The fun is just beginning in the winter sports season.
Girls’ hockey has just a couple weeks left, while basketball has passed the midway point and boys’ hockey nears it. The biggest events for indoor track, swimming and skiing aren’t far off either.
Everything will be magnified going forward and here’s a glimpse at where local teams stand:
Girls’ basketball
South Portland’s Emma Travis lines up a shot during Monday’s 54-44 victory at Scarborough. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster
South Portland’s girls’ basketball team extended its win streak to eight and improved to 9-3 and first in the Class AA South Heal Points standings after recent victories at Noble (67-27) and Scarborough (54-44). The Red Riots avenged an earlier loss to the Red Storm thanks to 18 points and 12 rebounds from Nyeerah Padgett, nine points and eight assists from freshman Annie Whitmore and eight points and six assists from Caleigh Corcoran.
“I think we have great team chemistry,” Padgett said. “Our communication and us working together and our passing is what worked. My teammates found me and I just had to make layups.”
“I think it was just hard work and teamwork,” said Corcoran. “There are times we don’t know what we’re doing out there, but we bring it back and finish strong. We really wanted this one, especially since they’re so highly ranked. We wanted to get on a higher standing.”
“We’ve just figured out what our roles are,” added Red Riots coach Lynne Hasson. “The kids are playing well. We’ve grown we’re having fun, we’re playing together and we’re winning.”
South Portland is idle until Tuesday of next week when it hosts Bonny Eagle.
“I felt like we had the potential to do this, but I knew we were young and I wasn’t sure how quickly it would come together,” Hasson said. “There are still times we don’t execute, so we still have a lot of room to grow, which is encouraging. We need to take care of the ball a little better and do a better job using our size and taking care of the glass.
“We’re in a five-team race. It’s a battle. On any given night, anyone can beat anyone. We’re on a little bit of a run here and we’ll see if we can keep it going.”
Scarborough fell to 8-4 and second in Class AA South after losses at Sanford (33-31) and at home to South Portland (54-44). Against the Spartans, the Red Storm rallied from 11-points down but fell victim to a late 3-pointer. Caroline Hartley had a team-high 12 points.
“We dealt with adversity and I thought the kids hung in there and battled all the way to the end,” said Scarborough coach Mike Giordano. “You want to see what your team’s made of and we showed a lot of character tonight.”
In the loss to the Red Riots, Hartley had 19 points and Ellie Rumelhart added 10, but the Red Storm dug a 13-point deficit in the third quarter and this time, couldn’t answer.
“We gave up way too many easy baskets,” lamented Giordano. “We scored 45 over there (in a 45-40 win) and 44 here. It was the same offensively, but when we lack defensive intensity we’ll struggle against a good team. That’s what it came down to. The kids never quit on me. They work hard. We just ran out of time.”
Scarborough is back in action Friday at home versus two-time reigning regional champion Gorham, then welcomes Sanford Tuesday of next week.
“It won’t get any easier for us with Gorham and Sanford coming up,” Giordano said. “We have to find a way to bring our defense, which has been pretty consistent most of the year, back and then find a way to get some balanced scoring. When we do that, I think we’re as good as anybody. No question any of the top five teams are capable of beating each other and that will make for a great tournament.”
In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth fell to 0-11 and 13th after losses at Poland (33-26), at home to Yarmouth (60-30) and at home to Fryeburg Academy (58-28). Grace Callahan had 12 points against both the Knights and Clippers, then scored 18 points in the loss to the Raiders. The Capers go to Greely Friday, host Leavitt Saturday and visit Wells Tuesday of next week.
Boys’ basketball
South Portland’s Darius Johnson and Scarborough’s Spencer Booth battle for possession during the Red Storm’s victory Monday. Sofia Aldinio /Portland Press Herald
On the boys’ side, Scarborough was 10-2 and second behind Gorham in the Class AA South Heals following wins over visiting Sanford (70-53) and host South Portland (54-49). Against the Spartans, Carter Blanche had 22 points, Liam Jefferds added 16 points, Liam Garriepy had 13 and Spencer Booth finished with 10. In the win over the Red Riots, the two-time reigning Class AA state champions, the Red Storm nearly let a 23-point lead slip away but held on behind 12 points from Booth and 11 from Garriepy.
“We had a really, really good first half and the third quarter I thought South Portland did a good job of taking some things away from us,” said Scarborough coach Phil Conley. “But the sign of a good team, and I think we are a really good team, is how do you handle that adversity and we scored 18 points in the fourth quarter to win the game.”
The Red Storm visit Thornton Academy Friday and go to Sanford Tuesday of next week.
South Portland fell to 4-7 and fifth in Class AA South after the loss to Scarborough, which was preceded by a 47-35 victory at Bonny Eagle. In the win, Gabe Galarraga and Manny Hidalgo both scored 16 points. Against the Red Storm, the Red Riots cut a 23-point deficit to one in the second half, but fell just short despite 17 points from Hidalgo and 13 from Galarraga.
“We weren’t connected in the first half defensively on the perimeter,” said South Portland coach Kevin Millington. “We got real connected in the second half and took away those (3-pointers).”
In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 2-8 and ninth after an 84-76 win at Poland and losses at Yarmouth (69-50) and at home to Fryeburg (65-62, in overtime). In the victory, Alex van Huystee had 29 points, while Eli Smith added 28. The Capers host Greely Friday, go to Leavitt Saturday, then welcome Wells Tuesday of next week.
Boys’ hockey
The Portland/South Portland/Waynflete Beacons co-op squad was 5-5 and sixth in Class A after a 5-1 loss at Edward Little and a 3-2 overtime victory at Greely last week. In the loss, Ben Palsen scored the lone goal.
“For us, it was a trap game after beating Lewiston,” said Jeff Beaney, who co-coaches the Beacons with Joe Robinson. “No matter how many times I told them, ‘EL is a good team and they have good players, you better be ready,’ we didn’t really respond.”
In the victory, Ian House scored the winner, while Hunter Temple and Toby Lappin also had goals. The Beacons are idle until next Thursday when they host Biddeford.
Scarborough fell to 2-6 and 11th after a 1-0 home loss to Edward Little. Goalie Bryce Bellerose made 21 saves in the setback. The Red Storm go to Falmouth Saturday, then host York Wednesday of next week.
Reigning Class B state champion Cape Elizabeth was 1-6 and eighth in the South Region entering Thursday’s home game versus Gorham. The Capers welcome top-ranked Saturday, then meet Cheverus/Yarmouth Monday at the Cross Insurance Arena.
Girls’ hockey
On the girls’ side, the Cape Elizabeth/South Portland/Portland/Waynflete Beacons were 8-3 and second to reigning state champion Cheverus in the South Region following last week’s 4-3 home win over Gorham. Libby Hooper had the go-ahead goal, while Marina Bassett, Jane Flynn and Hartson Mosunic also scored. The Beacons welcomed Penobscot Thursday, go to Edward Little Saturday and to Falmouth/Scarborough Monday, then have a showdown at Cheverus Thursday of next week.
Falmouth/Scarborough was 4-6 and fifth in the South entering a home game versus Greely Thursday. Falmouth/Scarborough hosts York Saturday and Cape Elizabeth/Portland/South Portland/Waynflete Monday of next week.
Indoor track
In Southwestern Maine Activities Association indoor track action Saturday, South Portland came in first and Scarborough was second in both the boys’ and girls’ meets, which also included Biddeford, Kennebunk and Sanford.
In the Western Maine Conference, Cape Elizabeth’s girls were second to Freeport in a nine-team meet Friday. The Capers boys placed fifth.
Swimming
In the pool, Cape Elizabeth swept Deering/Portland in its most recent meet, with the boys winning, 133-31, and the girls prevailing, 100-74.
South Portland split with Gorham, as the girls eked out an 88-80 victory and the girls lost a close one, 75-72.
Scarborough was swept by Greely, with the girls losing, 93-66, and the boys falling, 107-62.
Skiing
Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ and girls’ teams both placed third in a seven-team SMAA/WMC giant slalom Alpine ski meet Monday at Pleasant Mountain.
Scarborough’s girls were sixth in a nine-team slalom meet.
Press Herald staff writers Drew Bonfiant and Steve Craig contributed to this story.
Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. For game updates and links to game stories, follow him on Threads: @foresports2023
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