It seems like just yesterday when we welcomed the winter sports season, but it’s already hit the midway point and it won’t be long until we’re talking about the championship month of February.

Local athletes have made their mark to date.

Here’s a glimpse of where things stand:

Boys’ basketball

Freeport’s Aidan Heath (15) and Will Maneikis defend during Saturday’s win at Poland. Andree Kehn / Sun Journal

Reigning Class B state champion Yarmouth opened the new year with victories over visiting Wells (66-42) and host Fryeburg Academy (72-47) before falling to 4-3 with a 58-48 setback at Greely. In the win over the Warriors, Evan Hamm had 20 points and Stevie Walsh added 12. Against the Raiders, Hamm had a team-high 21 points, while Matt Gautreau added 15 and Walsh had 13. Walsh led the way against the Rangers with 27 points. The Clippers were at Leavitt Tuesday, host Freeport Saturday and welcome Brunswick Tuesday of next week.

In Class A, Falmouth, which reached the state game a year ago, took a 7-1 record and a five-game win streak into Tuesday night’s home showdown versus rival Greely (see our website for game story). Last week, the Navigators won at Marshwood (48-34), Gorham (60-56) and Morse (68-37). In the victory over the Hawks, Lucas Dilworth scored 19 points and Judd Armstrong added 15. Against the Rams, Armstrong had 19 points, while Chris Simonds finished with 17 and Dilworth added 10. In the win over the Shipbuilders, Armstrong and Simonds each tallied 20 points. Falmouth hosts Marshwood Friday and goes to Westbrook Monday.

Greely was happy to see the calendar flip. After going 1-4 during the 2022 portion of the schedule, the Rangers began 2023 with three straight victories, 72-41 at Freeport, 53-50 at home over York and 58-48 over visiting Yarmouth, to even their record. Against the Falcons, Seamus Raftice led the way with 22 points, while Jackson Leding had 11 and Tyler Pettengill 10. In the win over the Wildcats, Raftice tallied 16 points, Hayden MacArthur added 13 and Leding had 11. Pettengill scored a team-high 17 points and Raftice added 13 in the victory over the Clippers. Greely was at Falmouth Tuesday and welcomes Cape Elizabeth Saturday.

Freeport fell to 1-4 after a 72-41 home loss to Greely, then produced consecutive victories, 74-67 over visiting Lake Region and 78-69 at Poland. In the setback, Connor Smith led the Falcons with 18 points. Against the Lakers, Connor Slocum scored 25 points and JT Pound added 23. Pound went off for 29 points in the win over the Knights, while Cody Wall added 15 points and Will Maneikis finished with 10.

“That’s (JT’s) game,” said Freeport coach Tyler Tracy, who returned to Poland, his former team, for the first time. “He’s inside-out. He’s pretty dynamic. When he’s hitting boards and scoring underneath, then he can step out and knock that down, it makes it tough to defend.

“I’m a competitor, once the ball goes up, it’s all the same to me, but, obviously, there’s a lot of people here that I care about and love and a lot of those kids I’ve coached forever. It was tough at the end, seeing them and knowing that they battled, they were tough today and they lost. I love ’em, you know, you don’t like seeing people you love sad. That was the toughest part.”

Freeport was at Mt. Ararat Tuesday, hosts Wells Thursday, goes to Yarmouth Saturday and welcomes Cape Elizabeth Monday.

In Class C, North Yarmouth Academy was 3-5 following two wins last week over Seacoast Christian (67-18 at home and 46-29 on the road) and a 41-40 home loss to Richmond. In the first victory, Nate Oney and Moses Semuhoza scored 15 points apiece and Cal Nice added 14. In the second win over Seacoast Christian, Brayden Kloza led the way with 17 points, while Oney finished with 11. Oney had 15 points and Semuhoza added 13 in the setback. The Panthers host rival Waynflete Waynflete (see our website for game story) Wednesday, welcome St. Dom’s Friday and go to Winthrop for a first-ever regular season meeting Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ basketball

North Yarmouth Academy’s Angel Huntsman plays smothering defense during the Panthers’ win at Richmond last week. Joe Phelan / Kennebec Journal

On the girls’ side, reigning Class A South champion Greely rallied for a 50-46 overtime home win over Freeport, then fell to 4-3 after a 53-43 home loss to Yarmouth last week. Against the Rangers, Sophia Ippolito led the way with 23 points. Ippolito then scored 18 points in the loss. Greely hosted Falmouth in a playoff rematch Tuesday (see our website for game story), then goes to York Friday and visits Cape Elizabeth Saturday.

Falmouth sandwiched wins over host Mt. Ararat (49-37) and visiting Morse (72-28) around a 52-32 home loss to Gorham last week and was 5-3 entering Tuesday’s contest at Greely. Anna Turgeon scored 26 points as the Navigators knocked the Eagles from the unbeaten ranks. In the setback, Turgeon had 15 points. Emily Abbott led the way against the Shipbuilders with 19 points and Turgeon added 16. Falmouth is at Marshwood Friday and hosts Westbrook Monday.

Freeport suffered losses at Greely (50-46, in overtime) and at Lake Region (47-21), then improved to 3-4 with a 66-43 home win over Poland last week. Against the Rangers, Angel Pillsbury had 18 points and Emily Groves added 12. Pillsbury scored nine points in the loss to the Lakers. In the victory, Pillsbury went off for a career-high 27 points, while Groves had 13 points and Sydney Gelhar added 11. The Falcons hosted Mt. Ararat Tuesday, visit Wells Thursday, welcome Yarmouth Saturday (see our website for game story) and go to Cape Elizabeth Monday.

In Class B South, Yarmouth was 3-3 after falling at Wells (58-43) and beating visiting Fryeburg Academy (53-35) and host Greely (53-43) last week. Against the Warriors, Delia MacDonald and Neena Panozzo both scored 10 points and Maya Hagerty and Cate King each added nine. In the win over the Raiders, Lauren Keaney had a team-high 18 points, Panozzo added 14 and Hagerty finished with 10. The Clippers, who lost 28 straight times to Greely between 2006-2021, beat the Rangers for the second straight year behind 14 points from King. Yarmouth hosted Leavitt Tuesday, goes to Lake Region Thursday, visits Freeport Saturday and goes to undefeated Brunswick Tuesday of next week.

In Class C South, NYA improved to 8-0 with decisive wins last week over visiting Seacoast Christian (77-26), host Richmond (82-43) and host Seacoast Christian (94-27). In the first win over Seacoast Christian, Charlotte Harper-Cunningham scored 16 points, Sarah English added 15 and Athena Gee finished with 12. Against the Bobcats, Angel Huntsman erupted for 31 points, while Graca Bila added 16 points, five rebounds and four steals and Harper-Cunningham finished with 10 points and three rebounds. In the second victory over Seacoast Christian, English led the way with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Gee finished with 21 points as well, Harper-Cunningham contributed 14 and Madiyln Onorato had 11. The Panthers go to Waynflete Wednesday, host St. Dom’s Friday and welcome Winthrop in a key test next Tuesday (see our website for game story).

Boys’ hockey

Falmouth celebrates after scoring one of its six goals in Monday’s 6-3 victory at Scarborough. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

The Cheverus/Yarmouth boys’ hockey co-op team started the year 0-2-1, but last week got on track last week with home victories over Gorham (1-0) and Leavitt (4-1). Against the Rams, Ryan Franceschi scored the lone goal, with 3:32 to go.

“What I was most proud is that we didn’t quit and we came together and worked hard and earned the opportunity to get that win,” said Cheverus/Yarmouth coach Dave St. Pierre. “It wasn’t frustration, but determination kept getting stronger and stronger. We knew if we kept going strong, it would work. We needed a ‘W’ tonight.”

In the win over the Hornets, Andrew Cheever scored twice, while Ben Moll and Colin Hines also put the puck in the net. Cheverus/Yarmouth was at St. Dom’s Tuesday, hosts reigning Class A champion Scarborough Thursday (see our website for game story), then visits Kennebunk Monday.

“I’m excited about where we’re heading,” St. Pierre said. “We’re feeling good. Finishing is the big thing we have to do better. We can get better in all facets of the game and that will be our continued focus.”

Greely got its first win last week, 3-0 at York, then fell to 1-5 after an 11-0 home setback to Camden Hills. In the victory, Teddy Conway, Coben Donnelly and Charlie Moore all scored and Will Klein made 10 saves. Klein made 19 stops against the Windjammers. The Rangers welcome Gorham Saturday and play host to reigning Class B champion Brunswick Monday.

Falmouth extended its win to three games after a 2-1 win at South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport last week. Monday, the Navigators made it four in a row and improved to 4-2 with an impressive 6-3 victory at reigning Class A state champion Scarborough. Aaron Higgins scored three times, Mitch Ham added two goals, Thomas Healey also scored and Falmouth opened up an early lead thanks to a five-minute Red Storm penalty.

“We’re a very resilient group and we have a lot of trust in our power play and once we saw that five minutes, we were like, our eyes were open like this,” said Higgins, expanding his hands in front of his eyes.

“Anytime you take a five-minute, it’s tough to come back from,” said Navigators coach Deron Barton. “We were fortunate to get a couple there and it definitely turned.”

Falmouth hosted Edward Little Tuesday.

The South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team fell to 3-5 after a 2-1 home loss to Falmouth last week. The squad hosts St. Dom’s Thursday.

Girls’ hockey

Yarmouth/Freeport’s Adelaide Strout sends a shot on goal during last week’s loss at Cheverus. Derek Davis/Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, the Yarmouth/Freeport co-op is off to its best start in program history, 8-1-1, despite a 3-2 setback at Cheverus and a 4-4 tie at Penobscot Valley last week. Against the Stags, in a battle of unbeaten teams, Adelaide Strout and Sophie Smith scored for Yarmouth/Freeport, but Cheverus got the winning goal with just over two minutes to play and held on.

“We could have won this,” said Yarmouth/Freeport coach Dave Intraversato. “(Cheverus) capitalized on our tired legs at the end of shifts. It was a little bit of a chess game for awhile there. Both teams played well.”

Against Penobscot Valley, Strout scored twice, including the tying tally with 2:10 left, while Kate Tracy and Chloe White also found the net. Amanda Panciocco had two assists. Yarmouth/Freeport looks to get back in the win column Wednesday at Edward Little, then hosts Falmouth Saturday and welcomes Portland/Deering Monday.

“This year has been exactly what I expected,” Intraversato said. “In the COVID year, we saw what the freshmen could do without anybody else noticing. We’ve kept the same team the last three years and we’re clicking. We play three lines and try to keep legs fresh. I think we’ll be fine. You have two schools who are athletic. We had a good fall with Freeport’s field hockey team and Yarmouth’s soccer team. They’re good kids. They all like each other. It’s good to see that.”

Greely dropped to 0-11 after last week’s 8-0 loss at Gorham. The Rangers hoped to get in the win column Tuesday at Brunswick, then they host Portland/Deering Saturday.

Falmouth, which also has players from Scarborough this year, was 1-6-1 after home losses last week to York (3-2) and Cheverus (6-1). After playing at York Tuesday, the Navigators welcome St. Dom’s Thursday and go to Yarmouth/Freeport Saturday.

Indoor track

The first SMAA indoor track meet of 2023 saw Falmouth’s boys and girls defeated Cheverus, Kennebunk, Sanford and Westbrook.

Greely’s boys and girls swept an eight-team meet last weekend. Yarmouth’s boys and girls each came in second. The NYA girls placed sixth and the Panthers boys finished eighth.

Freeport’s girls and boys each were runners-up behind York.

Sun Journal sports editor Lee Horton contributed to this story.

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