The trophies lie in wait and the memories are waiting to be made, but before we can move on to the winter sports postseason, there remains some unfinished regular season business.

The end of the girls’ hockey regular season is just days away and boys’ and girls’ basketball wrap up their campaigns a week from Thursday, so much is yet to be determined.

Here’s a glimpse at where local teams stand with just days remaining to do something about it:

Girls’ basketball

The North Yarmouth Academy girls’ basketball team finally met its match Saturday, falling from the unbeaten ranks with a 61-38 loss at Hall-Dale. The Panthers had defeated visiting Waynflete (53-21) and St. Dom’s (63-26) earlier last week. Against the Flyers, Graca Bila had 15 points, Ella Giguere added 14 and Athena Gee finished with 10. In the win over the Saints, Ella Giguere had a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds, while Anaya Roundy added 13 points and Gee finished with 11. Monday, the Panthers improved to 14-1 and first in the Class C South Heal Points standings after a 54-18 victory at Traip Academy. NYA hosts Carrabec Thursday, goes to reigning Class C champion Old Orchard Beach Monday, then closes the regular season at home versus Sacopee Valley Wednesday of next week. 

In Class B South, Yarmouth was 8-7 and seventh after beating visiting Freeport (59-39) and falling at Greely (42-39). Against the Falcons, Lauren Keaney had 13 points, Cate King added 11 and 15 rebounds and Aine Powers finished with 11 points and five steals.

“A lot of our games that we have lost have been really close and we competed all the way until the end,” King said. “I feel like the fact that we’re (seeded low) just gives us the underdog mentality. We all want to work hard and surprise everybody.”

“We emphasize defense a lot,” Powers said. “You don’t really look at that as often as you look at the score and what happens on offense, but it’s really an important part of the game. I think we really had it turned on from the beginning.”

“It takes a while to get going and have them correctly do their assignments but it seems like the offense is working, our defense is playing real solid, so things are coming together at the right time,” added Clippers coach Tom Panozzo.

In the loss to the Rangers, Neena Panozzo had 17 points. The Clippers hosted Wells Tuesday (see our website for game story), welcome York Thursday and close at home versus Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

In Class A South, Greely was 8-8 and fourth after a 59-36 loss at reigning regional champion Brunswick and wins over visiting Marshwood 41-40 and Yarmouth (42-39). Lauren Hester scored 10 points in the loss. Against the Hawks, Asja Kelman led the way with 20 points. Kelman then scored 12 points and Zada Smith led the way with 14, including the go-ahead hoop, in the win over the Clippers. The Rangers were at Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday, then close at home versus Deering Tuesday of next week.

Freeport was 7-9 and sixth in the region following a 59-39 loss at Yarmouth, a 50-44 home win over Kennebunk and a 59-32 home loss to Brunswick. Against the Clippers, Sydney Gelhar had 15 points and Abby Giroux added 13, but it wasn’t enough.

“We turned the ball over too much and we also don’t guard the ball well enough right now,” said Falcons coach Seth Farrington, after his team’s fifth straight loss. “This time of year, you want to be playing your best defense and be efficient offensively and right now we’re not defending the ball well enough.”

In the victory, Giroux led the way with 20 points, Maddie Cormier added 16 and Gelhar finished with 10. Against the Dragons, Gelhar had 13 points and Giroux tallied 11. Freeport goes to Gray-New Gloucester Friday and closes at Falmouth Monday.

“We can’t worry about where we finish,” Farrington said. “We have to start stringing together great practices.”

Falmouth fell to 2-11 and 10th in Class A South, where just eight teams qualify for the tournament, after a 58-43 setback at Marshwood, a 38-30 home loss to Windham and a 52-39 home loss to Mt. Ararat. Siobhan Nielsen had 19 points in the loss to the Hawks. Against the Eagles, Jaelyn Meader had seven points.

“The girls fought really hard,” Navigators coach Dawn Armandi said. “I’d rather lose games like this than how we’ve been playing. We weren’t able to put the ball in the hoop very well.”

Falmouth was at Kennebunk Tuesday, visits Brunswick Thursday, goes to Fryeburg Academy Friday, then closes with home games versus Freeport next Monday and Westbrook Feb. 8.

“We tell the girls that at this point, we have nothing to lose, so to go out and play hard and good things will happen,” said Armandi. “Hopefully we can change momentum.”

Boys’ basketball

On the boys’ side, Falmouth made it six straight wins and improved to 13-2 and first in the Class A South Heals after victories last week over visiting Marshwood (51-26) and Biddeford (66-48) and another at Mt. Ararat (69-45). Against the Hawks, Chris Simonds erupted for 25 points and 21 rebounds. In the win over the Tigers, Simonds had 19 points and eight rebounds, while Billy Birks added 11 points. Against the Eagles, Simonds led the way with a double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. After hosting Kennebunk Tuesday, the Navigators go to Fryeburg Academy Friday and welcome Freeport Tuesday of next week.

Freeport was 13-3 and third in Class A South after sandwiching wins over visiting Massabesic (72-44) and host Brunswick (56-54, in overtime) around a 62-41 setback at Kennebunk last week. Against the Mustangs, JT Pound had 35 points and Connor Slocum added 17. In the setback, Will Maneikis had a team-high 12 points and Pound added 10. In the win over the Dragons, which saw the Falcons erase a 10-point deficit, Conner Smith scored 18 points and Pound finished with 16. Freeport hosts Gray-New Gloucester Friday and closes at Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Greely was 7-7 and sixth in Class A South following wins over visiting Brunswick (54-51) and host Marshwood (43-23) and a 73-59 setback at Yarmouth last week. Against the Dragons, Jackson Leding scored 21 points, including the decisive three free throws with under a second to play, and Kade Ippolito added 19 points. In the loss to the Clippers, Ippolito had 22 points and Owen Partridge added 16, but the Rangers made just half of their 20 free throws and turned the ball over 15 times.

“I thought the first quarter was pretty good,” Greely coach Travis Seaver said. “We shot well and our defensive intensity was good, but in the second quarter, the pressure bothered us. As of two weeks ago, we changed the way we were playing and our mentality. It didn’t go our way tonight, but the things we’re trying to do we’re doing better than we did two weeks ago. Yarmouth’s a tough team. They have size, they can hit shots on the perimeter and can pressure you on defense.”

The Rangers welcome Gray-New Gloucester Wednesday (see our website for game story), host Noble Friday and close with games at Biddeford and Wells next week.

“The goal is to be playing our best basketball in a few weeks,” Seaver said. “We have a lot of upside still. We just have to figure it out.”

In Class B South, Yarmouth was 8-7 and sixth following a 100-47 win at Poland, a 63-59 home loss to Gray-New Gloucester and a 73-59 home victory over Greely. Evan Hamm scored 38 points against the Knights, while Matt Gautreau and Bobby Wolff each added 14 points and Evan Oranellas finished with 10. In the setback, Hamm had 33 points and Justin Dawes contributed 11. Against the Rangers, the Clippers gradually pulled away, as Gautreau and Oranellas had 15 points, Hamm finished with 14 and Dawes added 13.

“We just stayed composed and trusted the offense,” said Gautreau. “We realized if we stayed with the game plan, we’d come out with the ‘W.’”

“I was hitting shots in the JV game before, so I was just feeling it,” said Oranellas, a freshman, who made five 3-pointers. “I feel like I had the ability to play varsity, but you never really know. I just try to help the boys win. I love the guys. They’re great teammates. I’m having fun.”

“I love this team,” added Yarmouth coach Ilunga Mutombo. “The boys have worked so hard. We’ve talked about trusting each other and playing as a team and we’re doing that.”

The Clippers hosted Wells Tuesday, go to York Thursday and close at Lake Region Wednesday of next week.

“As long as we keep doing what we’ve been doing, we have the talent to go a long way,” Gautreau said.

“We have to maintain our composure in every situation, trust each other and emphasize our leadership skills,” Mutombo said.

In Class C South, NYA was 4-11 and 13th after recent losses to visiting Waynflete (50-32), St. Dom’s (63-34) and Hall-Dale (52-43) and an overtime win at Traip Academy Monday (37-36), which snapped a seven-game losing streak. Nate Oney scored 19 points against the Flyers, 15 in the loss to the Saints and had 24 points and eight rebounds against the Bulldogs. In the OT victory, Oney scored 21 points, including the decisive free throw. The Panthers host Pine Tree Academy Thursday, go to Old Orchard Beach Monday and finish at home versus Sacopee Valley Wednesday of next week.

Boys’ hockey

On the ice, the Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op boys’ squad improved to 8-2 and first in Class B South after beating visiting Thornton Academy (4-1) and host Edward Little (4-2) last week. In the win over the Golden Trojans, the defending Class A state champions, Owen Walsh had two goals and Sam Bradford and Evan Hankins also scored, while goalie Ethan Tucker made 23 saves.

“This is a big team win,” Walsh said. “It will put us on the map. ”

“It meant a lot to beat them,” said Tucker. “This boosts our confidence and shows us we can play with anyone.”

“Any time we play a Class A team, we want to show up,” Cheverus/Yarmouth coach Dave St. Pierre added. “I thought Thornton Academy was one of the top teams in the league this year and to the boys’ credit, they bought into what we wanted to accomplish tonight and they went to work. That’s probably the best three periods we’ve put together this year.”

Against the Red Eddies, Andrew Cheever, Colby Carnes, Quinn McCoy and David Swift all found the net. Cheverus/Yarmouth was at Gorham Tuesday, then hosts Gorham Thursday before travelling to Kennebunk Saturday.

“We have the pieces to make a run,” St. Pierre said. “The league is tough. We won’t take anything for granted. I like what we have, but we have to continue to improve.”

Greely was 10-2 and third following home wins last week over Cape Elizabeth (6-2) and Mt. Ararat (7-1). Against the Capers, Andrew Adams scored twice, while Sean Allen, Lucas Martin, Colten Miedema and Finn Murphy added a goal apiece. The Rangers take a four-game win streak into a pivotal showdown at Leavitt Saturday.

In Class A, Falmouth was 8-5 and third, but is idle until next Wednesday, when it goes to Bangor.

“We’ve all got these gaps and we’re trying to fill in with scrimmages,” said Navigators coach Deron Barton. “There’s always things to clean up.”

Girls’ hockey

On the girls’ side, Yarmouth/Freeport improved to 13-3 and first in the North Region standings after wins at Penobscot (6-5) and Mt. Ararat (11-1) and at home over Edward Little (4-0). In the victory at Penobscot, Celia Zinman scored twice, including the game winner. Avery Buchanan, Rosie Panenka, Isabel Peters and Sophie Smith also scored, while Lexi Wiles made 17 saves. Against the Red Eddies, Buchanan, Panenka, Peters and Smith each had one goal. Yarmouth/Freeport, riding a six-game win streak, hosted Penobscot Tuesday and closes at Cape Elizabeth/Portland/South Portland/Waynflete Saturday.

In the South Region, Falmouth/Scarborough was 7-8 and fifth after a 7-2 home loss to Brunswick and a 6-3 setback at Gorham. Falmouth/Scarborough hosted Cape Elizabeth/Portland/South Portland/Waynflete Tuesday, welcomes Biddeford Friday and closes at Lewiston Saturday.

Greely fell to 1-14-1 and seventh following a 4-0 loss at Lewiston Saturday.

“We played pretty well,” said Rangers coach Meg Finlay. “We came in having something to prove after not having a great game the first time around (a 6-0 loss). I think we gave it our all and we had a lot of heart. That’s something these girls don’t lack, is heart.”

Greely welcomes York Thursday and closes at Winslow Saturday.

Indoor track

In Western Maine Conference indoor track action last weekend, Greely’s boys and Yarmouth’s girls each came in first in a league meet.

Freeport’s boys were second and Yarmouth came in fifth.

Freeport’s girls were also second and Greely placed third.

Swimming

In recent swimming action, Greely swept Yarmouth, as the boys prevailed, 61-32, and the girls won, 55-29. The Rangers were then swept by reigning Class B champion Cape Elizabeth, as the boys lost, 120-63, and the girls were defeated, 116-50.

Yarmouth also swept Cheverus, as the boys won, 52-26, and the girls came out on top, 48-28.

Falmouth swept Freeport. The boys won by a score of 56-21. The girls prevailed, 49-33.

Freeport was then swept by Scarborough, as the boys lost, 115.44, and the girls were beaten, 105-45.

Skiing

Freeport’s Teo Steverlynck-Horne had the third-best time in the boys’ Nordic Sassi Memorial Classic last weekend with a time of 15 minutes, 32.8 seconds. Greely’s Tait Harvey placed seventh (16:02.5). Freeport’s Owen Dawson came in 12th (16:28.0). Greely’s Ben Wall finished 19th (17:03.9).

Greely’s Sylvia Harvey placed eighth in the girls’ race, with a time of 18:20.8. Freeport’s Reed Proscia came in 17th (19:51.0).

On the Alpine side, Falmouth’s boys and girls were both first in a six-team giant slalom meet last week. Riley Davis led the girls were a second-place individual finish (with a two-run combined time of 1:03.32). Ian Christie came in third individually in the boys’ meet (1:00.57). Greely’s girls were second and the Rangers boys came in fifth. The girls were led by Whitney Bond (sixth, 1:10.01). Ben McCarron was the top finisher in the boys’ meet (12th, 1::06.51).

Yarmouth’s girls and Freeport’s boys won an 11-team slalom meet. The Clippers were led by Brooke Boone, the top individual (1:36.71). The Falcons girls were runners-up. Rosie St. Cyr (third, 1:44.65) led the way. Freeport’s boys were paced by Elias Burrill (fifth, 1:41.49). Yarmouth’s boys came in second and were led by Tyler Moore (third, 1:38.46)

Press Herald staff writers Drew Bonifant and Travis Lazarczyk and Sun Journal staff writer Nathan Fournier 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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