Last week was a week that saw good competition and success on the court, ice and trails.

In other words, almost a taste of normalcy for winter athletes who are certainly making the absolute most of their abbreviated season.

Here’s a look at what transpired:

Boys’ hockey

The newly-formed Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op squad is 2-2 after a 5-2 loss at Falmouth and a 3-1 victory over Portland/Deering last week. It wasn’t just any win either, as the team captured the “City Cup.”

Cheverus/Yarmouth took a 1-0 lead with 4:58 to go in the first half, as Matt Robichaud finished, but with 1:18 remaining, Portland/Deering tied the score. Cheverus/Yarmouth retook the lead less than three minutes into the second half, as Cal Oliver scored, and this time, it wouldn’t give it back. Portland/Deering had several power play opportunities to draw even, but couldn’t do so and finally, with 2:16 on the clock, Cheverus/Yarmouth’s Jackson Header, delivered the coup de grace on the power play. Bryson Pomerleau made 20 saves.

“The Cheverus seniors tonight talked to the Yarmouth boys about what this Cup means to them,” said longtime Yarmouth coach Dave St. Pierre, who is co-coaching the co-op team with former Cheverus coach Marco Giancotti. “The chemistry has been nice to see.”

“It means a lot to get the Cup back,” Giancotti added. “It didn’t feel good losing it last year in my first year as varsity coach.”

Cheverus/Yarmouth hosts Brunswick Thursday, then welcomes Greely Saturday.

“With a little more time, I think you’ll see a lot out of this team,” Giancotti said.

“We look forward to a bright future,” added St. Pierre. “First and foremost, I hope we get to finish the season. I hope the kids get to enjoy the experience. Our big goal is continue to build the culture of this program and build a new identity together, go hard, compete and finish the season the right way.”

Two-time Class B champion Greely improved to 3-0 with home wins last week over Gorham (3-1) and Falmouth (5-3). Evan Dutil had two goals against the Yachtsmen. After going to Cheverus/Yarmouth Saturday, the Rangers visit Edward Little Tuesday of next week.

Falmouth took a 2-2 record into Tuesday’s home game against Gorham. Last week, the Yachtsmen beat Cheverus/Yarmouth, 5-2, then lost to Greely, 5-3. Aaron Higgins had a hat trick in the victory. In the loss to the Rangers, Owen Drummey, Xavier Grenier and Cam Charron all scored once.

The SP/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team was 1-3 at press time following losses last week to Scarborough (2-1) and Portland/Deering (4-2). Against Portland/Deering, Dylan Hannan scored twice, but it wasn’t enough. The squad hosts Thornton Academy Saturday and visits Biddeford Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ hockey

The Yarmouth/Freeport girls’ co-op team fell to 1-4 last week after home losses to Mt. Ararat (3-1), St. Dom’s (3-2) and Lewiston (6-1). Rosie Panenka had the only goal against the Eagles.

“I thought we played solid, but we still haven’t seemed to find our rhythm yet,” said Yarmouth/Freeport coach David Intraversato. “There’s no better time for us to pick up the pace than these next few days.”

Panenka and Lizzie Guertler scored against St. Dom’s. In the loss to the Blue Devils, Sophie Smith had the goal and freshman goalie Erin Balduf stopped 30 shots. Yarmouth/Freeport was at North Yarmouth Academy Tuesday and hosts Greely Friday.

Greely looked for its first victory Tuesday at home against Portland/Deering.

Falmouth hoped to get in the win column Wednesday at St. Dom’s. Saturday brings a visit from Cheverus.

NYA got its first victory last Thursday, 3-2, over visiting Lewiston, as Kailyn McIntyre, Lily Weinrich and Michala Wallace scored the goals. The Panthers hosted Yarmouth Tuesday, welcome Scarborough Thursday and play host to St. Dom’s Monday.

Boys’ basketball

Falmouth’s boys’ basketball team continued to turn heads last week, twice beating Cheverus, 76-40 in Portland and 75-49 at home, to improve to 4-0 on the season. In the first victory, Brady Coyne had a game-high 27 points and Jack Stowell added 18.

“We feel like we’re unstoppable,” Coyne said. “We’ve been itching to play and we want to work hard and win as many games as we can. We want to go undefeated. That’s the goal.”

“When we play together, we’re really good,” Yachtsmen coach Dave Halligan said. “I thought the second half was better than the first half in that regard.”

Falmouth went to Portland Tuesday and hosts the Bulldogs Thursday.

“We’ve been working hard and we’ve had a lot of practice time, which is good for the younger guys,” said Halligan. “So far, it’s been fun. I’m sure we’ll get tested at some point.”

Freeport lost close decisions to visiting Mt. Ararat (41-40) and at Cape Elizabeth (44-40) last week to fall to 2-2. Heath Cockburn led the Falcons with 15 points against the Capers. After hosting Yarmouth Tuesday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), Freeport is at Yarmouth Thursday and visits Mt. Ararat Tuesday of next week.

Greely fell to 0-3 after a 48-30 home loss to Fryeburg Academy last week. Timothy Walker led the Rangers with seven points. Greely went to Cape Elizabeth Tuesday, welcomes Cape Elizabeth Friday, hosts Gray-New Gloucester Saturday and plays host to defending Class AA champion Edward Little Tuesday of next week.

North Yarmouth Academy improved to 3-0 with wins last week at Richmond (54-32) and Sacopee Valley (63-46). In the first victory, Chris Hamblett scored 16 points and Elliot Oney had 14.

“Well we hang our hat on defense and always try to bring that extra level of energy and intensity,” Panthers coach Jason Knight said. “If we play with the level of energy that we played with tonight, good things tend to happen for us like they did tonight.”

In NYA’s win over the Hawks, Hamblett had a double-double (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Oney added a triple-double (10 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists). The Panthers were home with Waynflete Tuesday, go to Morse Thursday, welcome Richmond Saturday and play at St. Dom’s Tuesday and Waynflete Wednesday of next week.

Yarmouth improved to 3-1 Friday with a 48-34 home victory over Brunswick. Peter Psyhogeos led the way with 19 points. After going to Freeport Tuesday, the Clippers host the Falcons Thursday.

Girls’ basketball

Greely’s girls’ basketball team got its season underway last Tuesday with a 76-41 win at Westbrook (behind 24 points from Camille Clement and 20 from Chelsea Graiver). Two nights later, York paid a visit and Greely again made a statement, this time prevailing, 63-47, as Clement went off for 32 points and Mollie Obar added 13. Monday, the Rangers hosted two-time Class AA champion Oxford Hills for the renewal of what’s turned into a very entertaining rivalry the past few years. Greely had beaten the Vikings three straight times, but there wouldn’t be a fourth, as Oxford Hills led almost all the way en route to a 58-35 victory. Clement paced the Rangers with 14 points in defeat.

“(The Vikings are) so solid,” Greely coach Todd Flaherty said. “That was a very impressive effort. They showed us what we need to work on. It’s great to have a game like that for that reason. You’d like to have that in the summer or preseason, but we’ll learn from it. They took our offense away from us. Give them credit.”

Greely welcomed Cape Elizabeth Tuesday, goes to Cape Elizabeth Friday, travels to Gray-New Gloucester Saturday and visits Edward Little Tuesday of next week.

“I told the girls to think about (the loss) tonight, then we’ll change some things that aren’t working,” Flaherty said. “We have three games in five days, so we’ll have to do it on the fly. We want to give the seniors a meaningful experience. At the same time, it’s almost like an extension of summer basketball, a developmental period.”

Yarmouth improved to 4-0 after a 51-34 win at Brunswick Friday. Katelyn D’Appolonia scored 16 points and Calin McGonagle and Margaret McNeil each added 12. The Clippers were supposed to play Freeport twice this week, but those games were cancelled.

The Falcons got in the win column last Thursday, 48-39, at Mt. Ararat, then fell to 1-3 the following evening when they let a late lead slip away and lost at home to Cape Elizabeth, 33-31. Rachel Wall scored 19 points in the win and had 16 points in the loss. Freeport will return to action Tuesday of next week at home versus Mt. Ararat.

Falmouth got its season underway last week by losing twice to Cheverus, 73-41 at home and 51-35 in Portland. Sloan Ginevan had 17 points in the first game. In the second, the Yachtsmen trailed, 22-5, after one quarter, but the Yachtsmen roared back within a single point before Cheverus pulled away. Ginevan scored a team-high 16 points.

“I’m proud of the girls,” said Falmouth coach Dawn Armandi. “They kept fighting even though we were in foul trouble. I had three of my best players in foul trouble by the second quarter. We wanted to chip away one possession at a time. We’re better when we slow things down and don’t let the other team dictate tempo. We’d been in quarantine for 10 days. Unfortunately, we had just one practice, then we had to face Cheverus. We’re young and athletic and quick. We just have to get there mentally. ”

The Yachtsmen hosted Portland Tuesday and play at the Bulldogs Thursday.

“Out of my 13 kids, 10 are freshmen and sophomores,” Armandi said. “We’re learning to play together and find what works best. I also want this year to mean something for our seniors. In my opinion, we have the toughest schedule and we’re playing in the highest division. It’s good for us. It shows us where we fit. We’ll compete against the best, then we’ll see what we can do next year.”

NYA improved to 3-0 after wins last week over visiting Richmond (60-36) and at Sacopee Valley (43-39). Angel Huntsman scored 27 points against the Bobcats and Grace Bila had 13 points and Huntsman 10 in the win over the Hawks, which saw the Panthers erase a 10-point deficit. NYA was at Waynflete Tuesday, hosts Morse Thursday, visits Richmond Saturday and welcomes St. Dom’s Tuesday of next week.

Skiing

Falmouth’s Eva Clement came in fourth (16 minutes, 51.5 seconds) and Yarmouth’s Maddie Marston was sixth (17:41.8) at Saturday’s Sassi Memorial Nordic classic race at Black Mountain. Yarmouth’s Aksel Yeo (eighth, 15:24.4) was the top local male finisher.

Yarmouth’s boys’ and girls’ teams also swept a meet at Libby Hill last week. The Clippers boys were led by Owen Redfield, who was second individually in 16:03.8. Marston was the top Yarmouth girls, placing third in 18:47.3.

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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