Winter sports roundup

Seasons start for Chatham County’s Mid-Carolina 1A/2A basketball teams

Albright goes for 40 points in the Bears’ season opener.

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Boys’ Basketball

Chatham Central opened its season Thursday with an 81-36 win over South Davidson behind a career-high 40 points from senior guard Reid Albright. Seniors Luke Gaines and Brennen Oldham were the Bears’ two other double-digit scorers with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Chatham Charter got back in the win column on Nov. 19 with a 64-45 win over Wheatmore. Senior forward Brennan LaVelle recorded his second double-double of the season with team-highs 24 points (75% from the floor) and 15 rebounds, and junior guard Gabe McKoy poured in 11 points on a 60% shooting clip.

Woods Charter fell to Eno River Academy, 71-65, on Nov. 19, losing its second game by less than a 10-point margin in a row. The Wolves led 35-24 at halftime, but they were outscored 47-30 in the second half. Sophomore guard Alden Phelps poured in team-highs 22 points and 8 rebounds, but it wasn’t enough to surmount a 23-point, 13-rebound double-double from 6-foot-6 Eno River forward Cole Creedle.

Jordan-Matthews lost its season opener against Trinity on Nov. 18, 63-55.

Chatham County boys’ basketball power rankings (week of Nov. 18): 1. Northwood; 2. Chatham Central; 3. Chatham Charter; 4. Seaforth; 5. Jordan-Matthews; 6. Woods Charter

Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings (as of Nov. 21)(overall, conference): 1. Chatham Central (1-0, 0-1); 2. Bartlett Yancey (1-0, 0-0); 3. Graham (1-0, 0-0); 4. Jordan-Matthews (0-1, 0-0); 5. Cummings (0-0, 0-0); 6. North Moore (0-0, 0-0); 7. Northwood (0-0, 0-0); 8. Seaforth (0-0, 0-0); 9. Southeast Alamance (0-0, 0-0)

Central Tar Heel 1A conference standings (as of Nov. 21): 1. Southern Wake Academy (4-0, 0-0); 2. Chatham Charter (4-1, 0-0); 3. Clover Garden School (0-1, 0-0); 4. Woods Charter (0-2, 0-0); 5. River Mill (0-3, 0-0); 6. Triangle Math and Science (0-5, 0-0); 7. Ascend Leadership (0-0, 0-0)

 

Girls’ Basketball

Seaforth lost its season opener against Apex Friendship on Nov. 19, 58-56. Apex Friendship senior Jasmine Nivar poured in 33 points, seven rebounds and four assists to lift the Patriots over the Hawks.

Chatham Central won its season opener over South Davidson Thursday, 47-21. Senior forward Karaleigh Dodson led the team with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double, including seven offensive rebounds.

Chatham Charter fell to Wheatmore, 73-22, on Nov. 19. With that defeat, the Knights have lost more than one game by more than 40 points for the first time since the 2017-18 season.

Jordan-Matthews lost a nail-biter in its season opener against Trinity, 34-32, on Nov. 18. Sophomore forward Jada Scott led both teams in scoring and rebounding with a 14-point, 13-rebound double-double, yet the Jets shot just 17% from the floor as a team.

Woods Charter lost to Eno River Academy on Nov. 19, 37-25.

Chatham County’s girls’ basketball power rankings (week of Nov. 18): 1. Seaforth; 2. Northwood; 3. Chatham Central; 4. Chatham Charter; 5. Jordan-Matthews; 6. Woods Charter

Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference standings (as of Nov. 21): 1. Chatham Central (1-0, 0-0); 2. Northwood (1-0, 0-0); 3. Jordan-Matthews (0-1, 0-0); 4. Graham (0-1, 0-0); 5. Seaforth (0-1, 0-0); 6. Bartlett Yancey (0-2, 0-0); 7. Cummings (0-0, 0-0); 8. North Moore (0-0, 0-0); 9. Southeast Alamance (0-0, 0-0)

Central Tar Heel 1A conference standings (as of Nov. 21): 1. Clover Garden School (1-0, 0-0); 2. Chatham Charter (2-3, 0-0); 3. Southern Wake Academy (1-2, 0-0); 4. Triangle Math and Science (1-4, 0-0); 5. Woods Charter (0-2, 0-0); 6. Ascend Leadership (0-2, 0-0); 7. River Mill (0-3, 0-0)

 

Wrestling

Boys

Northwood picked up a 48-25 home win over Eastern Alamance on Nov. 19. The Chargers pinned eight opponents, including a 23-second fall by Aldo Peluso over Eastern Alamance’s Braxton Ballard in the 132-pound match.

Chatham Central won both of its matchups at its home meet on Nov. 20, beating Bartlett Yancey, 45-36, and Central Carolina Academy, 48-35.

Jordan-Matthews lost to Apex Friendship, 60-24, and Montgomery Central, 65-18, at its home meet on Nov. 20.

Girls

Chatham Central won its first ever girls’ dual matchup over Bartlett Yancey, 25-24, at its home meet on Nov. 20.

Jordan-Matthews lost its first girls’ dual matches to Apex Friendship, 30-6, and Montgomery Central, 18-12.

 

Indoor Track

Jordan-Matthews competed in the first Cummings Polar Bear meet of the season on Nov. 19.

Nyla Miller finished top-10 in both the girls’ 500-meter dash (1 minute, 42.91 seconds, 10th place) and the girls’ 1,000-meter run (4:35.20, eighth place). Other top-10 individual finishers included Athena Dispennette (eighth in the girls’ 300-meter dash, 47.36 seconds), Alex Morgan (10th in the boys’ 55-meter dash, 7.28 seconds), Aiden Laysath (seventh in boys’ 300-meter dash (41.68 seconds) and sixth in boys’ 500-meter dash (1:19.07)), Marvin Herrera (sixth in boys 1,000-meter run, 3:24.62), Kevin Ochoa (10th in boys’ 1,000-meter run, 3:33.02), and Yadiel Zaya who finished first in the boys’ 55-meter hurdles in a two-person race (9.25 seconds).

 

Swimming

Chatham County’s top individual event performers from the Southeast Alamance, Northwood, Chatham Central and Seaforth meet on Nov. 20:

Boys: Jesse Sikes (Northwood, first in 200-yard freestyle (2 minutes, 10.48 seconds), first in boys 100-yard breaststroke (1:14.78)); Benjamin Lajoie (Seaforth, first in 200-yard individual medley (2:11.45), first in 100-yard butterfly (51.26)); Jesse Eskelund (Chatham Central, first in 50-yard freestyle (23.09)); Evan Hepburn (Seaforth, first in 100-yard freestyle (50.50))

Girls: Holly Thesing (Northwood, first in 200-yard freestyle (2:14.79), first in 500-yard freestyle (5:54.40)); Abigail Emrich (Northwood, first in 200-yard individual medley (2:20.65), first in 100-yard butterfly (1:01.87)); Eva Wahieb (Seaforth, first in 50-yard freestyle (27.53); Alexandra Smith (Seaforth, first in 100-yard freestyle (1:12.06)); Juliette Haire (Seaforth, first in 100-yard backstroke (1:18.44)); Sydney Haire (Seaforth, first in 100-yard backstroke (1:23.20))