Basketball Game Preview: Chatham Central Bears vs. Graham Red Devils

Chatham Central is 7-1 against Graham since December of 2021 and they'll have a chance to extend that success on Friday. Having just played yesterday, the Chatham Central Bears will get right back to it and host the Graham Red Devils at 7:30 p.m. The teams are on pretty different trajectories at the moment (Chatham Central has four straight victories, Graham has four straight defeats), but none of that matters once you're on the court.

Chatham Central is headed into the game having just posted their biggest win since November 21, 2024 on Thursday. They blew past North Moore, posting a 78-38 victory. Given the Bears' advantage in MaxPreps' North Carolina basketball rankings (they are ranked 154th, while the Mustangs are ranked 568th), the result wasn't entirely unexpected.

It was another big night for Reid Albright, who went 9 of 15 en route to 22 points along with seven rebounds and seven steals. He has been hot for a while, having posted three or more steals the last 37 times he's played. Brennen Oldham was another key player, going 5 for 8 on his way to 17 points in addition to six steals and five boards.

Meanwhile, Graham ended up a good deal behind Cummings on Tuesday and lost 77-62. Despite running the score up even higher than they did in their prior game last Monday (56), the Red Devils still had to take the loss.

Chatham Central is on a roll lately: they've won 11 of their last 12 matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 14-2 record this season. As for Graham, their loss dropped their record down to 2-13.

Chatham Central beat Graham 77-64 in their previous matchup back in December of 2024. One of the biggest obstacles the team faced in that game was Graham's Micah Woods, who went 15 of 16 en route to 35 points along with three steals and three blocks. Now that he's got a second chance to win this matchup, will Chatham Central still be able to contain Woods? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.