Despite losing its first five games, the Old Orchard Beach girls’ basketball team did not panic. First-year coach Dean Plante saw some positive signs and kept telling his players things would improve.

Well, last week the Seagulls won three games, including a huge victory over Waynflete, to get back into the Western Class C playoff hunt. OOB (3-5) was ranked 11th in the region entering Monday’s game. The top 10 teams make the playoffs.

“We’re one of those teams that, if you looked at our record, it could easily be reversed,” said Plante, referring to overtime losses at the start of the season. “We had a chance in all but one of those games to win. I think we’ve got a good group.”

And that group is coming together nicely. Seniors Gillian Foss and Katie Hatch have been huge inside lately – Foss averaging 13 points and 19 rebounds, and Hatch averaging 10 points and 12 rebounds during the winning streak – but the young Seagulls are simply learning to play together. Plante plays five sophomores and a freshman regularly.

“We’re figuring out the system a little more,” he said. “We’re figuring out our roles, the players and me. I’m learning what they can do. It’s been a learning curve.”

The Seagulls also had to improve their foul shooting. They were 6 for 40 at one point during their skid.

“It’s no secret, that’s our Achilles heel,” said Plante. “We get to the line, we’re aggressive and attack the basket. It’s a bonus if we can reward ourselves.”

The win over Waynflete was huge. The Flyers are 5-2 and considered one of the stronger teams in the region. “That’s a game that’s going to keep on giving,” Plante said of the Heal points the Seagulls will gather by the end of the season.

Kelsey Koenigs, who missed the first part of the season with and injury, hit a couple of late foul shots to seal the victory over Waynflete.

The Seagulls have three more games this week – including another with Waynflete – and Plante hopes to keep the season moving forward.

“The big thing is that there’s still plenty of room to get better,” he said. “I don’t think we’ve seen our best basketball yet.”

 

BEFORE THE season began, Cape Elizabeth Coach Chris Roberts was pretty realistic about her young team’s chances. The Capers had three starters with no varsity experience, and their roster included four freshmen, four sophomores, two juniors and a senior.

“We want to learn and get better,” said Roberts, in her fourth year at Cape.

Well, the lessons must be going well. The Capers are 5-2 and were ranked seventh in Western Class B before Monday’s games, with a big game at 5:30 tonight against eighth-ranked Falmouth (5-2).

“I’m very pleased so far with how things have turned out,” said Roberts. “We’ve been in a lot of games in which we came from behind and ended up winning, which is surprising with a young team. They’ve done a great job and handled some pressure situations that, historically, we’ve had trouble handling.”

The freshmen are playing better than expected, and captains Emily Donovan, the lone senior, and Kayla Raftice are providing great leadership. “It’s been great to see them pull in the younger kids,” said Roberts.

The Capers had a big win Friday, beating Gray-New Gloucester, 39-24. Freshmen Kate Miklavic and Emma O’Rourke combined for 12 of Cape’s 14 fourth-quarter points.

 

GREELY IS another team playing better than expected. After graduating some of the best talent in the Western Maine Conference last year, the Rangers have nonetheless remained competitive with a 7-1 record, good for fourth place in Western Class B.

“It’s going way better than I thought,” said Coach Bill Goodman. “We’ve been working real hard and every week we’re getting a lot better.”

Goodman said it isn’t just one or two players carrying the Rangers, but each member of the team taking a turn in the lead role.

A good test will be Thursday night when unbeaten York comes to Cumberland. The Wildcats beat Greely 54-28 earlier.

“It’s not so much just York,” said Goodman. “We’re playing one of the best teams in the state. We’ll see how we can do against a very good team.”

 

KEILA GRIGWARE, Biddeford’s multi-talented senior, is 21 points shy of 1,000. She’ll have a chance to reach the milestone at home this week, as the Tigers play Westbrook today and Kennebunk on Thursday at Steve White Gym.

 

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at: mlowe@pressherald.com

 

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