Brunswick’s Alex Morse swims to victory in the 500 freestyle at the Class A girls’ swim state meet last week. The Dragons placed ninth as a team.

Brunswick’s Emily Larochelle goes up for a shot during the Dragons’ 54-33 loss to Greely in Saturday’s Class A South Final.

(Ed. Note: For the complete Brunswick-Greely girls’ basketball game story, with photos, see theforecaster.net)

While the basketball season came to an end for local teams last week, triumph was in store for athletes in other sports and the winter season isn’t quite done yet, as the boys’ hockey playoffs are underway.

Here’s a look:

Girls’ basketball

Brunswick’s girls’ basketball team, the best local squad all winter, made it to the regional finals before being eliminated.

The Dragons, seeded second in Class A South, beat No. 7 Mt. Ararat, 56-30, in the quarterfinals and outlasted No. 3 Marshwood, 51-46, in the semifinals to set up a Class A South Final date with defending state champion Greely for the third year in a row.

Brunswick got off to a rough start, falling behind, 15-0, and while the Dragons would get as close as 10, the Rangers gradually pulled away to prevail, 54-33, ending Brunswick’s season at 19-2. Alexis Guptil paced the Dragons with 11 points.

“The first thing I told the girls is that we don’t measure a season by one game,” Brunswick coach Sam Farrell said. “Greely was just better tonight. There was nothing I could draw up. The things we didn’t want to do we did and the things we didn’t what them to do happened because we didn’t do what we had to do.

“The seniors had four special years. I told the five seniors that they did things no other Brunswick teams had ever done, making it to a state final, going undefeated in the regular season and making three straight trips to the regional final. That’s magical.”

Swimming

Morse’s girls’ swim team scored 201 points and finished fourth at the Class B state meet (Cape Elizabeth repeated with 487 points). The Shipbuilders were led by a first-place medley relay team (Olivia Harper, Haily Harper, Ella Martin and Emma Warner, 1 minute, 48.91 seconds). Haily Harper won the 200 IM (2:10.31) and the 100 breaststroke (1:07.11). Olivia Harper took the 100 butterfly (54.98 seconds) and was runner-up in the 200 freestyle (1:53.18). Martin finished second in the 50 free (24.29). 

Morse’s boys had 175 points and came in fifth in Class B (Mt. Desert Island won with 381 points). Evan Willertz was runner-up in the 100 backstroke (55.2). Brandon Johnson came in second in the 50 free (21.84).

In Class A, Brunswick’s girls had 105 points and came in ninth, while Mt. Ararat (40) placed 20th (Bangor was first with 274 points). The Dragons got a win from Alex Morse in the 500 free (5:19.67). Cora Spelke paced the Eagles with a third-place showing in the 100 backstroke (59.99). 

In the Class A boys’ meet, won again by Cheverus with 318 points, Mt. Ararat (99) came in 12th and Brunswick (65) was 14th. The Eagles produced first-place diver Anibal Berry-Gaviria (352.35 points). The Dragons featured Nicco Bartone, who was runner-up in the 100 breaststroke (1:01.77) and fourth in the 50 free (22.38).

Indoor track

Brunswick’s boys scored 44 points and came in third at the Class A indoor track state meet (Scarborough was first with 104 and Thornton Academy placed second with 70). Will Shaughnessy won the two-mile (9 minutes, 43.7 seconds) and the Dragons’ 4×200 relay team (Jack Harvey, Jack Musica, Hunter Parker and Mitchell Lienert) placed first in 1:35.03. Samuel Cenescar was runner-up in the high jump (6 feet, 4 inches).

Mt. Ararat (16 points) placed 12th. Tyler Bernier came in fourth in the 400 (52.42 seconds) and Grady Satterfield was fourth in the two-mile (9:56.6).

In the girls’ meet, won by Cheverus with 72 points, Mt. Ararat (17) came in 12th and Brunswick (2) was 24th. Wyley Fitzpatrick paced the Eagles with a third-place showing in the long jump (17-1.25) and a sixth-place finish in the triple jump (33-11.75). The Dragons’ points came from Tea Kapler, who was sixth in the pole vault (8-6).

In Class B, Morse’s boys had 6 points to tie Boothbay for 18th place (York was first with 77.5 points). William Carrolton was fourth in the shot put (43-3).

The Morse girls didn’t score in their meet, which was won by Brewer with 71 points.

Skiing

The Mt. Ararat girls came in seventh at the Class A state Nordic ski meet.

The Brunswick boys were 10th in the boys’ Class A Nordic competition.

Boys’ hockey

Both local squads qualified for the boys’ hockey postseason.

In Class A North, the Mt. Ararat/Morse/Lisbon/Hyde co-op team finished the year 8-9-1 and fifth in the region and went to fourth-ranked Edward Little (12-6) for the quarterfinals Tuesday. The Red Eddies won the regular season meeting, 5-0, Feb. 9.

In Class B South, Brunswick finished sixth at 9-9 and had to go to third-ranked York (13-5) for a quarterfinal Tuesday. The Wildcats beat the visiting Dragons, 6-2, in the regular season finale last week.

The regional semifinals are Friday (Class B) and Saturday (Class A) in Lewiston.