PITTSBORO — Northwood junior player Drake Powell became the latest Chatham County basketball player to pass 1,000 career points Tuesday night.
Playing in front of a raucous home crowd, Powell scored a game-high 24 points, checking off the personal milestone and leading the Chargers' boys basketball team to a 70-17 win over conference opponent Cedar Ridge. For the season, Northwood is 17-2 overall and 8-0 in Central 3A Conference play.
In 19 games this season, Powell — a UNC commit who recently rose to No. 35 nationally in ESPN's rankings for the Class of 2024 — has averaged 18.6 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game while shooting 53% from the field and 34.9% from 3-point range.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again — Drake is the best two-way player in the nation,” Northwood head coach Matt Brown told the News + Record. “He takes so much pride on the defensive end. I think that’s what makes him so special.”
Powell is one of four top-50 UNC commits in the Class of 2024, according to ESPN's latest rankings, joining No. 3 Ian Jackson, No. 13 Elliot Cadeau and No. 48 James Brown. The Tar Heels are ranked No. 1 right now in 247Sports' composite team recruiting rankings for the Class of 2024.
Powell is the fourth Chatham County basketball player to pass 1,000 career points this season, and the third in the past week. Last Wednesday, Seaforth junior Jarin Stevenson hit 1K in the Hawks 53-36 win over North Moore, and three days later Northwood senior Te'Keyah Bland passed the mark in a 69-35 win over New Hanover.
The first Chatham County basketball player to hit 1,000 this season was Chatham Charter senior Adam Harvey, who accomplished the feat back on Dec. 9 in a 68-43 win over Franklin Academy.