Southern: Winter sports postseason underway

The winter sports postseason kicked off this week with the girls’ hockey playoffs. Basketball’s regular season winds down by week’s end and some of the biggest events in indoor track, swimming and skiing are right around the corner.

There’s a lot to digest and here’s a glimpse:

Girls’ hockey

Libby Hooper of the Cape/Portland/South Portland/Waynflete Beacons co-op girls’ hockey team chases after the puck during last week’s home loss to Yarmouth/Freeport. Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald

The Portland/South Portland/Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete Beacons co-op girls’ hockey team finished third in the South Region at 10-8 after closing with home losses to Brunswick (5-4) and Yarmouth/Freeport (5-2). Against the Dragons, Libby Hooper had two goals, Evelyn Agrodnia and Jane Flynn added a goal apiece and goalie Erin Winship stopped 32 shots. In the loss to Yarmouth/Freeport, the top team in the North Region, Hooper and Marina Bassett scored one goal apiece and Winship made 26 saves.

The Beacons hosted No. 6 York (3-14-1) in the quarterfinals Wednesday at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland. The Beacons twice beat the Wildcats this year, 13-5 at home and 8-1 on the road.

If the Beacons advanced, they’ll meet No. 2 Gorham (12-6) or No. 7 Greely (1-16-1) in the semifinals Saturday at 7 p.m.

“I think we have a good team here,’ said Beacons coach Bob Mills. “I’m pretty proud of 10-8. There’s some games we’d love to have back, but we’re just going to look forward. I think any team can win in the playoffs and I like our chances. We want to make sure we’re playing with a five-person mentality on the ice, because we can’t win games as individuals. We just have to work on playing good defense at all times.”

Falmouth/Scarborough wound up fourth in the South at 9-9 following wins over visiting Biddeford (7-2) and host Lewiston (5-4, in overtime) last weekend. Falmouth/Scarborough hosts No. 5 Biddeford (8-10) in the quarterfinals Wednesday. If Falmouth/Scarborough advances to Saturday’s semifinals, it will meet top-ranked, reigning state champion Cheverus (15-1) in Portland at a time to be announced.

The regional finals will be held next Wednesday. The North Region Final is in Auburn. The South Region Final is in Portland. The state game is Saturday, Feb. 17 in Auburn.

Girls’ basketball

South Portland freshman Annie Whitmore races past Gorham’s Julia Reed during last week’s victory. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster

On the hardwood, South Portland’s girls were 14-3 and second to Gorham entering Thursday’s regular season finale at Sanford. Last week, the Red Riots extended their win streak to 13 games after downing visiting Noble (45-14) and Gorham (38-31). Emma Travis scored 17 points in the win over the Knights. Against the Rams, who came in on a 12-game win streak of their own, freshman Annie Whitmore had 12 points, Nyeerah Padgett added 11 and Travis finished with 10.

“Runs go back and forth in basketball and we knew we just had to keep our heads and we knew we could stop them,” Travis said. “It just shows that we’re still growing and improving and we’re sticking together.”

“We started being more confident and taking shots we knew we could make,” Whitmore said. “We just stick together. We have fun with each other.”

“I wouldn’t have predicted this, to be honest,” added Red Riots coach Lynne Hasson. “Losing took a toll and winning builds confidence. When we started winning, I knew we were good enough to compete, but we needed to win to get a mental edge and now we believe we can beat anyone.”

South Portland will be either the first or second seed for the Class AA South playoffs and will host a quarterfinal round contest next week. The date, time and opponent will be determined.

“We just have to stay the course and keep doing what we’ve been doing,” Travis said. “We haven’t been like this the past two seasons, so this is incredible.”

“I’m looking forward to the tournament,” Whitmore said. “I’d like to get to the state game like my sister Maggie did.”

“We have to still fix some mistakes,” Hasson added. “We can go inside, so we don’t have to depend on our perimeter shooting at the Civic Center, which isn’t a great shooting gym, and I think that will help us. We feel good about our chances. Every team will have tough games. It will come down to who’s healthy and who plays well. ”

Scarborough finished its solid regular season at 13-5 after closing with wins at Noble (67-31) and at home over Thornton Academy (56-27). Against the Knights, Caroline Hartley had 15 points, Eva Alvarez added 13 and Ellie Rumelhart finished with 12. Hartley scored 21 points in the victory over the Golden Trojans.

The Red Storm project to be the third seed for the Class AA South tournament and will host a quarterfinal round contest next week. The date, time and opponent will be determined.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth finished 0-18 after home losses to Wells (48-35) and Poland (27-24). Grace Callahan had 21 points against the Warriors. The Capers finished 14th in the region where only 10 teams made the playoffs.

Boys’ basketball

Scarborough’s Nate Glidden goes for a layup during last week’s win at Deering Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

On the boys’ side, Scarborough was 14-3 and second to Gorham in the Class AA South Heals after a 61-60 win at Deering last week and Monday’s 62-55 home victory over Westbrook. Against the Rams, Liam Jefferds had 16 points, Liam Garriepy 14, Spencer Booth 11 and Carter Blanche and Nate Glidden nine apiece.

“I don’t think we’ve won here since we were in high school,” Glidden said. “It feels good.”

“It was toughness and team,” Garriepy said. “We’ve only had close games this year, we battled and we pulled it out. Everyone had to pitch in. We all stepped up and held the fort. We’ve played together for awhile. We’re not worried about outside noise. We have our goals set. We’ve put the work in the offseason, during the season. This is what I expected.”

“We knew this would be a battle,” Red Storm coach Phil Conley added. “Deering’s played better basketball of late. We’re on the road and we had a little bit of a layoff, but the guys really responded. We wanted to treat these (final) games like they were the playoffs. We prepared to play like that. We had some kids hit some big shots.”

In the win over the Blue Blazes, Blanche had 23 points and Jefferds added 13. Scarborough closed at home versus Gorham Thursday in a game that didn’t affect playoff seeding. The Red Storm will host a Class AA South quarterfinal next week. The date, time and opponent will be determined.

Two-time reigning Class AA champion South Portland was 8-9 and fourth in the South after a 63-51 home loss to Gorham and a 60-52 home victory over Bonny Eagle. Against the Rams, Tom Maloji had 18 points and Gabe Galarraga added 14, but the Red Riots couldn’t hold a halftime lead.

“(Gorham will) be hard to beat for anybody,” said Millington. “You just have to hope they have an off-night. Tonight, they hit enough shots in the third quarter to give them the run and we couldn’t recover.”

In the win, Galarraga led the way with 23 points and Manny Hidalgo added 19. South Portland closed at home versus Sanford Thursday and will take part in the Class AA South quarterfinals next week, likely as the third or fourth seed. The date, time and opponent will be determined.

“We’re hoping for the three (seed),” Millington said. “We just have to take care of business. I suppose we’d rather be (home), but it really hasn’t been a huge advantage for us. Whoever we play, Thornton Academy or Deering, it will be a tough quarterfinal. I think we’re playing a lot better than earlier in the year. We’re getting experience. It’s all about momentum and playing well. I’d like to think no one wants to play us.”

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth finished 6-12 after closing with three straight wins: 58-55 at Wells, 52-46 over visiting Mountain Valley and 65-43 over visiting Poland. Against the Warriors, Alex van Huystee led the way with 14 points, Gabe Berman added 13 and JJ Schultzel and Eli Smith each contributed 10. The Capers were in the No. 8 spot in the Heals at press time and will take part in a preliminary round playoff game next week. The date, time and opponent will be determined.

Boys’ hockey

The boys’ hockey regular season still has a couple of weeks to go.

The Portland/South Portland/Deering Beacons co-op squad was 7-6 and sixth in Class A following a 3-1 loss at reigning state champion Thornton Academy and a 4-2 home win over Old Town/Orono. In the victory, Hunter Temple scored twice, while Henry Cossaboom and Lucas Milliken also found the net. The Beacons hosted Scarborough Thursday (see our website for game story), then go to Biddeford Saturday.

Scarborough was 2-10-1 and 11th in Class A (where eight teams qualify for the playoffs) after a 2-2 home tie against York, a 4-2 loss at Bangor and a 5-0 home loss to Thornton Academy. Tyler Kenney had two goals in the loss to the Rams. The Red Storm were at the Beacons Thursday, go to Lewiston Saturday and play host to Fryeburg Academy Tuesday of next week.

Reigning Class B state champion Cape Elizabeth fell to 1-12 and ninth in the South after losses to visiting Windham (8-1) and host York (11-1). The Capers were at Cheverus/Yarmouth Thursday.

Indoor track

Cape Elizabeth’s girls were second to Freeport and the boys placed third at a nine-team Western Maine Conference meet last Friday in Gorham.

The WMC indoor track championship meet is Friday in Gorham.

Scarborough and South Portland will take part in the Southwestern Maine Activities Association’s championship meet Saturday in Gorham.

Swimming

The swimming Southwesterns championship meet will be held this week in Cape Elizabeth. The boys’ competition is Friday and the girls’ meet is Saturday.

Skiing

The Western Maine Conference Alpine championship meet was Thursday at Pleasant Mountain.

The Class A and B Alpine skiing state championships will be held next week.

The Nordic ski championship meets are Feb. 19 and 20.