With only a handful of games left in the regular season, the girls basketball team with the best record in Chatham County is Seaforth, which carried a 16-2 overall record and a 9-0 conference mark into its matchup with Jordan-Matthews on Tuesday, which occurred after press time.
Competing as a varsity squad for the second season, the Hawks have far surpassed expectations under head coach Charles Byrd. Last season, Seaforth also had a solid showing, going 19-8 overall and winning the Mid-Carolina Conference with a 12-0 league record. This year’s Hawks will be able to clinch their second straight regular season conference title with a win against North Moore at home on Friday at 6 p.m.
Seaforth’s top scorer this season has been sophomore Gabby White, who is currently leads the team in points (15.5), rebounds (9.5), assists (3.1) and steals (3.8) per game. Also averaging double-digit points is fellow sophomore Peyton Collins (12.1), while junior Hannah Ajayi and freshman Katherine Leonard are both averaging 8.5 points per game.
The Hawks have been particularly stingy on the defensive end, allowing their opponents an average of 29.2 points per game, by far the best mark in the county. Across their current six-game winning streak, Seaforth has allowed less than 20 points four times and less than 30 in all six games.
The highlight of Seaforth’s remaining schedule is its regular-season finale on Feb. 11 against Chatham Charter, which is 15-4 overall and 6-0 in conference play. The Knights entered Tuesday’s game against Southern Wake Academy on a four-game winning streak, during which they’ve outscored their opponents by an average of 30.3 points per game.
Chatham Charter has had the top individual player in the county this season in senior Tamaya Walden. The 5-foot-7 guard recently passed 1,500 career points, and in 19 games this season she is averaging a county-high 21.4 points per game to go with 4.9 assists and 3.4 steals. One other Knight — junior Meah Brooks (13.1) — is currently averaging at least 10 points per game.
Led by head coach Jeff Patterson, Chatham Charter is just a few wins away from clinching the conference regular season title for the fourth straight season. Last season, the Knights made it into the second round of the 1A state tournament before falling to Clover Garden School. But in two meetings with CGS this season, Chatham Charter is 2-0 with an average margin of victory of 16.5 points.
The only other Chatham County girls basketball team other than Seaforth and Chatham Charter with at least 15 wins is Northwood, which entered Tuesday’s game against the Burlington School with a 16-4 record and a 9-0 mark in Central 3A Conference play.
The Chargers extended their win streak to 11 games Friday night with a 70-9 victory over Person. Head coach Kerri Snipes’ team has won 16 of its last 17 games overall after starting out the year 0-3.
Northwood is getting contributions from several players this season, including seniors Gianna McManaman (13.0 points per game) and Te’Keyah Bland (12.4) and junior Skylar Adams (10.7). The Chargers currently lead all Chatham County girls teams with 58.5 points per game this season, which is down slightly from the 62.5 they averaged last winter en route to winning the 2022 3A state championship.
Northwood closes out the regular season on Feb. 10 at home against Western Alamance, a conference opponent. The Chargers have won 42 straight regular season games against league opponents since a 48-40 loss to Chapel Hill back on Jan. 7, 2020.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.