The new year is upon us, which means the 2024-25 high school sports season is at its halfway mark.
The fall and the first half of the winter sports season has already provided great stories and fun moments, from rivalry games to first victories to state championship runs. However, as years prior serve as a reminder, the first half of the sports season is just a scratch on the surface.
With the rest of the basketball season left to be played out, playoffs yet to be decided in other winter sports and a busy slate of spring sports waiting to begin, here’s some of the biggest sports storylines to follow in Chatham County going into 2025.
Seaforth girls’ path to redemption
Last year’s loss to North Pitt in the 2A East state semifinal left a bad taste for Seaforth’s girls’ basketball team. Returning a solid veteran core of Gabby White, Katie Leonard and Peyton Collins alongside a young, yet impactful group of underclassmen, the Hawks have played like a team on a mission this season. Aside from the 58-56 loss to a very good Apex Friendship team in the season opener, only two other teams have come within 20 points of knocking off Seaforth in its weeks-long winning streak as of Sunday: Chapel Hill (42-27) and Wakefield (58-41). The Hawks will be tested in conference play, but if they can go into the playoffs still unscathed, they will be very tough to beat on the way to a very familiar state championship stage.
Northwood boys’ first playoff run post Drake Powell
Last season, Northwood had a deep roster alongside forward Drake Powell, and this season, that didn’t change despite his departure. Junior Cam Fowler has flourished as the go-to offensive weapon, and there’s still a lot of athleticism and elite shooting to go around. Chad Graves, Beau Harvey, Hayes Burleson and Isaiah Blair are all playing well at their positions and Josiah Brown is lighting it up from three. The Chargers will still be a threat in the 2A East playoffs, and it’ll be interesting to see how they finish the first season without their former superstar.
Seaforth’s quest for another Wells Fargo Cup
Seaforth has a lot going for its athletic program this time of year, even after volleyball, girls’ tennis and cross country provided some early success this season. The girls’ soccer and boys’ golf teams have their eyes set on repeating as state champions, wrestling also looks for more hardware and there’s Jack Anstrom who can put a ribbon on his outstanding career as a runner in both the indoor and outdoor track seasons. It’ll also be interesting to follow some of the Hawks’ other individuals who have state titles to defend, such as Sydney Burleigh (swimming) and Will Cuicchi (indoor and outdoor track).
Race for the softball crown
Softball in the Mid-Carolina 1A/2A conference has belonged to Chatham Central and Jordan-Matthews the past few seasons, and with each of them having a core of young and impactful players from last year, it’s looking to be another fun year between the two. Northwood and Seaforth aren’t after thoughts though, as the two could very well be surprises going into the new year. Chatham Charter will also be a team to watch in the Central Tar Heel 1A conference after owning its conference slate last season.
Baseball shakeup?
There are new baseball coaches in the county that can make for interesting new looks with Brent Haynes taking over at Northwood and Spenser Messmore stepping in to take over Seaforth’s program after a successful 2024 season. It’ll also be worth seeing how Chatham Charter reloads after losing key captains in Aidan Allred and Jonah Ridgill to graduation and how Jordan-Matthews fills in the void that former standout shortstop Ian McMillan will leave behind.