South Paulding boys rise to No. 1

South Paulding’s boys are the new No. 1 basketball team in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Class AAAAAA rankings.

The Spartans (16-1) have won seven consecutive games since a 51-49 loss Dec. 17 to North Cobb Christian, the No. 3 team in the Class A private-school division.

South Paulding replaces Gainesville, which lost to Cedar Shoals 63-60 last week. Cedar Shoals is ranked No. 2 in Class AAAAA.

The ranking is a milestone for South Paulding, which opened in 2006, made the state playoffs for the first time in 2014, advanced one round in 2015 and lost in the quarterfinals in last year to eventual champion Miller Grove. The current team is a senior-oriented group led by Georgia State signee Kane Williams.

Four other No. 1-ranked teams lost last week but maintained their rankings.

Greenforest Christian, the top-rated team in the Class A private-school division, lost 63-56 to Memphis East, the No. 5 team nationally in the MaxPreps’ writers poll, in the Bass Pro Shops tournament in Springfield, Mass.

Norcross’ girls (AAAAAAA) lost 69-50 Saturday to Riverdale (Tenn.), which is ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps. It was the Blue Devils’ second loss, both of them coming against out-ofstate teams ranked in the top five nationally.

Class AAAAAA girls No. 1 Harrison lost to AAAAA No. 1 Buford 49-43 in overtime Saturday and Class A public-school girls No. 1 Pelham lost 71-70 Tuesday against AAAAAAA Lowndes.

Boys Class AAAAAAA

1. McEachern (14-0) 2. Newton (17-0) 3. Westlake (10-7) 4. Pebblebrook (10-6) 5. Wheeler (13-4) 6. Norcross (15-4) 7. Berkmar (15-5) 8. Tift County (18-1) 9. Collins Hill (15-3) 10. Colquitt County (14-3)

Class AAAAAA

1. South Paulding (16-1) 2. Gainesville (16-1) 3. Jonesboro (13-4) 4. Hughes (11-5) 5. Alpharetta (18-1) 6. Heritage-Conyers (11-4) 7. South Cobb (13-4) 8. Alexander (13-4) 9. Dacula (13-5) 10. Pope (14-2)

Class AAAAA

1. Buford (15-2) 2. Cedar Shoals (16-3) 3. Miller Grove (9-6) 4. Fayette County (13-5) 5. Warner Robins (14-3) 6. New Hampstead (14-4) 7. Columbia (12-5) 8. Eagle’s Landing (12-4) 9. Southwest DeKalb (11-7) 10. Flowery Branch (15-3)

Class AAAA

1. Upson-Lee (17-0) 2. Richmond Academy (16-3) 3. Henry County (14-5) 4. LaGrange (16-2) 5. Sandy Creek (10-5) 6. Carver-Columbus (13-3) 7. Perry (15-3) 8. St. Pius (11-6) 9. Americus-Sumter (13-4) 10. Salem (13-4)

Class AAA

1. Morgan County (12-3) 2. Westside-Macon (13-3) 3. Greater Atlanta Chr. (13-4) 4. Islands (13-5) 5. Central-Macon (13-3) 6. Liberty County (11-5) 7. Jenkins (12-6) 8. Cedar Grove (8-4) 9. Pace Academy (7-7) 10. Johnson-Savannah (11-7)

Class AA

1. South Atlanta (14-1) 2. Butler (11-5) 3. Laney (10-3) 4. Thomasville (9-6) 5. Early County (13-4) 6. Dublin (14-4) 7. Glenn Hills (13-5) 8. Josey (12-4) 9. Hapeville Charter (9-5) 10. Therrell (10-6)

Class A (Private)

1. Greenforest Chr. (13-4) 2. Southwest Atlanta Chr. (10-5) 3. North Cobb Chr. (12-3) 4. St. Francis (14-3) 5. Aquinas (14-1) 6. Whitefield Academy (10-6) 7. Lakeview Academy (12-4) 8. Tallulah Falls (17-0) 9. Holy Innocents’ (10-5) 10. Darlington (11-3)

Class A (Public)

1. Calhoun County (13-1) 2. Treutlen (16-0) 3. Taylor County (12-2) 4. Quitman County (14-1) 5. Wilkinson County (12-5) 6. Randolph-Clay (11-3) 7. Crawford County (11-6) 8. Clinch County (13-3) 9. Turner County (12-5) 10. Central-Talbotton (10-4)

Girls Class AAAAAAA

1. Norcross (17-2) 2. Mill Creek (16-1) 3. McEachern (11-6) 4. Collins Hill (15-1) 5. Lambert (15-2) 6. Westlake (13-5) 7. Newton (14-2) 8. Archer (13-4) 9. Marietta (14-4) 10. Brookwood (12-5)

Class AAAAAA

1. Harrison (15-3) 2. Douglas County (16-2) 3. Northview (16-3) 4. Lovejoy (15-2) 5. Winder-Barrow (11-5) 6. Stephenson (12-5) 7. Grovetown (12-6) 8. Creekview (12-6) 9. Gainesville (10-5) 10. Sequoyah (13-4)

Class AAAAA

1. Buford (15-0) 2. Griffin (16-0) 3. Flowery Branch (14-3) 4. Southwest DeKalb (14-4) 5. Warner Robins (15-1) 6. Jackson-Atlanta (13-1) 7. Carrollton (15-1) 8. Villa Rica (16-1) 9. Harris County (13-2) 10. McIntosh (12-3)

Class AAAA

1. North Oconee (14-2) 2. Carver-Columbus (15-2) 3. Cross Creek (15-4) 4. Perry (15-3) 5. Columbus (13-3) 6. West Hall (14-4) 7. Heritage-Ringgold (17-2) 8. Sandy Creek (11-4) 9. Northwest Whitfield (13-4) 10. Americus-Sumter (14-3)

Class AAA

1. Johnson-Savannah (15-1) 2. Beach (16-1) 3. Greater Atlanta Chr. (11-4) 4. Franklin County (14-4) 5. Calhoun (15-3) 6. Hart County (15-3) 7. Monroe (14-3) 8. Ringgold (13-5) 9. Redan (12-3) 10. Peach County (13-3)

Class AA

1. Laney (15-1) 2. Dodge County (14-2) 3. Model (12-4) 4. Rabun County (17-1) 5. Vidalia (14-3) 6. Fitzgerald (11-1) 7. Heard County (14-4) 8. Bryan County (12-3) 9. Washington County (7-4) 10. Dade County (13-6)

Class A (Private)

1. Holy Innocents’ (18-1) 2. St. Francis (12-4) 3. Wesleyan (14-3) 4. Lakeview Academy (14-4) 5. Calvary Day (13-3) 6. Pinecrest Academy (10-3) 7. Landmark Chr. (13-3) 8. Darlington (11-5) 9. First Presbyterian (11-4) 10. Stratford Academy (11-4)

Class A (Public)

1. Pelham (14-1) 2. Telfair County (15-1) 3. Woodville-Tompkins (15-3) 4. Wheeler County (15-2) 5. Treutlen (11-4) 6. Marion County (12-4) 7. Greenville (14-3) 8. Taylor County (12-4) 9. Mitchell County (14-3) 10. Wilcox County (12-5)