Three classifications have new No. 1 teams in the Georgia high school girls basketball rankings heading into the final two weeks of the regular season.
River Ridge moved up one place to the top spot in Class 5A after previous No. 1 Hughes lost to Class 6A No. 4 Carrollton 54-52 Saturday and dropped to No. 2.
River Ridge, which defeated Carrollton 59-44 in mid-November, is 21-1 after victories over Holy Innocents’, Sequoyah and Lassiter last week. The Knights won a state championship in 2023 and lost to eventual champion Marist in overtime in the 2024 semifinals.
Four River Ridge players made the Atlanta Tipoff Club’s list of metro Atlanta’s best 40 girls performers this season. They are Kayla Cleveland, Finley Parker, Sophia Pearl and Makayla Roberson.
Fayette County became the new No. 1 team in Class 3A after losses by the previous top two teams, Baldwin and Jefferson. Baldwin, a reigning state champion, had a particularly tough week, dealing with player illnesses and suffering losses to Class 6A No. 1 North Paulding (70-45), Richmond Academy (53-43) and Class A Division I No. 3 Washington County (54-51 in overtime).
Baldwin dropped from No. 1 to No. 8 in the rankings, opening the door for Fayette County, which moved up two places despite having no games last week. Previous No. 2 Jefferson lost to Class 3A-A private No. 5 Galloway 66-59 and fell to No. 4.
Banks County, unranked three weeks ago, moved to No. 1 in Class A Division I and ended Model’s one-week stay at the top. Model fell to No. 7 after a 58-35 loss to Heard County, which climbed from No. 8 to No. 5. Banks County won its three games last week and jumped two spots from No. 3. The Leopards moved ahead of Elbert County, which lost to Banks County the previous week.
Aside from the high turnover at No. 1, there were few changes in the rest of the rankings as many of the teams in the state had games postponed by the wintry weather that came through Tuesday and Wednesday. There were no new teams in the rankings this week, and three classifications had no changes to the top 10, as the ranked teams in 4A, 2A and Division II all went undefeated against limited schedules.
Class 6A
1. North Paulding (20-1)
2. North Forsyth (22-0)
3. Grayson (20-1)
4. Carrollton (16-6)
5. Cherokee (18-4)
6. Archer (17-3)
7. Campbell (19-2)
8. Newton (16-3)
9. Lowndes (16-2)
10. Buford (17-2)
Class 5A
1. River Ridge (21-1)
2. Hughes (18-2)
3. Woodward Academy (14-5)
4. Milton (15-6)
5. Tri-Cities (15-2)
6. Morrow (16-4)
7. Bradwell Institute (18-2)
8. Creekview (18-4)
9. New Manchester (17-3)
10. Pope (18-4)
Class 4A
1. Creekside (21-0)
2. Marist (18-2)
3. Warner Robins (20-0)
4. Kell (15-5)
5. North Oconee (20-1)
6. Jackson-Atlanta (12-5)
7. Jones County (18-1)
8. Midtown (17-4)
9. Dalton (18-3)
10. Ware County (17-4)
Class 3A
1. Fayette County (13-4)
2. Luella (17-3)
3. Pickens (18-2)
4. Jefferson (16-4)
5. Sandy Creek (15-4)
6. White County (16-4)
7. Heritage-Ringgold (16-4)
8. Baldwin (13-6)
9. Oconee County (16-5)
10. Cherokee Bluff (15-6)
Class 2A
1. Thomson (18-1)
2. Josey (13-3)
3. Butler (14-2)
4. Murray County (18-1)
5. Hardaway (12-6)
6. Sonoraville (19-2)
7. Columbia (14-5)
8. Sumter County (11-6)
9. Morgan County (11-9)
10. Tattnall County (12-3)
Class A Division I
1. Banks County (15-5)
2. Elbert County (19-1)
3. Washington County (13-3)
4. Fannin County (17-2)
5. Heard County (16-2)
6. Central-Macon (14-4)
7. Model (16-4)
8. Lamar County (15-4)
9. ACE Charter (16-2)
10. Vidalia (14-6)
Class A Division II
1. Wilcox County (15-1)
2. Taylor County (14-1)
3. Bryan County (16-2)
4. Seminole County (15-4)
5. Brooks County (13-2)
6. Metter (12-2)
7. Telfair County (13-3)
8. Early County (12-5)
9. Screven County (13-4)
10. Macon County (12-3)
Class 3A-A private
1. Hebron Christian (19-1)
2. St. Francis (18-2)
3. Holy Innocents' (13-5)
4. Mount Paran Christian (18-3)
5. Galloway (12-7)
6. SW Atlanta Christian (16-1)
7. Athens Academy (15-5)
8. Christian Heritage (16-3)
9. Greater Atlanta Christian (11-9)
10. Greenforest Christian (10-8)
