With Thanksgiving having come and gone, basketball season will start to heat up over the next several weeks, with most county teams playing five or six games before the upcoming Christmas break.
All six Chatham County boys basketball teams have played at least one game, and four teams — Chatham Charter, Northwood, Seaforth and Chatham Central — had at least one win heading into Tuesday night’s games (which occurred after press time).
The top boys team in the county, by record, entering Tuesday night’s games was Chatham Charter, which was 7-0 ahead of its clash with Research Triangle on Tuesday. In their first seven games, the Knights have averaged a county-high 78.7 points per game and have beaten their opponents by an average of 51.0 points per game.
Chatham Charter has three players averaging at least 10 points per game this season — senior Adam Harvey (16.0), sophomore Brennen Oldham (12.0) and sophomore Beau Harvey (11.1). The younger Harvey brother is also averaging a team-high 5.9 rebounds and a county-high 5.1 steals per game so far this season.
The Knights will play four more non-conference games before the holiday break, including a meeting with Northwest Guilford at the Tyler Lewis Hoopfest at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Chatham Charter is the reigning 1A East region champion. The Knights fell in the 1A state final in overtime to Hayesville and finished the year 33-2 overall.
The only other two teams that had played multiple games entering Tuesday night were Seaforth and Woods Charter.
The Hawks were 1-1 ahead of Tuesday night’s home game vs. J.F. Webb. Seaforth is coming off a 57-37 loss to Seventy-First on Saturday afternoon, a game in which the Hawks shot 13-of-39 (33.3%) from the field and 2-of-15 (13.3%) from 3-point range. Seaforth also plays Thursday at home at 6:30 p.m. against Southern Lee.
Seaforth’s top player this season has been junior Jarin Stevenson — the No. 1 player in North Carolina in the Class of 2024, according to 247Sports. Stevenson averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 2.5 blocks per game in the Hawks’ first two games of the season. Seaforth is also getting solid play from sophomore Noah Lewis, who is averaging 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game so far this season.
Woods Charter, meanwhile, was 0-2 ahead of its Wednesday home game against Vance Charter. The Wolves fell to Ascend Leadership by five points, 29-24, in their season-opener on Nov. 14. Two days later, Woods fell to Cornerstone Charter on the road, 53-26.
Last season, Woods Charter went 5-14 overall and 4-6 in conference play. The Wolves are in their first season under new head coach Leonard McNair after amassing a 10-57 record the previous four seasons under coach Taij Cotten.
The two teams with 1-0 records entering Tuesday night’s games were Northwood and Chatham Central. The Chargers opened the year with a 75-63 win over Wayne Country Day on Nov. 19 and expect to be one of the top 3A teams in the east region this season.
Northwood — which played Wakefield on Tuesday and hosts Apex in its home-opener on Thursday — is led by junior Drake Powell, a UNC commit who is considered the No. 5 player in North Carolina in the Class of 2024 according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. Powell scored 27 points in the Chargers’ season-opening win, while junior Jake Leighton (17) and senior Max Frazier (13) were also in double figures.
Last season, Northwood reached the fourth round of the 3A state playoffs before falling to West Carteret. The Chargers had an overall record of 24-4.
Chatham Central opened its season with a 60-45 win over South Davidson on Nov. 22, and the Bears played the Wildcats again on Tuesday night. Central’s next game is Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at Southwestern Randolph.
Last year, Central went 9-12 overall and 6-5 in Mid-Carolina conference play. This was the first time since 2016-17 the Bears had not finished a season above .500 under head coach Robert Burke.
Rounding out the boys basketball scene in Chatham County is Jordan-Matthews, which lost its season-opener to Southern Lee, 67-39, on Dec. 21 and was 0-1 ahead of its Tuesday home game against Trinity. The Jets also play Friday night at 8:30 on the road at Western Guilford.
Jordan-Matthews is in its first season under head coach Kermit Carter. The Jets had an overall record of 32-105 the previous six seasons under Rodney Wiley. Jordan-Matthews’ last winning season came in 2015-16, when the Jets were 23-6 under former coach Paul Lowman.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.