The girls’ hockey playoff field is set after the last day of the regular season on Saturday.

Falmouth defeated Biddeford 4-1 on Saturday to secure the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the West.

No. 3 Biddeford (12-6) will play host Wednesday at Biddeford Ice Arena to playoff-newbie and No. 6 seed Gorham/Bonny Eagle (7-11). The game time hasn’t been determined.

Also Wednesday, No. 4 seed Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete (10-8) will play host to No. 5 York (4-13-1) at 5 p.m. at Portland Ice Arena.

The East region has only one quarterfinal: No. 4 Yarmouth/Freeport (13-4-1) vs. No. 5 Mt. Ararat (5-12-1) at 5:20 p.m., Wednesday at Travis Roy Arena.

Scarborough (18-0) is the No. 1 seed in the West and will host the Cape-York winner in the semifinals on Friday or Saturday. No. 2 Falmouth (13-5) hosts the Biddeford-Gorham winner. In the East, No. 1 Leavitt/Edward Little (15-2) will host the Yarmouth-Mt. Ararat winner, and No. 3 Greely (12-6) travels to No. 2 Lewiston (13-4-1).

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BOYS’ BASKETBALL

Cheverus plays at Deering on Tuesday night in a matchup of two teams that seem to be getting better at the right time.

The Stags (8-8) gave unbeaten Portland (16-0) a good battle Friday night before losing 64-53. Deering (11-5) has won three straight after a three-game losing streak. Cheverus beat Deering 47-46 at home in December.

Deering is ranked fourth in the Western Class A Heal point standings and wants to stay there because the top four teams avoid a preliminary round game and go straight to the quarterfinals at the Expo.

The Rams have good size and depth. They’ve been getting significant contributions out of bench players Ben Williams, Jacob Coon, Stephen Ochan and Jason Thach.

Cheverus is ranked eighth, in position to host a prelim.

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In 6-foot-5 Zordan Holman, Cheverus has a player who can give Deering’s big men a battle inside. Deering went into the first Cheverus game playing well, but the Rams left the court knowing they didn’t play their best. This game is a chance to redeem themselves. For Cheverus, it’s another opportunity to show its late season improvement is for real.

SWIMMING

In a tune-up before the upcoming South Southwestern championships, Cape Elizabeth swept a dual meet Thursday afternoon against visiting Greely, with the boys winning 98-78 and the girls winning by a more comfortable 123-56.

Last winter, Cape Elizabeth won the Class A girls’ state title and Greely won the Class B boys’ crown.

Greely Coach Rob Hale said the meet provided a chance for the teams to see each other and try to get a few more swimmers qualified for the state meet. Cape Elizabeth has moved down to Class B this year.

“Both genders will be battling over the next couple weekends,” he wrote in an email. “Cape girls showed their dominance in the freestyle events (winning four individual races and two relays) and handled us easily.”

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The boys meet was more competitive, but Cape Elizabeth’s third swimmer often made the difference.

“We just haven’t been able to develop or come up with that third swimmer,” Hale wrote. “Our numbers are down and our inexperience is up.”

Individual double winners included Greely’s Jonathan Dunnett (200- and 500-yard freestyle) and Cape Elizabeth’s Jordan Petersen (200 individual medley, 100 butterfly), Sydney Wight (100 free and 100 butterfly) and Caroline Herriman (50 freestyle and 100 backstroke). All four are seniors.

The likely favorites for the South Southwesterns, scheduled for Friday and Saturday at Donald Richards Pool in Cape Elizabeth, are the Cheverus boys and Cape Elizabeth girls.

BOYS’ HOCKEY

Warning: When you get a power play against Falmouth, you’d better not mishandle the puck when No. 18 is lurking nearby.

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Isac Nordstrom has made a habit of scoring short-handed goals for the Yachtsmen (9-4). He did it Friday in a 3-1 win against Bangor, then reprised the feat Saturday in a 6-2 victory over Yarmouth.

“He anticipates well and the system lends itself to a player like him,” Falmouth Coach Deron Barton said of his senior forward. “That’s why he’s in that position.”

In the first period against Yarmouth, Nordstrom took the puck away from a defenseman at his blue line and raced toward the Clippers’ net with a defender in front of him. Somehow, he slid the puck past both the defenseman and the goaltender to give his team a 2-0 lead.

“I just picked it up and tried to toe-drag a little, but then I missed it and picked up the loose puck and put it on the net,” Nordstrom said. “I didn’t see it until at the end. I was like ‘Oh, it actually went in.’ ”

Nordstrom was back at in the third period with his team a man down, stealing a puck and skating in alone on the goaltender. But his shot was blocked by goalie Nick Allen.

What’s his secret? “Keep calm, wait for the ‘D’ to make a mistake, just pick it up and skate,” Nordstrom said.

“It’s easier than you think.”

– Staff writers Kevin Thomas, Tom Chard, Glenn Jordan and Mark Emmert contributed to this report.

 


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