With football season over, focus has shifted to basketball, already in progress. Here’s a snapshot of the top five teams.
Carver-Columbus (7-0, 1-0 Region 1)
2024 finish: 24-6, 3A semifinals
2025 outlook: The top-ranked Tigers will try to replicate the football team’s state championship success, though no football players are on the basketball team, according to Carver’s MaxPreps rosters. Their most recent win was Monday against 5A’s No. 6 Lee County, 67-64. It was their first test of the season after outscoring previous opponents, all unranked, by as few as 31, in a 75-44 season-opening win against Cambridge, and by as much as 78, in a 103-25 win at Harris County. Their next game is Saturday, against 3A’s No. 3, two-time defending champions Sandy Creek. The Tigers are led by senior Tony Montgomery, an AJC all-state selection last season who is averaging 24.3 points, 9.5 assists, 4.7 steals and 4.5 rebounds.
Columbia Eagles (10-2, 2-0 Region 6)
2024 finish: 28-4, 2A semifinals
2025 outlook: The No. 2 Eagles finished 2024 with a 43-38 win at Fort Payne, ranked No. 10 in the MaxPreps Alabama 6A rankings. They’re on a four-game win streak that began Dec. 7 with a 73-63 overtime win over 3A’s Johnson. They lost 61-39 to 3A’s top-ranked Cedar Grove, and 65-48 to 4A’s No. 5 Southwest DeKalb. In region play, they beat No. 10 Drew Charter 61-44 on Dec. 17. The Eagles return to the court Jan. 3 against A Division I’s No. 7 Towers(8-4) in a non-region game.
South Atlanta Hornets (8-4, 1-0 Region 6)
2024 finish: 23-9, 2A quarterfinals
2025 outlook: The No. 3 Hornets’ losses were to ranked opponents: 6A’s No. 3 Walton, 3A-A’s No. 8 Lovett, Tennessee’s II-A No. 6 Boyd-Buchanan, and unranked Tennessee Heat, and all wins have come against unranked teams. They have three games before the calendar year ends, against Social Circle, Thomson and 5A’s No. 5 Habersham Central. They open the new year at No. 10 Drew Charter, and a week later they play No. 2 Columbia. Only one of their top five players, in terms of minutes played, is a senior, Drew Clark. He’s one of three double-digit scorers with 10.5 points, the others are junior Duor Duor (15.3 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.2 blocks) and Bol Deng (12.5 points).
KIPP Warriors (8-3, 1-1 Region 5)
2024 finish: 7-18
2025 outlook: An 85-77 win over 4A’s No. 10 Westminster is what has the Warriors ranked so high, along with all three losses coming by one point, to 4A’s Drew and Mays, and 3A-A’s No. 1 Holy Innocents’. Senior Chane Bynum leads the team with 17.3 points, 11.4 rebounds, 2.3 blocks, 2.4 assists and 1.9 steals. Sophomore Quadarious Clemons has 17.1 points, 3.1 assists and 2.3 steals. Senior Jayvon Johnson has 13.4 points, 5.7 assists and 2.7 steals. The Warriors have three more games this calendar year, against Alabama 5A No. 17 Wenonah, 3A’s No. 7 Douglass, and Notre Dame Academy, ranked No. 3 in the MaxPreps GAPPS 1-A rankings.
Butler Bulldogs (4-4, 0-0 Region 4)
2024 finish: 24-7, 2A semifinals
2025 outlook: The Bulldogs beat Sumter County, Shiloh, Greenbrier and Grovetown. They lost to 3A’s No. 2 Cross Creek, SCISA 4A No. 2 Augusta Christian, South Carolina Division 4A’s No. 1 North Augusta and North Carolina Division 4A West No. 3 Independence. They play Campbell Thursday, Dalton Friday and Cherokee Saturday to close out 2024. On Jan. 4 they play South Caroliina Division 3A No. 4 Keenan. Junior Kwamane Bridges averages 20.4 points and 8.2 rebounds, and senior Marcus Scurry averages 18 points, five assists and 2.4 steals.
Sources: MaxPreps, Georgia High School Basketball Project
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