 9. Pace Academy (5-7) 10. Monroe (10-6)

Class AA

1. South Atlanta (12-1) 2. Early County (12-2) 3. Butler (9-5) 4. Therrell (9-5) 5. Laney (9-3) 6. Dublin (11-4) 7. Glenn Hills (11-5) 8. Josey (12-4) 9. Westside-Augusta (5-4) 10. Thomasville (8-6)

Class A (Private)

1. Greenforest Christian (11-3) 2. Southwest Atlanta Chr. (8-5) 3. North Cobb Christian (10-3) 4. Whitefield Academy (8-5) 5. Aquinas (11-1) 6. St. Francis (12-3) 7. Lakeview Academy (9-4) 8. Holy Innocents’ (8-4) 9. Tallulah Falls (14-0) 10. Darlington (9-3)

Class A (Public)

1. Calhoun County (10-1) 2. Treutlen (12-0) 3. Taylor County (9-2) 4. Quitman County (11-1) 5. Clinch County (12-1) 6. Wilkinson County (8-4) 7. Randolph-Clay (8-3) 8. Crawford County (10-5) 9. Turner County (10-4) 10. Macon County (9-4)

Girls Class AAAAAAA

1. Norcross (15-1) 2. Collins Hill (13-1) 3. McEachern (9-5) 4. Mill Creek (14-1) 5. Archer (11-3) 6. Lambert (13-2) 7. Marietta (13-3) 8. Westlake (10-5) 9. Hillgrove (9-5) 10. Brookwood (11-4)

Class AAAAAA

1. Harrison (13-2) 2. Douglas County (13-2) 3. Winder-Barrow (9-4) 4. Northview (13-3) 5. Lovejoy (12-2) 6. Grovetown (10-5) 7. Sequoyah (12-3) 8. Stephenson (11-5) 9. Lanier (11-2) 10. Habersham Central (12-3)

Class AAAAA

1. Buford (13-0) 2. Warner Robins (14-0) 3. Flowery Branch (12-3) 4. Southwest DeKalb (12-4) 5. Griffin (14-0) 6. Jackson-Atlanta (12-1) 7. Carrollton (13-1) 8. Villa Rica (12-1) 9. Harris County (11-2) 10. Arabia Mountain (11-1)

Class AAAA

1. North Oconee (12-2) 2. Carver-Columbus (13-1) 3. Cross Creek (13-4) 4. Perry (13-3) 5. Columbus (9-3) 6. West Hall (12-4) 7. Heritage-Ringgold (14-2) 8. Sandy Creek (8-4) 9. Chestatee (16-3) 10. Northwest Whitfield (11-4)

Class AAA

1. Johnson-Savannah (14-1) 2. Beach (13-1) 3. Greater Atlanta Chr. (11-4) 4. Hart County (14-2) 5. Ringgold (11-4) 6. Franklin County (11-4) 7. Calhoun (13-3) 8. Monroe (11-3) 9. Redan (10-2) 10. Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe (12-4)

Class AA

1. Laney (14-1) 2. Dodge County (12-2) 3. Model (10-4) 4. Fitzgerald (9-0) 5. Rabun County (14-1) 6. Vidalia (11-3) 7. Dade County (11-4) 8. Heard County (11-4) 9. Bryan County (9-2) 10. Washington County (6-3)

Class A (Private)

1. Holy Innocents’ (14-1) 2. St. Francis (9-4) 3. Wesleyan (11-3) 4. Lakeview Academy (12-4) 5. Pinecrest Academy (9-2) 6. Calvary Day (11-3) 7. First Presbyterian (9-3) 8. Landmark Christian (10-4) 9. Paideia (8-5) 10. George Walton Aca.(11-2)

Class A (Public)

1. Pelham (12-0) 2. Telfair County (12-1) 3. Greenville (12-2) 4. Woodville-Tompkins (14-3) 5. Wheeler County (12-2) 6. Treutlen (9-4) 7. Taylor County (9-3) 8. Marion County (10-4) 9. Wilcox County (10-4) 10. Macon County (8-5)