McEachern tops preseason basketball rankings for boys and girls

In boys hoops, McEachern owns the top spot in Class AAAAAAA and solidified its hold on No. 1 with a 71-59 win over Wheeler to start the season. Norcross and Meadowcreek earned quality wins on Saturday to start their seasons off strong, including the Mustangs’ blowout win over defending champion Tift County.

Gainesville returns every major player from a year ago and has exceptional depth atop Class AAAAAA. Defending champ Langston Hughes checks in at No. 2.

In Class AAAAA, last year’s champion Buford rules the class with strong Cedar Shoals and Warner Robins teams back in the top five. Miller Grove isn’t the juggernaut of years past and took a 26-point loss to Norcross to start the season.

Upson-Lee is another defending champ that has remained stacked, leading Class AAAA. Defending AAA champ Pace Academy loses the top power forward in the 2017 class, Wendell Carter, to Duke but starts the season at No. 1.

The 2016-17 Class AA champion, South Atlanta, loses a lot of talented players but opens up at No. 1 in front of the team it cruised past in the title game, Swainsboro.

Class A-Private No. 1 Greenforest Christian lost its coach to Wheeler but opened the season with a one-point win over AAAAA Lithonia, which ended last season ranked. The title-game participants in Class A-Public, Wilkinson County (defending champ) and Calhoun County, open up at 1 and 2, respectively.

Class AAAAAAA

McEachern
Norcross
Meadowcreek
Wheeler
Shiloh
Grayson
Duluth
Newton
Mountain View
Berkmar

Class AAAAAA

Gainesville
Langston Hughes
Dacula
Tucker
Jonesboro
Tri-Cities
Alpharetta
Allatoona
Brunswick
South Paulding

Class AAAAA

Buford
Cedar Shoals
Warner Robins
Columbia
Eagle's Landing
Miller Grove
McIntosh
Starr's Mill
Southwest DeKalb
Riverwood

Class AAAA

Upson-Lee
Sandy Creek
St. Pius
Baldwin
Westover
Mary Persons
Salem
Henry County
Woodward Academy
Cartersville

Class AAA

Pace Academy
Morgan County
Westside-Macon
Johnson-Savannah
Cedar Grove
Jenkins
East Hall
Greater Atlanta Christian
Liberty County
Calhoun

Class AA

Swainsboro
South Atlanta
Dublin
Josey
Laney
Butler
Glenn Hills
Banks County
Early County
Thomasville

Class A-Private

Greenforest Christian
St. Francis
Southwest Atlanta Christian
Lakeview Academy
North Cobb Christian
Wesleyan
Aquinas
Whitefield Academy
ELCA
Holy Innocents'

Class A-Public

Wilkinson County
Calhoun County
Macon County
Treutlen
Clinch County
Turner County
Taylor County
Central-Talbotton
Montgomery County
Manchester

GIRLS

In Class AAAAAAA, McEachern leads another competitive field of teams that will challenge the Indians’ four-year reign as state champs in Georgia’s highest classification. Collins Hill edges Westlake for No. 2 and Norcross and Newton round out the top 5. Rivals North Forsyth and Lambert come in at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively and Gwinnett County’s Brookwood and Mill Creek also crack the top 10.

Class AAAAAA is led by Northview and Winder-Barrow, which will build off of their breakout seasons a year ago. Defending state champion Buford is still the team to beat in Class AAAAA, but region rival Flowery Branch debuts at No. 2 and could be one of the Wolves’ biggest obstacles this season.

Class AAAA opened up with the departure of Columbus’ Tatyana Wyatt and Ariyah Copeland, and No. 1 Carver-Columbus is the benefactor with a solid core returning and the addition of 6-foot-3 Hardaway transfer Olivia Cochran.

Beach is back at No. 1 after taking the AAA crown with a 29-2 season, its first championship since 2000. Laney is once again the favorite in Class AA after dominating the newly reclassified field with a 31-1 season and state crown.

Wesleyan, Holy Innocents’ and St. Francis headline a talented and top-heavy Class A-Private field and defending Class A-Public state champion Pelham returns as No. 1

Class AAAAAAA