With the prep hoops season beginning to heat up around the state and in northeast Georgia, some area teams are receiving some early love from pollsters and the computers.
AccessWDUN uses the Postseason Rankings (PSR) on the GHSA.net site for Classes 3A and below and the Kyle Sandy “Spiel” rankings for Classes 4A and above.
The majority of the boys and girls among the 26 schools covered by AccessWDUN are seeing the most early-season recognition by the PSR on GHSA.
In Class 3A, Region 6-3A has four girls teams in the top 11 of the rankings, paced by Pickens, which is No. 1 according to the computer. GAC is 5th with White County 10th and Lumpkin County 11th. Three girls teams from 8-3A are in the top 13, led by East Hall at 8th and Cherokee Bluff 9th. Jefferson is 13th in the rankings.
For the girls in Class 2A, Union County is among three Region 7-2A teams, sitting 7th overall. Fellow region foes Murray County (5th) and Sonoraville (8th) also are in the top 10.
In Class A Division 2, the Towns County girls lead four 8-A D2 teams at 11th. Warren County is 12th, Greene County 15th, and Lake Oconee Academy is 18th.
In the girls Class A D1, Rabun County, who advanced to the state semifinals last season, is 18th early on among three 8-A D1 teams in the top 20. Athens Academy is 3rd overall and Elbert County 4th.
For the girls among the upper classes ranked on Spiel, North Forsyth, who lost in the Class 7A title game last season, is 3rd in Class 6A with Buford 8th in the latest poll.
For the boys on the Spiel poll, all the NEGa area teams that are ranked are in Class 5A. Habersham Central out of Region 8-5A is the highest ranked at 6th overall. Gainesville, out of 7-5A, is 7th. Fellow 7-5A teams Milton, ranked No. 1, and Seckinger (9th) also are in the top 10.
Winder-Barrow, in 8-5A with Habersham, is ranked 4th in the latest poll.
For boys teams in Class 3A and below in the PSR, four teams in 8-3A are in the top 25. The Cherokee Bluff boys are 2nd in the most current computer rankings with fellow 8-3A teams East Hall (8th), Jefferson (13th) and West Hall (22nd) in the top 25.
In the Class 2A PSR rankings, Union County is 5th overall. Fellow 7-2A foe Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe is ranked 4th.
Region 8-A D2 will be a war based on the early PSR rankings for Class A D2. Towns County (8th) is one of five 8-A D2 teams in the top 10. Lake Oconee Academy is 5th, Taliafero County is 6th, Greene County 9th, and Warren County 10th in the latest rankings.
Four 8-A D1 boys teams are in the top 20 in the Class A D1 rankings. Rabun County leads the way in 7th with Providence Christian 11th, Commerce 16th, and Banks County 20th.
