Southern: Title time arrives for local teams

The girls’ hockey playoffs have come and gone for local teams, while hardware is about to be bestowed in indoor track, swimming, Alpine and Nordic skiing and wrestling. Rest assured that local teams will be heard from in all of the above.

Here’s a glimpse:

Girls’ hockey

The Cape Elizabeth/South Portland/Portland/Waynflete Beacons co-op girls’ hockey team, seeded third in the South Region, ousted No. 6 York, 9-3, in the quarterfinals, then was eliminated by Gorham in Saturday’s semifinals, 5-2, to finish 11-9. In the win, Marina Bassett and Phoebe Knoll had two goals apiece, while Jane Flynn added three assists. In the loss, Flynn and Libby Hooper scored once apiece and goalie Erin Winship stopped 24 shots, but it wasn’t enough.

“I’m really proud of the way we played,” said Beacons coach Bob Mills. “I thought that game could’ve gone either way.”

Fourth-ranked Falmouth/Scarborough downed No. 5 Biddeford, 3-2, in the quarterfinals, then was eliminated by top-seeded Cheverus, 8-2, in the semifinals to wind up 10-10. In the victory, Morgan Adams, Audrey Farnham and Trinity Grenier scored the goals.

“The girls really bought into the systems, working hard, playing positionally sound hockey, playing smart defense, and we were able to turn that into a nice ‘W,’” Falmouth/Scarborough coach Rob Carrier said.

In the loss, Adams and Elizabeth Brown each scored once.

Indoor track

The Western Maine Conference indoor track championship meet was contested Friday at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Cape Elizabeth’s girls tallied 51 points and was fifth. York (134) was first. Reagan Gajan won the junior high jump (4 feet, 8 inches). Sloan Gardner took the junior shot put (30-3).

In the boys’ meet, also won by York with 168 points, Cape Elizabeth (22.5) was eighth.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet was held Saturday at USM. South Portland’s boys won the title with 150.5 points. Michael Lawlor was first in the junior 800 (2 minutes, 7.7 seconds). Caleb Ramsell took the junior 55 hurdles (8.07 seconds). Arnaud Sioho was first in the senior 55 hurdles (7.84), the senior long jump (22 feet, 7.25 inches) and the senior triple jump (44-3). Evan Small won the open two-mile (9:52.94). Devin Berry took the open 55 hurdles (8.85). The Red Riots also captured the open 4×400 relay (3:36.56).

Scarborough (79) finished fifth. Nate Murry took the senior shot put (53-7.5). Wyatt Martin won the open pole vault (13-1). The Red Storm were also first in the open 4×800 relay (8:36.25).

In the girls’ meet, won by Cheverus with 147.5 points, Scarborough (98) placed third. Isabella Harmon took the junior high jump (5-0) and the open pole vault (10-0).

South Portland (62) finished sixth. Sunila DeLoacth was first in the junior shot put (29-3.5).

The Class A state championship meet is Monday in Gorham. The Class B state meet is the same day in Lewiston.

Swimming

In the pool, in the North Division Southwesterns, Cape Elizabeth’s boys rolled to victory with 412 points. The Capers got wins from Swimmer of the Meet David Steinbrick in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 43.27 seconds) and the 100 backstroke (53.69 seconds), Cormac McKenney in the 200 individual medley (1:57.39) and 100 breaststroke (59.01), Graham Plourde in the 100 butterfly (53.55), Weston Lowe in the 500 free (455.42), diver Logan McVeigh (319.10 points) and their 200 medley (Jack McCormick, Spencer Shaw, Lowe and Logan Schwartz, 1:43.3) and 200 free (Plourde, Tiger McCormick, McKenney and Steinbrick, 1:28.23) relay teams.

Scarborough (193 points) came in third.

South Portland (94) was fifth.

Cape Elizabeth also won on the girls’ side with 326 points. Lucy Shaw won the IM (2:09.27) and the 100 fly (58.31). Cookie Mahoney took the 100 free (52.81). Hope Taylor was first in the 100 breaststroke (1:09.20). The Capers also won all three relays, as the 200 medley squad (Taylor, Hannah Frothingham, Dove Brown and Jersi McGonigal) had a time of 1:57.09, the 200 free team (Elisa Dew, Vivienne Parsons, McGonigal and Audrey Alberts) finished in 1:48.96, and the 400 free squad (Hadley Mahoney, Shaw, Parsons and Cookie Mahoney) posted a time of 3:41.42.

South Portland (189) came in fourth. Ali Maksimova won the 50 free (25.28).

Scarborough (125) placed sixth.

The state meets are next Monday and Tuesday in Brunswick and Orono.

Skiing

The Western Maine Conference Alpine championships were held last week.

The boys’ title was won by Cape Elizabeth, which had 55 points, 19 better than runner-up Fryeburg Academy. The Capers were led by Logan Schwartz, who won the slalom with a two-run combined time of 1:28.87 and the giant slalom in 1:16.65, and Keegan Lathrop, who was second in the slalom, 1:31.02, and runner-up in the GS (1:18.36).

In the girls’ competition, won by Yarmouth, Cape Elizabeth finished eighth. Laura Clark placed 17th in the GS (1:34.58). Ella Riley finished 27th in the slalom (2:11.33).

In the SMAA Alpine championship meet, Scarborough’s girls came in sixth (Falmouth was first). Grace Baron came in 14th in the GS (1:38.22). Lilah Ferrie finished 15th in the slalom (2:03.63).

The Class A and B Alpine state meets were contested Wednesday and Thursday at Black Mountain in Rumford.

The Nordic state meets are next Monday and Tuesday at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington.

Wrestling

Luke Burns of Scarborough/Gorham battles Indi Backman of Cheverus/Falmouth in the 190-pound final at Class A South wrestling championships last weekend. Burns won the title. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

The Class A South regional wrestling meet was held Saturday in Sanford.

Luke Burns, a senior from Scarborough/Gorham, needed a late third-period takedown to defeat Indi Backman of Cheverus/Falmouth, 5-4. Burns was the 182-pound state champion as a junior.

“As much as wrestling is a super physical sport – I play football, and football’s like a breeze compared to wrestling – on top of that it’s really a mental sport,” Burns said. “It’s like high-intensity, fighting chess.”

The Class A state meet is Saturday in Augusta.

Boys’ hockey

Portland/South Portland’s Toby Lappin skates toward the goal during last week’s home win over Scarborough. Lappin scored four times in the victory. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

The boys’ hockey regular season still has a little over a week to go.

In Class A, the Portland/Deering/South Portland Beacons co-op team was 9-6 and sixth in the standings after wins last week over visiting Scarborough (7-3) and host Biddeford. Against the Red Storm, Toby Lappin led the way with a four-goal outburst, while Danny Fitzgibbon, Lucas Milliken and Ben Palson also scored. Goalie Michael Zaccaria made 23 saves.

“It’s great to score, but I had the boys behind me the whole time,” said Lappin. “I wouldn’t have been able to score without them. The goals started with the little stuff that we work on in practice.”

“Toby’s played well all year and as of late, he’s come on really strong,” said Joe Robinson, who co-coaches the Beacons, along with Jeff Beaney. “He’s up there in scoring. He’s a very important player for us.”

The Beacons welcomed Bangor Thursday, go to Marshwood Saturday and close the regular season next Thursday at home versus Marshwood.

“It’s been a back-and-forth season, but we have momentum going into the end of it,” Lappin said. “I think we have an opportunity to make a run. It’s going to be a close battle with the top teams. It’ll come down to who wants it most.”

“We just want to get in the tournament,” said Robinson. “It’s even more wide open this year. We just have to get a little bit better game by game. I think we’ll be alright.”

Scarborough fell to 2-13-1 and 11th in Class A (where only eight teams make the playoffs) following losses at the Beacons (7-3), at Lewiston (7-0) and at home to Fryeburg Academy (4-0). Against the Beacons, Tyler Kenney had two goals and Olin Pederson also scored, but the Red Storm couldn’t overcome an early deficit.

“We seem to find ourselves behind early in games,” said Scarborough coach Eric Wirsing. “We work hard and play hard, but we can’t overcome the deficit. Unfortunately, that’s been the cycle we’ve had this season. Then, we get tired, we get frustrated and take penalties and put ourselves in bad positions and give up more goals.”

The Red Storm, who haven’t missed the playoffs in a non-COVID year since 2017-18, hosted Falmouth Thursday and close at home versus St. Dom’s Monday.

“We’re just trying to be consistent as far as development,” Wirsing said. “We knew we had a young team and that we’d have ups-and-downs, but if we’d won a few of those tight games, it’s a different story. We’ll get back to work tomorrow and try to get better. This is a big week. We had TA, this game and we go up to Lewiston. We need to get some wins and get in the fight for the playoffs. I can’t say Saturday’s our last chance, but we really have our backs against the wall to do something.”

Reigning Class B South champion Cape Elizabeth fell to 1-13 and ninth in the Heals following last week’s 7-0 loss at Cheverus/Yarmouth. The Capers were home versus Leavitt Thursday, play at Mt. Ararat Saturday, go to Gorham Tuesday of next week and close at home versus Brunswick next Thursday.

Portland Press Herald staff writer Steve Craig contributed to this story.