The winter sports season is off to an exciting start at Cape Elizabeth and South Portland and the best is yet to come.

Here’s a look at what’s transpired:

Boys’ basketball

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ basketball players celebrate at the final horn of Monday’s 63-58 come-from-behind win over Freeport. Courtesy Kneka Smith.

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ basketball team started with three losses, then got back on track with an inspirational victory Monday night.

The Capers started with setbacks at Lake Region (49-38) and Yarmouth (71-49), then fell at home to Lincoln Academy (50-32). Against the Lakers, Eli Smith had a team-high 14 points and Owen Beaureguard added 11. A 23-0 Clippers’ run spelled doom in the second loss. Smith had 15 points and Tim Fredericks added 13.

“We’ve been struggling to put four quarters together,” Cape Elizabeth coach Jeff Mitchell said. “We’re young. Starting on the road with two games is tough, but we just have to keep focusing on doing what we’re doing. My guys gave 100 percent to the end.”

In the loss to the Eagles, Smith scored 13 points. Against the Falcons, the Capers fell behind, 21-8, after one quarter and 39-20 at halftime, but they roared back.

Cape Elizabeth then relied on its pressure defense to spark the rally in the third period and a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore Josh Rosen, who came off the bench to make a powerful impact, helped cut the deficit to 50-40 heading for the final stanza.

And there, the Capers kept on coming, finally taking the lead with 3:10 on the clock, on a Rosen basket, and after Freeport retook the lead on a layup with 1:10 remaining, Rosen set up freshman Carter Mitchell for a layup 14 seconds later to put Cape Elizabeth in front to stay.

Down the stretch, Rosen made three clutch free throws and Smith did the same, and the Capers went on to a 63-58 victory.

Smith, who buried multiple 3-pointers from way downtown in the second half, finished with a game-high 23 points and Rosen added 13 as Cape Elizabeth improved to 1-3.

“It did not look good in the first half,” said Smith. “We’re a young team and they got off to a fast start, but we stayed composed. We came out in the second half and turned on our press and got some turnovers and got some buckets.”

“We had motivation to get out of our rocky start and we did,” Fredericks said.

“We really needed this energy release,” added Jeff Mitchell. “We’re young, but I and the other coaches know what the guys are capable of. It’s a massive, massive win for us mentally.

“We play a pressure defense called ‘Stack ‘ and when it’s run correctly, it really causes chaos and it worked in the second half. That’s how we got back in the game. We wanted to let our defense create our offense and that’s exactly what happened. Every coach down 19 at half thinks they can do it, but when we cut it to 10 after three, I knew we were within reach.”

The Capers go to Mountain Valley for a playoff rematch Saturday.

“This is huge after starting 0-3,” Rosen said. “We got a big win and now we’re going to go into Mountain Valley and (get some payback).”

“I think about last year a lot,” said Fredericks. “Losing in the first round of the playoffs, that was a hit, but we want to get our revenge. We’re going to keep our energy going.”

“We have to lean into this feeling and maintain it Saturday,” added Mitchell. “We don’t have a ton of players who played last year, but they’ve heard about how we laid an egg up there last year. (Mountain Valley’s) a fun place to play and I want the guys to own it.”

South Portland lost at home to Noble in its opener (67-59), then beat Lewiston (62-46) and Scarborough (67-49). Against the Knights, Manny Hidalgo had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds and Tom Maloji added 12 points. In the win over the Blue Devils, Hidalgo and Carmine Soucy both had 15 points and Maloji added 13. Against the Red Storm, Hidalgo led the way with 23 points, while Gabe Jackson added 15 and Maloji had a dozen. Tuesday, the Red Riots fell to 2-2 after a 66-44 loss at Cheverus. South Portland cut a 15-point deficit to one, but the Stags closed on a 30-9 run. Hidalgo had a team-high 11 points.

“We couldn’t get stops or buckets,’ Red Riots coach Kevin Millington lamented. “It just kind of spiraled. They’re really good. Their length is an issue defensively. They do a good job on help-side (defense) and they play hard. We had to convert our opportunities and we didn’t. It’s not easy scoring against them.”

South Portland goes to Sanford Friday.

“We just have to figure out who we are and we’ll get there,” Millington said. “I think we’re a work in progress. It’s a long season. I think we can be as good as anyone in the end. We’re not quite there yet. The plan is to keep getting better.”

Girls’ basketball

South Portland players jump for joy after beating Scarborough last Friday. Courtesy Kneka Smith.

On the girls’ side, South Portland won its first three outings, dispatching host Noble (51-19), host Lewiston (63-29) and visiting Scarborough (51-32). Against the Blue Devils, Destiny Peter and Emma Travis both scored 18 points and Mya Lawrence added 12. In the win over the Red Storm, in a rematch of last year’s Class AA South semifinal, the Red Riots got a little revenge, as Lawrence made five 3-pointers for a team-high 15 points, Peter added 14 points and 12 rebounds and Travis contributed 11 points, as South Portland won the fourth quarter, 16.2

“We were fired up to play Scarborough,” Lawrence said. “There’s always a rivalry and it feels good to beat them. I think our energy is much higher this year and we’re playing for each other.”

“We knew we needed to get it done,” said Travis. “We knew there were only eight minutes left and we needed to finish strong. It shows our resilience. We’ve been hyping each other up. We didn’t let last year’s loss affect us. It’s a new season and a new team.”

“I’m really pleased,” added Red Riots first-year coach Brianne Maloney. “The girls stepped up. We played an OK first half. We went in at halftime and talked about some things we needed to change and they came out and executed everything we talked about and more.

“The girls are playing team basketball. It’s nice when everyone on the floor can be a threat and that’s what we showed in the fourth quarter. We don’t talk about the next game or year’s past. (The playoff game) was on their mind, but I didn’t want to put any more emphasis on it. We just focused on what we needed to do.”

South Portland’s Annie Whitmore dribbles through traffic during Tuesday’s loss at Cheverus. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

Tuesday, South Portland suffered its first loss, 57-47, at reigning Class AA champion Cheverus. Travis had a dozen points and Peter finished with 10 points and seven rebounds, but it wasn’t enough.

“It’s our fourth game of the season, very early on,” Maloney said. “I like that we’re matched up early in the season. It gives us time to learn what we need to get better at and what we need to improve on. We see them twice, so it gives us more of a chance to prepare and fix our mistakes.

“I think the biggest thing is we didn’t fold. We battled back. Even when they knocked down shots, or when we turned the ball over, we never quit. There was never a time where I felt like we let up. We stayed aggressive and battled when things weren’t going our way.”

The Red Riots (3-1) return to action Friday at home versus highly-touted Sanford.

“I think we’ll go into Friday hungry for sure,” Maloney said.

Boys’ hockey

The South Portland/Portland/Deering/Waynflete Beacons co-op boys’ hockey squad opened with losses to visiting Windham/Westbrook/Bonny Eagle (4-2) and host Thornton Academy (6-0). After hosting Falmouth Thursday, the Beacons are at Bangor Saturday.

Cape Elizabeth opened with a 3-1 win over Brunswick, then fell to 1-2 with losses to Gorham (2-0) and Kennebunk (4-1). The Capers welcomed reigning Class B champion Cheverus/Yarmouth Thursday and go to Leavitt/Gray-New Gloucester/Oak Hill/Poland Saturday.

Girls’ hockey

The Cape Elizabeth/South Portland/Deering/Portland/Waynflete Beacons co-op girls’ hockey squad was 4-2 at press time after last week’s inspirational 3-2 win over two-time reigning state champion Cheverus and an 8-3 home loss to Edward Little/Leavitt/Poland/Monmouth. In the victory, Marina Bassett scored all three goals, including the winner with just over a minute to go. Bassett previously exceeded 100 goals for her career. Mya Clark made 14 saves. Bassett, Clio Cook-Sharp and Jane Flynn each scored once in the setback. The Beacons hosted the Gorham co-op team Wednesday and welcomes the Biddeford co-op Saturday.