Archive for the ‘1ABlog’ Category

David Boyd, the boys basketball coach who won six state championships before his forced resignation at Milton last year, is the new head coach at Excel Christian, a private Class A school in Cartersville.

”Blessed to be back in the game,” Boyd posted on his Twitter account on Monday. ”Looking forward to meeting all the players’ parents and the players at Excel Christian Academy at 6:00pm tomorrow [Tuesday].”

Boyd replaces Jon-Michael Dickerson, who took a job as a graduate assistant at Memphis University.

Excel Christian was 26-3 last season and lost to Aquinas in the Class A private quarterfinals.

Boyd was had coach for state championship teams at Milton in 2010 and 2012. Several of his Milton players have gone on to play for major college programs. They include Evan Nolte (Virginia), Julian Royal (Georgia Tech), Shannon Scott (Ohio State), Dai-Jon Parker (Vanderbilt), Shaquille Johnson (Auburn) and Charles Mann (Georgia).

Boyd resigned in September amid allegations that he …

Continue reading David Boyd hired at Excel Christian »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

It’s déjà vu all over again for W.D. Mohammed boys head coach Farad Abdur-Rahman.

For the second time in his career he has taken a team at the tiny, Muslim-based school in East Atlanta and taken it from worst to first. Seven years ago it was the girls’ team. Now, he has done the same with the boys’ squad as the Caliphs enter region tournament play this week as the Region 5 regular season champions and the top-ranked team in Class A (No. 2 in the private school power rankings).

To take one team – boys or girls – to the top of the rankings more than once in a career is a great accomplishment. To do it with the boys and girls teams at the same school might be unprecedented.

“I was talking to a friend of mine and he said he thinks I might be the only coach in Georgia to take the girls to No. 1 and then take the boys to No. 1. I never even thought about that,” Abdur-Rahman said. “I’m truly humbled.”

What makes the coaching …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Abdur-Rahman has W.D. Mohammed boys No. 1, seven years after leading the girls there as well »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Paideia girls coach Paul Meiere is in his 19th season at tiny private school located in the eastern most part of Atlanta.  He is on course to quality for the state tournament for the 16th time in 17 seasons, has led the Pythons to five semifinals and two runner-up finishes.

In other words, he’s seen it all … until this season.

Meiere is one of a throng of coaches — public, private, girls or boys teams — that are not pleased with the new power ranking system being used to determine playoff teams in Class A.  Here he spells out his reasons for coming down against the system:

“From my standpoint, I can no longer fill my non-region schedule with top teams without any regard for winning since such scheduling would make it all but impossible to qualify for the state tournament unless we win the region tournament. Each game is now critical for qualification purposes. This affects my substitution pattern in all games and lessens the playing time of …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Paideia’s Meiere gives his take on the power rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Something many detractors of the Class A power rankings feared would happen, has indeed happened.

Due to the fact that the importance of region tournaments has been lessened somewhat by the power rankings, the coaches from Region 2 have decided to cancel this year’s tournament. After the regular season comes to a close at the end of the week, basketball will be over for the majority of the teams in Region 2.   The Lanier County boys have the most to lose. The Bulldogs were in the top 16 of the public school power rankings early on but fell out recently.

Lanier (15-7, 7-4) should close out the season this week with wins at Clinch County (7-5, 3-4) tonight and Irwin County (4-18, 4-8) on Friday, which won’t provide a lot of points. Playing extra games in a tournament, especially advancing to the semi finals or the finals against No. 3 Wilcox County or No. 6 Turner County, could have gone a long way toward boosting the Bulldogs’ power …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Region tourneys marginalized by power rankings; SACA girls, Mitchell boys send messages; updated power rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

They say heavy is the head that wears the crown. That goes for queens as well as kings.

Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy head coach Jackie Cowan knows that all too well. Her Warriors have been ranked No. 1 in the AJC Top 10 since the beginning of the season, have had the No. 1 Class A power ranking since it was first released three weeks ago, and are 19-2 overall. One of the losses (57-56) was to St. Joseph Catholic, the top-ranked team in West Virginia, during a holiday tournament. The other was to Region 6 rival Darlington, now ranked No. 2 right behind SACA.

In the game, SACA trailed by double digits at one point but rallied before eventually falling by one, 47-46. Cowan said her team was suffering from the blissful hangover of being the only team in Georgia to knock off giant Wesleyan, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, 49-46, the night before traveling to Rome to face Dalton. SACA was shellacked by Wesleyan, 68-44, in last season’s Class A …

Continue reading Class A Blog: SACA and Cowan driving toward state title, latest power rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

As was the case with the Class A power rankings for football in the fall, this has turned into the winter of discontent for many basketball coaches and fans in the state’s smallest classification.

The power ranking system, used for the first time in state history to determine playoff participants and seedings, came under fire by some football coaches who thought aspects of it hurt deserving teams. Now some basketball coaches are balking as well, particularly when it comes to two aspects of the system in basketball — no points for playing out-of-state teams and no extra points for playing teams from higher classifications.

However, Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the Georgia High School Association, said most of the complaints haven’t reached his office.

“I honestly haven’t heard many,” Swearngin said this week. “I’m not saying that no one has issues with the system but I really haven’t heard any complaints.”

In …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Swearngin hears no evil (yet) on basketball power rankings, key games this weekend »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Time for this week’s look at the new power rankings in Class A basketball. Love it or loath it, the power ranking system is here to stay – for this season at least. (Next week we’ll examine how the system is working out thus far.)

But first we check in on a team that is quickly staking its claim as one of the contenders for the boys private school title: W.D. Mohammed (18-1). Tuesday night, the Caliphs, ranked No. 5 in this week’s AJC Top 10, served notice that they are indeed for real, with a 43-42 win over No. 3 Greenforest Christian. The Eagles’ (14-4) previous losses were to South Atlanta (14-3), No. 10 in AAAA, Norcross 11-6), ranked No. 6 in AAAAAA and Wenonah, the top ranked team in Alabama in AAAAA.

All of this seemed impossible just three years ago when head coach Farad Abdur-Rahman jumped from leading the W.D. Mohammed girls team over to the boys. In the five years prior to his arrival, the Caliph boys were a combined …

Continue reading Class A Blog: W.D. Mohammed boys continue to rise, latest power rankings »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Shake up at the top of girl’s privates

Darlington, ranked No. 4 in the AJC Top 10 and No. 3 in the Class A private school power rankings last week, knocked off top-ranked Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy (15-2, 4-1), 47-46 on Tuesday. Senior center Terar Stewart, a Class A Player of the Year candidate, led the way for the Tigers with 22 points.

The win vaulted Darlington (12-4, 5-0) to the top spot in Region 6 – Division A, and will impact the poll and the power rankings as well. The rematch is Feb. 2 at SACA.

Graddics leading Turner County

Turner County has a solid chance of bringing two public school state titles back to Ashburn, and the keys to that accomplishment live under one roof.

Antania and Antonio Graddic are integral parts of their respective teams. Antania, a 6-foot-4 senior center, is averaging 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks per game for the Rebels, who are 14-3 overall, and undefeated (8-0) in Region 2 with a No. 2 …

Continue reading Class A Blog: Shake up atop private girls, Graddics leading Turner, girls POTY candidates »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Coaches always say rankings don’t mean much, and usually that’s correct. But when it comes to Class A sports in Georgia, rankings mean a lot – power rankings, to be specific.

So each Tuesday we’ll post the updated basketball power rankings as soon as the Georgia High School Association makes them available. A team’s power ranking points are determined by awarding five points for a win, plus one point for each of its opponent’s wins. Teams earn no points for a loss, but do receive one-third (33 percent) of the opponent’s win total (if you lose to a team with 12 wins, you receive four points for that game).

Following the region tournaments, the top 16 public and private schools will advance to the state playoffs. Region tournament winners get automatic bids. Here are the latest public and private school power rankings. For comparison’s sake, the first number in parenthesis is the team’s power ranking last week, the second …

Continue reading Class A Basketball Blog: Newest power rankings, Landmark’s Ross reaches 1,000 »

S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Similar to football, 16 basketball teams will make the state playoffs, based on a power ranking system crafted and operated by MaxPreps. You can take a look at the rules and how points are determined here.

Region tournament champions will advance automatically to the field of 16 playoff teams. The top eight will host the first round playoff game.

But after just one ranking period, a lot of coaches are already upset. One of those is Paideia girls head coach Paul Meiere Jr. His Pythons have a No. 7 power ranking on the private school division.

“In [Division I] college [football], they’ve just decided to go to a playoff system instead of polls and rankings to determine the champion,” he said last week. “So what does the GHSA decide to do? Go to a power ranking system. It doesn’t make sense.”

We’ll have more thoughts from coach Meiere and others next week. In the meantime, here are the first rankings:

BOYS

Public

1. Wilcox …

Continue reading Class A Blog: First power rankings, 2 POTY candidates, true student athlete »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Here we go, hoops fans. Now that basketball mania has finally swept into Georgia, it’s time for the Divided Class A Top 5 Lists – Basketball version.

But first, a couple of nuggets to snack on …

Montgomery shines on the court, in the class room
Just when you began to feel good about yourself because you’ve stuck to those new year’s resolutions for a full two weeks, here comes Austin Montgomery to put you back in your place.

The 6-foot-8 senior forward at Lakeview Academy in Gainesville scored his 1,000th career point over the Christmas holiday during the Lanierland Tournament, where he was named to the all-tournament team. When he’s not getting buckets for the Lions, Montgomery is most likely studying. He is a National Merit semi-finalist carrying a 4.0 grade point average. He scored 2320 on the SAT (perfect score is 2400) and a 35 on the ACT (perfect score: 36).

But there’s more. He plans to major in biomechanical engineering …

Continue reading Class A Blog: First edition of the (Basketball) Divided Top 5 Lists »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Football season is done. Basketball season is now in full effect. Here are some news and notes to get things started.

BOYS

W.D. Mohammed is sizzling. The Caliphs are off to a torrid 9-0 start, 2-0 in Region 5, after claiming a 47-36 win over Pace Academy. It’s the best start for the boys team in school history. The squad is led by seniors Jihad Hameen and Hussein Clark, and junior Muhammad Hamilton. The Caliphs face winless AAA B.E.S.T. Academy tonight before competing in a holiday tournament next week. Region 5 play resumes on Jan. 8, at Pace Academy.

Excel Christian on the come up. Excel Christian of Cartersville is also off to its best start in school history, 9-1. The Eagles are looking to make the state playoffs for the first time since 2008 when they advanced to the second round of the state playoffs in spite of finishing the season with an unimpressive record of 15-14. In the three seasons following that post season appearance the …

Continue reading Class A Basketball: Plenty of girls, boys teams off to quick starts »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

Well Class A fans, the 2012 season is officially a wrap. Congratulations to the players, coaches, parents and supporters of Emanuel County Institute and to Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy for winning their respective championships.

And so now the inevitable questions/debates begin. Who’s better? Who’s the “real” Class A champ? And should we have a “plus-one” game to decide the Class A title?

So here in the final Class A football blog for the 2012 season, we touch on that as well as a few other tidbits.

“Big guy” says NO to plus-one
After the game, when the question of a plus-one game between the public and private school champs was posed to players and coaches, everyone said yes.

ELCA head coach Jonathan Gess: “Yes!” was his response to a text message.

ECI head coach Chris Kearson: “Let’s do it!” was his response.

ECI senior offensive lineman Gunnar Brown: “Oh yes! I’m a senior. I’m not ready to put the …

Continue reading Class A Football: Final blog of 2012 season, plus-one talk, high school all star games, early pre-season Top 10s »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

The season is still in its infancy, with most teams having played no more than five or six games. But here are some of the state’s statistical leaders in Class A, after a minimum of four games played (let us know if we’ve overlooked someone):

BOYS

Scoring
1. Cornelius Taylor, Claxton, 21 points per game
2. Tosin Mehinti, Greenforest Christian, 19.6
3. Justin Ravenel, Greenforest Christian, 18.6

Rebounds
1. Mehinit, Greenforest Christian, 13.2 per game
2. Kaiser Gates, St. Francis, 8.5
3. Faisal Abdul-Malik, Greenforest Christian, 7.6

Blocks
1. Tosin, Greenforest Christian, 4.2 per game
2. Jordan Jones, St. Francis, 1.5
2. Monteruis Valentine, Claxton, 1.2

Assists
1. Rashad Swain, Greenforest, 6.8 per game
2. Trey Hines, Claxton, 4.4
3. McKinley Brown, St. Francis 3.3

Steals
1. Brown, St. Francis, 2.8 per game
2. Gates, St. Francis, 2.8
3. Darvis Small, Claxton, 2.6

GIRLS

Scoring
1. Cierra Hawkins, Baker County, 21.7
2. Alexis Carter, …

Continue reading Class A Basketball: Early statistical leaders, good games for non-football fans »

By S. Thomas Coleman
For the AJC

The Class A finals are set.

On the private school side, No. 9 Prince Avenue Christian held off No. 12 Landmark Christian School, 32-22, while Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy, the No. 2 seed, downed George Walton Academy, 27-14. The private school championship will feature Prince Avenue Christian (11-2) vs. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy (12-1), Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Georgia Dome.

On the public school side, No. 5 Dooly County upset No. 1 Lincoln County, 10-7, and No. 3 Emanuel County Institute outlasted No. 2 Wilcox County, 38-27. The public school final will be Dooly County (11-2) against Emanuel County Institute (12-1), Saturday at 11 a.m.

We’ll have detailed previews later this week.

Until then, here are four questions to ponder while waiting on the games to start:

Can Dooly’s defense slow Emanuel County Institute’s offense?
Lincoln County had been averaging more than 30 points per game before running into Bobcat All-State …

Continue reading Class A: Four questions to ponder while waiting for the finals »