Final girls basketball rankings: Unbeaten Creekside among 5 first-time champions finishing No. 1

Grayson was one of four defending state champions that made it back to Macon. The others were Jackson-Atlanta, Baldwin and Hebron Christian. All four lost.

River Ridge rallied from a 16-point deficit in the third quarter and outscored Hughes 19-2 in the fourth quarter for a 52-47 victory in the Class 5A final. It was the second championship in three years for the Knights, who have reached the semifinals or better in four of the past five seasons. Joy Tchamabe scored a career-high 13 points, all in the second quarter. Kyla Cantey scored all 12 or her points in the final nine points to lead the comeback. River Ridge and Hughes were the top two teams in the rankings all season.

Creekside of Class 4A finished as the only undefeated team, boys or girls, in the state and claimed its first state title with a 57-37 victory over Region 4-rival Jackson-Atlanta. C’India Dennis, the region’s player of the year, had 22 points, six assists, five rebounds and three steals. The Seminoles broke the game open with a 17-4 third quarter after leading by five points at halftime. Creekside beat Jackson twice in the regular season by an average of 16 points.

Cherokee Bluff defeated Baldwin 66-58 in the Class 3A final to win the first team state championship in any sport in the school’s seven-year history. Cherokee Bluff finished third in 8-3A in the regular season but won the region tournament, earning the No. 4 seed for the state playoffs and setting the stage for the championship run. The Bears led Baldwin by one point after three quarters, but Claire Carlson and Bristol Kersh combined for 12 points in the fourth to help Cherokee Bluff pull away. Carlson finished with 23 points, and Kersh had 22.

Hardaway led Murray County 20-4 at the end of the first quarter and coasted to a 47-34 victory in the Class 2A final for its first girls basketball state title and the school’s first in any sport since the fast-pitch softball team won in 2003. Rhiana Boynton and Mikayla Johnson had eight points each in the decisive first quarter, and Boynton finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots. The Hawks won 20 of their final 21 games after starting the season 6-5.

Fannin County outscored Banks County 19-11 in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 51-42 victory in the Class A Division I championship game. It was Fannin County’s first state title since 1999 and its third overall (it also won in 1993). Maggie Ledford led all scorers with 22 points, and Reese Lewis had 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots. Ledford had seven points in the Rebels’ 14-4 run over the first six minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach.

Wilcox County jumped to a 21-7 lead in the first quarter of the Class A Division II final and went on to a 72-48 victory over upstart Washington-Wilkes. It was the first state title for Wilcox County, which won its final 27 games after losing to Class 5A Lee County in its second game of the season. Shamauri Martin led the way with 20 points, six rebounds, three steals and two assists. Tyliyah Benjamin had 13 points and 21 rebounds despite being limited to 20 minutes because of foul trouble.

Washington-Wilkes, which had won only one playoff game in its history before this season, was the only finalist that was unranked going into the tournament. The Tigers started 0-6 against a difficult schedule and went only 8-8 in the regular season but won the Region 8 title and beat three ranked opponents in the state playoffs.

Holy Innocents’ won its fourth state championship in 10 years, and fifth overall, when it defeated Hebron Christian 57-39 in the Class 3A-A private final. The Golden Bears outscored Hebron Christian 19-5 in the first quarter and then 19-10 in the fourth after Hebron got back within nine points. Hailee Swain had 30 points, the most of any player in the girls finals, and 10 rebounds. The Stanford signee is a McDonald’s All-American and the state’s top-rated senior. Holy Innocents’ has played in the semifinals or beyond 12 times in the past 13 seasons.

The Golden Bears were the only private school champion this year. In 2024, before the GHSA put the smaller private schools in their own separate bracket, five private schools won state titles.

Class 6A

1. Newton (25-5)

2. Grayson (30-2)

3. North Forsyth (30-1)

4. Cherokee (26-5)

5. Buford (25-3)

6. Carrollton (22-8)

7. North Paulding (26-3)

8. Hillgrove (22-8)

9. Lowndes (22-6)

10. Norcross (22-6)

Class 5A

1. River Ridge (31-1)

2. Hughes (29-3)

3. Bradwell Institute (26-4)

4. Milton (24-7)

5. Woodward Academy (23-6)

6. Morrow (23-7)

7. New Manchester (24-6)

8. Creekview (23-6)

9. Tri-Cities (21-6)

10. Coffee (27-2)

Class 4A

1. Creekside (32-0)

2. Marist (29-3)

3. Jackson-Atlanta (20-8)

4. North Oconee (29-2)

5. Dalton (26-4)

6. Ware County (25-5)

7. Kell (22-6)

8. Warner Robins (25-2)

9. Northview (21-10)

10. Midtown (24-6)

Class 3A

1. Cherokee Bluff (25-8)

2. Baldwin (25-7)

3. Fayette County (25-6)

4. Jenkins (20-9)

5. Pickens (27-3)

6. Luella (26-4)

7. Monroe (24-6)

8. Heritage-Ringgold (24-7)

9. Jefferson (22-6)

10. Sandy Creek (23-7)

Class 2A

1. Hardaway (26-6)

2. Murray County (30-2)

3. Josey (24-4)

4. Morgan County (21-10)

5. Thomson (25-4)

6. Sonoraville (26-4)

7. Butler (19-7)

8. Columbia (23-6)

9. Sumter County (19-10)

10. Carver-Columbus (17-11)

Class A Division I

1. Fannin County (29-2)

2. Banks County (25-6)

3. Model (24-6)

4. East Laurens (22-6)

5. Heard County (25-4)

6. Vidalia (23-7)

7. Lamar County (24-6)

8. Central-Macon (21-6)

9. Elbert County (24-5)

10. Washington County (19-9)

Class A Division II

1. Wilcox County (28-1)

2. Washington-Wilkes (14-9)

3. Macon County (22-4)

4. Bryan County (24-4)

5. Screven County (23-6)

6. Taylor County (20-4)

7. Telfair County (21-6)

8. Randolph-Clay (23-7)

9. Seminole County (23-6)

10. Charlton County (21-7)

Class 3A-A private

1. Holy innocents' (25-5)

2. Hebron Christian (29-2)

3. St. Francis (28-3)

4. Galloway (20-9)

5. Mount Paran Christian (26-5)

6. Calvary Day (18-10)

7. Greater Atlanta Christian (17-13)

8. SW Atlanta Christian (24-3)

9. Athens Academy (20-9)

10. Trinity Christian (18-10)