The calendar is about to flip to the month that winter athletes love.

February.

The month that brings tournaments and championships will be full of thrills again for local athletes and teams, but there is regular season business to tend to first.

Every game and meet takes on more magnitude this week and there are some great matchups.

Here’s an overview of the week that was and of what’s to come:

Boys basketball

Deering’s Tayshuan Cleveland shoots over Cheverus’ Aaron Goodman during the Rams’ 65-62 victory last Monday. Courtesy Kneka Smith.

Cheverus’ boys basketball team had an up-and-down week last week, but it ended in style.

Last Monday, the Stags let a 10-point fourth quarter lead slip away and lost at Deering, 65-62. Leo McNabb had a team-high 22 points, Jameson Fitzpatrick added 15 and Nicola Plalum wound up with 10.

(Deering) deserved to win,” said Cheverus coach Richie Ashley. “We didn’t get great shots and we didn’t box out. We didn’t do the things with under a minute to go that we needed to do to win.”

Friday, at reigning Class AA champion Windham, the Stags improved to 11-3 with a 66-51 win. Cheverus surged in the second half, getting three clutch 3-pointers off the bench from senior Aaron Goodman, a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds from Fitzpatrick and 15 points from McNabb.

“I just stay ready,” Goodman said. “I never know what will happen. Leo set me up with great passes. Credit to him. My job was to just put them in. Making shots in a game like this, it’s awesome. It was a great atmosphere.”

“I take a lot of pride in hard work,” said Fitzpatrick. “It’s all about energy every single night.”

“That was a great team win,” added Ashley. “We’ve had individuals carry us before, but this one was a team win. We executed about as well as we could and we had even scoring tonight, which is great. The guys bounced back. They were resilient. All the credit to them.”

The Stags (second to Windham in the Class AA North Heal Points standings) were at Scarborough Tuesday, then go to South Portland Friday (see our website for game story). Cheverus closes the regular season at home next week versus Lewiston and Portland.

“It’s a feel-good thing now, but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Ashley. “(The guys are) fighters and that’s all I can ask for. We have two big ones next week. We have to get ready for Scarborough and SoPo.”

Deering improved to 6-8 and fifth in Class AA South with its 65-62 come-from-behind home win over Cheverus last Monday. The Rams tied the game on a late 3-pointer Rudwan Mohamud, who was fouled on the play. He missed the free throw, but Tavian Lauture got the rebound and the ball eventually found Evan Legassey, who buried the winning 3-ball with just 7.4 seconds left. Tayshaun Cleveland led the way with 24 points, Legassey added 20 and Mohamud had 19.

“I just found my spot and got open,” Legassey said. “We kept working hard and wound up getting a great look. I just have so much confidence and there was no thought behind it, I just let it fly. I thought, ‘That’s game.’”

“This was so nice,” said Cleveland, the son of former Deering star Martin Cleveland. “We needed this one. We’ve struggled earlier in the year, so this is a good win to bring us back up.”

“We’ve talked pregame that we needed a signature win,” added Rams coach Todd Wing. “We came out ready. We survived throughout the ebbs and flows of the game. Cheverus went up 10, but we didn’t fold. The guys were relentless, they didn’t give up and they made plays. It’s great. We’ve had a lot of ‘should-haves,’ but we needed a game where we got it done.”

Deering was back in action Tuesday at Bonny Eagle (with Legassey needing just nine points to reach the 1,000 threshold for his career). After hosting Massabesic Thursday, the Rams visit Thornton Academy Friday. They close the regular season at Windham Feb. 6.

“I’d like to move to the number 3 spot, but to do that, we need more signature wins,” Wing said. “We just have to become the best version of ourselves.”

Portland was 7-8 and fourth in Class AA North after a 30-28 home loss to Marshwood and a 47-31 home win over Lewiston. Against the Hawks, Lucas LeGage had 10 points, but the Bulldogs only mustered 10 points after halftime. In the victory, Loic Ramazani led the way with 11 points and LeGage added 10. The Bulldogs go to Oxford Hills Friday, host South Portland Tuesday of next week, then finish the regular season at Cheverus Feb. 6.

In Class C South, Waynflete was 7-7 and ninth following a 62-22 win at North Yarmouth Academy last week. JJ Carlo led the way with 22 points. The Flyers were at Hall-Dale Tuesday, host Sacopee Valley Thursday, visit St. Dom’s Saturday, then close at St. Dom’s Feb. 6.

Girls basketball

Cheverus’s Kylie Lamson surveys the defense during Friday’s win at Windham. Hoffer photo.

Cheverus’ girls’ team, meanwhile, improved to 10-4 and second behind Oxford Hills in the Class AA North Heals following wins last week at Deering (48-25) and Windham (52-39). Against the Rams, Kylie Lamson led the way with 19 points and Abby Kelly added 11. The Stags faced a second half deficit at the Eagles but pulled away late behind 27 points from Lamson. Addison Jordan added 14 points.

“I would definitely say it was a big win for us,” Lamson said. “There was lots of adversity. The gym was full and it’s a tough gym to play in.”

“Our defense brought us energy and once we got energy from the defense, we could pick it up on offense,” Jordan said. “We just had to keep working and play our game.”

“Our struggle has been scoring, but the girls kept fighting and I can’t believe how great they played,” Cheverus coach Billy Goodman added. “This is a whole new team from last year and tonight, they stepped up in a big way. We gained confidence and experience tonight against a very good team.”

The Stags were at Scarborough Tuesday, go to South Portland Friday (see our website for game story), then close with home games versus Lewiston and Portland next week.

“We’ve told the girls, the (Windham, Scarborough and South Portland) games are playoff games,” Goodman said. “We have to keep building on this.”

Portland was 4-11 and sixth in Class AA North after a 66-29 loss at Biddeford and a 42-29 home win over Lewiston. Baleria Yugu had 13 points versus the Tigers. In the victory, Yugu led the way with 14 points. Lawino Bendasta added 10. The Bulldogs hosted Edward Little Tuesday, go to South Portland Tuesday of next week, then finish at Cheverus Feb. 6.

Deering fell to 1-13 and 10th in Class A South (where just eight teams make the playoffs) following a 48-25 home loss to Cheverus and a 58-26 setback at Marshwood. Xelestina Beverage had nine points against the Stags, while Almarina Abore led the way with nine points versus the Hawks. The Rams were at Bonny Eagle Tuesday, host Kennebunk Saturday and go to Westbrook Tuesday of next week before closing at home against Windham Feb. 6.

In Class D South, Waynflete was 4-10 and seventh after last week’s 51-21 home loss to NYA. The Flyers hosted Hall-Dale Tuesday, go to Sacopee Valley Thursday, welcome Old Orchard Beach Saturday, then close at St. Dom’s Feb. 6.

Girls hockey

Cheverus’ Lucy Johnson fights for the puck during last week’s win at Brunswick. Cooper Sullivan / The Times Record
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Cheverus’ girls hockey team, the two-time reigning state champion, improved to 12-1-1 and first in the South Region Heals after last week’s 5-2 home win over Brunswick. Ashley Cloutier, Lucy Johnson, Jaylee Radford Zoey Radford and Caroline Rousseau all had one goal. The Stags welcome Yarmouth/Freeport in a state game rematch/possible state game preview Thursday (see our website for game story) before closing the regular season at St. Dom’s Saturday.

The Portland/Deering/Waynflete/South Portland/Cape Elizabeth Beacons improved to 12-4 and were right behind the Stags in second place in the South Region following last week’s 4-2 loss at Yarmouth/Freeport. Marina Bassett and Alexis Turner each had one goal. After going to Gorham Monday, the Beacons close at home versus Penobscot Saturday.

The girls hockey playoffs begin Wednesday of next week on the home ice of the higher seeds.

Boys hockey

On the boys’ side, reigning state champion Cheverus/Yarmouth improved to 11-0 and first in the Class B South Heals entering Thursday’s game at Kennebunk. After hosting Cape Elizabeth Saturday, Cheverus/Yarmouth goes to reigning Class A champion Lewiston Wednesday of next week.

The Portland/Deering/South Portland/Waynflete Beacons co-op team was 3-8 and 13th in Class A following losses to visiting Scarborough (3-2) and host Marshwood (5-2) last week. Ian House and Michael McMains each scored once in the second setback. The Beacons visit Lewiston Saturday.

Indoor track

In Portland’s most recent league meet, Charlie Jacques set a new SMAA record in the 600 with a time of 1 minutes, 24.9 seconds.

Swimming

In recent swimming action, Cheverus swept Westbrook, as the boys won, 95-23, and the girls prevailed, 63-30.

The reigning Class A champion Deering/Portland girls beat Windham, 116-41, while the boys were victorious as well, 92-72.

Skiing

Portland’s Henry Morrison placed sixth at the Sassi Memorial Freestyle. Morrison had a time of 13 minutes, 3.5 seconds. The Bulldogs were seventh as a team. Portland’s girls placed ninth.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net