Phenom Hoops is diving into the upcoming season, and we are bringing several previews and discussions about teams and players to watch out for. We are looking into several conferences to see who could be looking strong early on based on the information we have and from last year’s results. Take a look at these teams below, as we think these could be programs to watch out for in each conference.
1A Atlantic Conference
Bear Grass Charter
Cape Hatteras
Columbia
Hobgood Charter
Mattamuskeet
Ocracoke
Ocracoke
The Dolphins are coming off a strong season in which they finished 19-6 overall and 10-1 in conference play, and they may not see much of a drop off if everything stands in place. This is a team that had a strong balance overall last year and had plenty of juniors heading the charge. Well, they will now be seniors this year, only losing one player from last year in 2024 Rahnier Lyons (14.2ppg). 2025 Landon Fuller led the way with 15.4ppg last year and he will have plenty of help surrounding him if everyone returns. 2025 Finn Kattenburg (11.6ppg), 2025 Gavin Elicker (7.6ppg), 2025 Noah O’Neal (5.4ppg), and others all will be returning to provide a strong blend of experience and production. The Dolphins have a chance to rack up the win and continue their winning ways this upcoming season.
Hobgood Charter
A team to look out for and see if they can take the next step in the conference is Hobgood. 2025 Hudson Roberson is coming off a solid season in which he led his team with 22.7ppg, 6.6rpg, 2.3apg, and 3.3spg last year. And he could clearly put similar numbers up like that again, but it will be up to the others to see if they can step up as well. 2027 Zyhe Higgs has experience under his belt now and helped lead the charge with 10.9ppg; will he be able to step up even more as a sophomore' 2026 Khrie Rascoe is another prospect that had a strong showing last year, averaging 10.9ppg. Will these three be able to help lead the charge once again, along with several other new seniors' After securing an 11-10 record last year, the Raiders may have a chance to take another step with strong experience and weapons.
Bear Grass Charter
The Bears had a good showing last year with an overall 16-11 overall record and 6-5 in the conference, including some strong wins against some of the top teams in the conference. They even got into the second round of the 1A playoffs, where they came up short in an OT against Pamlico County. They did lose some key seniors including their top scorer in Brayden Taylor who averaged 14.6ppg along with a few other key seniors. But they also return a ton of value in 2025 Nate Gurganus, 2025 Dawson Gardner, and others that could have the Bears still in the hunt in the 1A Atlantic Conference.