The 2017-2018 Class AA basketball season is in the books, ending with the Laney Lady Wildcats and Thomasville Bulldogs taking home the championship hardware.
Here’s a look back at the season:
Girls
Below are the final rankings.
1. Laney (32-0)
2. Josey (28-5)
3. Model (25-4)
4. Fitzgerald (17-6)
5. Banks County (25-6)
6. Dodge County (25-5)
7. Putnam County (20-5)
8. Rabun County (24-7)
9. Swainsboro (23-5)
10. Douglass (18-7)
What a dominant run by Laney. Not only did the Lady Wildcats win AA for the second year in a row, they went 32-0 to extend their win streak to 62 games and claim a state title for the third time in four years.
They will lose their top two producers to graduation in De’sha Benjamin and Jhessyka Williams, but will still be a top-10 team with Jaiden Hamilton returning for her senior season.
Model, which reached the semifinals, is another team which was a fixture in the AA playoffs that could take a step back, with senior Victaria Saxton — a five-star recruit and one of the country’s top players who signed with South Carolina — leaving for graduation.
Another semifinalist, Fitzgerald, loses its top player in Kirstin Crook.
One team to look out for next season is runners-up Josey. The Lady Eagles are Laney’s cross-town rivals in Region 4 and will return the two players who guided them to the finals in the Rolland twins, Tykedra and Rhykeria.
Boys
Below are the final rankings.
1. Thomasville (28-3)
2. Glenn Hills (27-3)
3. Vidalia (23-8)
4. Laney (28-4)
5. Dublin (23-4)
6. Therrell (20-8)
7. Swainsboro (20-7)
8. South Atlanta (25-5)
9. Banks County (25-5)
10. Washington County (18-9)
The Bulldogs avenged their disappointing second-round exit in last year’s AA tournament and fully realized their potential, winning the first championship in program history.
After forging through an incredibly difficult path to the title game, beating No. 7 Swainsboro, No. 5 Dublin and No. 2 Glenn Hills, the Bulldogs blew out a previously-unranked Vidalia team 66-31 in the title game.
They’ll wave goodbye to Reggie Perry, a five-star signed to Mississippi State who is ranked as one of the top players in the country.
Vidalia made an incredible late-season run to find its way to the title game. For their efforts, the Indians finished No. 3 despite not being ranked at any point in the season.
A team to watch out for next season is No. 6 Therrell, an incredibly young team that has most all significant contributors returning for the next season, and the season after. They made incredible strides with mostly freshman and sophomores, including winning 6-AA and going 3-0 against defending AA champs South Atlanta.
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