Which Chatham County teams could win state titles in 2023?

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In 2022, only one Chatham County high school team — Northwood’s girls basketball team — won a state championship.

How many could lift trophies over the next 12 months?

To celebrate the new year, the News + Record is highlighting several teams which could have what it takes to win state championships in 2023. The county has several talented teams in several different sports, including some which figure to be among the final teams standing at the end of their respective seasons.

Here’s a breakdown of the squad’s to watch in the new year:

Basketball

The sport in Chatham County with the most potential for success in 2023 figures to be basketball.

Right now, two area boys teams — Northwood and Chatham Charter — are among the best in their respective classifications. The Chargers (10-2) are ranked by MaxPreps as the No. 1 team in the 3A East region, while the Knights (15-0) are ranked as the third team in the 1A East behind Bertie and Washington County.

Both teams have plenty of experience playing in big games. Northwood has made at least the fourth round of the playoffs in each of the past three seasons. Chatham Charter, meanwhile, made it to the finals of the 1A state tournament last year before falling to Hayesville in overtime.

The Knights are 15-0 for the first time in program history. They are led in scoring by senior Adam Harvey (15.9 points per game), while his little brother Beau leads the team in assists (5.1) and steals (4.8) per game.

Northwood, meanwhile, enters the new year with a 10-2 record and looks ready to dominate the Central 3A Conference despite losing its final game of 2022 to powerful Camden (N.J.) at the John Wall Invitational. The Chargers have been the class of the league over the past several seasons, boasting a 38-3 record against conference opponents since the beginning of 2019-20.

Girls soccer

Once the spring athletic season begins, one of the top squads in the county will be the Woods Charter girls soccer team.

The Wolves are coming off a historic season that saw them go 19-1-2 overall and give up just 13 goals across 22 games. Head coach Graeme Stewart’s team made it all the way to last season’s 1A state final before losing to Christ the King, 3-0.

Woods only had two seniors on last year’s team, meaning the Wolves will welcome back the majority of their talent this spring. Leading the way will be junior forward Leyla Noronha, who had 50 goals and 14 assists as a sophomore last season.

The Wolves will also bring back senior midfielders Lucy Miller and Chloe Richard, who combined for 45 goals and 24 assists last spring. Junior midfielder Caroline Mitchell (14 goals, 14 assists in 2021) returns, too.

After falling in the state final last June, Stewart shared his confidence in the future of his team, including his squad for 2023.

“We’ve got some players coming up and we’ve got a junior class that is going to be a year older,” Stewart said. “I told them to go play club, go learn from other coaches and get more experience ... Next year starts now.”

One loss Woods will have to address is that of goalkeeper Jana Matthews, who played the majority of the minutes in net for the Wolves in 2022. The keeper with the most experience on the current roster is senior Maddie Sparrow, who played 345 minutes last year.

Girls tennis

One of the big surprises of this past year was the success of the Seaforth girls tennis team, which went 11-1 during the regular season and 8-0 in conference play. Despite falling in the first round of the state playoffs to N.C. Science & Math, the Hawks entered the state tournament as the No. 1 seed in the 2A east region.

Like many Seaforth teams, the girls tennis team will benefit from a lack of turnover when they return to the court this fall. The Hawks are expected to return each of their top six players — junior Evelyn Atkins, sophomores Bailey Shadoan and Lillian McFall, junior Lauren Keeley and sophomores Makenzy Lehew and Caroline Bowman.

Atkins had a 7-4 record at No. 1 singles this fall, while Keeley and Lehew combined for a 12-1 singles record and an 8-1 record as a doubles pair.

Head coach Peter Petrides has built a solid foundation in just two years with the Hawks, but he’s always remained focused on the future.

“I tell them all the time, ‘This is a multi-year commitment that, if you get on the ground floor, we’re going to be here for a while and we’re going to be able to see our progress together,’” Petrides told the News + Record in October. “They’ve all seen how we’ve gotten better as a team, and each player has seen their games get so much better. To be honest, it makes my job so much easier that they already buy in. They want to be here. They listen. It’s great. It’s been very easy to sell to the kids and to the parents.”

Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.