The 2023 portion of the Class 6A high school basketball season begins Tuesday night, with region play getting under way in full force across the state.
All but one of the eight regions has had at least one region game played through the first few weeks of the season, and leaders are beginning to emerge.
One of the more interesting region races to watch in any classification will be in Region 3. On the boys side, Woodward Academy and Jonesboro are both 5-0 in region play, two games ahead of their nearest competition, and have a combined overall record of 23-5. For the girls, Forest Park (5-0), Rockdale County (4-1), Lovejoy (3-2) and Woodward Academy (3-2) are separating themselves from the rest of the pack. All are ranked in the top five, and Lovejoy and Woodward Academy are reigning state champions (Woodward won Class 5A last season).
The Region 4 leaders are the St. Pius and Marist boys and Riverwood and Marist girls. Marist’s girls team is another reigning state champion in 6A this year, moving up two classes after winning 4A in 2022.
Other region leaders as 2023 begin are the Alexander and Hughes boys and the Hughes girls in Region 5; the Rome, Sequoyah and Etowah boys and River Ridge girls in Region 6; and the Pope and Blessed Trinity boys and Sprayberry girls in Region 7.
In Region 1, only two sets of game have been played, and Veterans’ teams swept Houston County and Northside-Warner Robins to jump out to the early lead. Lee County, Tift County and Thomas County Central will begin region play this week.
The league schedule has been even lighter in Region 2, where Brunswick’s boys and girls swept rival Glynn Academy in the only games played so far.
Region 8 games begin Tuesday night. The Habersham Central boys (10-2) and Gainesville girls (11-0) have the best overall records.
Here are the boys and girls region standings going into this week’s games (with region records, followed by overall records). Note that the records are taken from MaxPreps, the official record-keeper for the Georgia High School Association, and that some of those records may not have been fully updated.
Region 1
Boys
Veterans – 2-0 / 8-3
Lee County – 0-0 / 11-1
Tift County – 0-0 / 7-3
Thomas County Central – 0-0 / 6-4
Houston County – 0-1 / 6-7
Northside-Warner Robins – 0-1 / 4-6
Girls
Veterans – 2-0 / 10-1
Thomas County Central – 0-0 / 6-1
Tift County – 0-0 / 8-3
Lee County – 0-0 / 5-7
Houston County – 0-1 / 7-5
Northside-Warner Robins – 0-1 / 2-8
Region 2
Boys
Brunswick – 1-0 / 9-2
Effingham County – 0-0 / 9-3
Evans – 0-0 / 8-3
Lakeside-Evans – 0-0 / 9-4
South Effingham – 0-0 / 6-5
Grovetown – 0-0 / 4-8
Glynn Academy – 0-1 / 8-5
Girls
Brunswick – 1-0 / 8-3
South Effingham – 0-0 / 9-3
Lakeside-Evans – 0-0 / 8-4
Grovetown – 0-0 / 5-6
Effingham County – 0-0 / 2-9
Evans – 0-0 / 2-10
Glynn Academy – 0-1 / 2-9
Region 3
Boys
Woodward Academy – 5-0 / 12-2
Jonesboro – 5-0 / 11-3
Lovejoy – 3-2 / 8-6
Alcovy – 3-2 / 5-10
Mundy’s Mill – 2-3 / 7-4
Rockdale County – 1-4 / 6-7
Forest Park – 1-4 / 5-8
Morrow – 0-5 / 6-7
Girls
Forest Park – 5-0 / 9-3
Rockdale County – 4-1 / 11-3
Lovejoy – 3-2 / 11-4
Woodward Academy – 3-2 / 9-4
Alcovy – 2-3 / 9-5
Jonesboro – 2-3 / 5-7
Mundy’s Mill – 1-4 / 8-5
Morrow – 0-5 / 5-7
Region 4
Boys
St. Pius – 2-0 / 10-4
Marist – 2-0 / 8-4
Riverwood – 2-1 / 9-4
South Cobb – 2-1 / 7-6
Dunwoody – 1-2 / 7-8
North Atlanta – 0-2 / 5-5
Lakeside-DeKalb – 0-3 / 6-6
Girls
Riverwood – 3-0 / 6-6
Marist – 2-0 / 7-2
Lakeside-DeKalb – 2-1 / 6-3
St. Pius – 1-1 / 5-7
North Atlanta – 1-1 / 3-7
Dunwoody – 0-3 / 1-9
South Cobb – 0-3 / 1-9
Region 5
Boys
Alexander – 4-0 / 10-2
Hughes – 4-0 / 7-3
Newnan – 2-2 / 5-6
South Paulding – 1-2 / 10-3
East Paulding – 1-2 / 8-3
Paulding County – 1-2 / 6-6
New Manchester – 1-3 / 6-6
Douglas County – 0-3 / 5-7
Girls
Hughes – 4-0 / 8-2
New Manchester – 3-1 / 9-2
Douglas County – 2-1 / 7-3
Paulding County – 2-1 / 6-5
Alexander – 2-2 / 7-6
East Paulding – 1-2 / 4-8
South Paulding – 0-3 / 3-10
Newnan – 0-4 / 0-9
Region 6
Boys
Rome – 2-0 / 8-4
Sequoyah – 2-0 / 7-6
Etowah – 2-0 / 6-7
River Ridge – 2-1 / 11-4
Creekview – 1-2 / 4-8
Allatoona 0-3 / 5-9
Woodstock – 0-3 / 3-13
Girls
River Ridge – 3-0 / 10-4
Creekview – 2-1 / 9-2
Woodstock – 2-1 / 6-10
Rome – 1-1 / 8-4
Sequoyah – 1-1 / 8-6
Etowah – 0-2 / 6-8
Allatoona – 0-3 / 3-6
Region 7
Boys
Pope – 4-0 / 12-4
Blessed Trinity – 4-0 / 11-4
Alpharetta – 1-2 / 7-7
Lassiter – 1-2 / 4-9
Johns Creek – 1-2 / 4-10
Sprayberry – 0-2 / 5-10
Roswell – 0-3 / 3-10
Girls
Sprayberry – 2-0 / 9-4
Pope – 3-1 / 12-4
Lassiter – 2-1 / 11-1
Blessed Trinity – 2-2 / 8-7
Johns Creek – 1-2 / 10-4
Roswell – 1-2 / 6-7
Alpharetta – 0-3 / 0-9
Region 8
Boys
Habersham Central – 0-0 / 10-2
Lanier – 0-0 / 7-4
Gainesville – 0-0 / 6-5
North Forsyth – 0-0 / 6-6
Shiloh – 0-0 / 4-8
Apalachee – 0-0 / 4-9
Jackson County – 0-0 / 1-12
Girls
Gainesville – 0-0 / 11-0
Habersham Central – 0-0 / 8-3
Lanier – 0-0 / 7-5
North Forsyth – 0-0 / 7-5
Apalachee – 0-0 / 5-8
Shiloh – 0-0 / 4-7
Jackson County – 0-0 / 4-8
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