Boys basketball rankings: Lanier, Salem, Mount Paran pull region tournament stunners

Lanier, of Gwinnett County, lost in the final to No. 4 Gainesville 59-53 in the final Friday and remains unranked, but with the state tournament set to begin Wednesday, the Longhorns inspired the underdogs.

So did Salem, a 9-15 team in the regular season. Salem beat third-ranked Columbia and sixth-ranked South Atlanta to win the Region 6-2A tournament. Salem, a Rockdale County school, also defeated higher-seed Drew Charter in a must-win quarterfinal to clinch a state-playoff berth. Salem was 0-6 against those three teams in the regular season.

The region title was the first in Salem’s history dating to 1992.

In Class A Division I, Cobb County’s Mount Paran Christian, a 12-13 regular-season team, defeated three top-10 teams - Walker, Mount Bethel Christian and St. Francis – to win Region 5, the state’s deepest.

Mount Paran joined the Class 3A-A private rankings at No. 10, replacing Mount Bethel.

The news in Class 3A was Greater Atlanta Christian’s 66-64 victory over Pickens in the Region 6 final. Pickens enters the state playoffs at 27-1 and one spot lower in the 3A rankings, at No. 3.

GAC is a private school that will play in the 3A-A private state tournament with Mount Paran. Holy Innocents' is the No. 1 team there.

There is one new No. 1 team this week. That’s Woodward Academy, which replaced Milton, after beating No. 3 Tri-Cities 87-80 in the Region 4 final Saturday. Woodward lost its No. 1 ranking earlier this month when beaten by Tri-Cities but has avenged that loss twice now.

In Class 4A, No. 1 Pace Academy and No. 2 North Oconee, the defending champion, won their regions, but two lower-ranked top-10 teams beat higher-ranked ones to win titles. Those were Westminster over Kell in Region 6 and Tucker over Southwest DeKalb in Region 5. The region title was Westminster’s first since 1991.

In 6A, Peachtree Ridge entered the rankings, replacing Norcross, after beating Norcross 62-59 in the Region 7 final.

The state tournament is five rounds, two apiece the next two weeks, then the finals March 5-8 in Macon.

Class 6A

1. Grayson (25-2)

2. Wheeler (24-3)

3. McEachern (23-4)

4. Newton (17-9)

5. Walton (20-5)

6. Etowah (21-6)

7. Lambert (25-2)

8. Buford (23-3)

9. Pebblebrook (18-9)

10. Peachtree Ridge (18-10)

Class 5A

1. Woodward Academy (23-4)

2. Milton (20-7)

3. Tri-Cities (21-6)

4. Gainesville (19-7)

5. Habersham Central (25-3)

6. Winder-Barrow (24-3)

7. Alexander (20-7)

8. Dutchtown (24-3)

9. Hughes (19-8)

10. Lee County (22-5)

Class 4A

1. Pace Academy (23-4)

2. North Oconee (25-2)

3. Kell (20-7)

4. Southwest DeKalb (25-3)

5. Westminster (17-6)

6. Tucker (22-6)

7. Mays (19-8)

8. Maynard Jackson (17-7)

9. McDonough (22-5)

10. Jonesboro (20-8)

Class 3A

1. Cedar Grove (24-3)

2. Sandy Creek (24-3)

3. Pickens (27-1)

4. Cherokee Bluff (24-4)

5. Cross Creek (25-2)

6. East Hall (22-5)

7. Douglass (18-8)

8. Jefferson (17-7)

9. Baldwin (21-7)

10. Windsor Forest (22-5)

Class 2A

1. Carver-Columbus (24-2)

2. KIPP Atlanta (20-6)

3. Columbia (22-4)

4. Butler (16-8)

5. Morgan County (21-6)

6. South Atlanta (19-8)

7. Union County (22-5)

8. Laney (19-7)

9. Spencer (19-7)

10. Tattnall County (22-4)

Class A Division I

1. Putnam County (25-2)

2. Southwest-Macon (23-2)

3. B.E.S.T. Academy (19-7)

4. Rabun County (22-5)

5. Model (19-5)

6. Temple (20-6)

7. Dublin (21-5)

8. East Laurens (18-6)

9. Vidalia (20-6)

10. Worth County (16-10)

Class A Division II

1. Savannah (22-4)

2. McIntosh County Academy (22-5)

3. Randolph-Clay (25-2)

4. Calhoun County (21-3)

5. Greene County (19-7)

6. Taylor County (21-3)

7. Mount Zion-Carroll (19-8)

8. Clinch County (21-2)

9. Manchester (17-4)

10. Warren County (18-9)

Class 3A-A private

1. Holy Innocents' (22-4)

2. Greenforest Christian (20-5)

3. North Cobb Christian (24-3)

4. Greater Atlanta Christian (22-6)

5. Walker (22-4)

6. Christian Heritage (24-1)

7. Calvary Day (18-7)

8. St. Francis (17-10)

9. Mount Paran Christian (17-13)

10. Lovett (16-11)