We’re on to February and the winter sports season is entering its final phase.

The postseason.

Girls’ hockey will kick things off this week, while the basketball regular campaign comes to a close.

Indoor track, swimming, skiing and wrestling are closing in on their championship meets as well.

Here’s a glimpse of where things stand for local squads:

Girls hockey

Cheverus players mob goalie Ellie Skolnekovich after the Stags’ 1-0 win over Yarmouth/Freeport last week. Hoffer photo.

Cheverus’ girls hockey team, the two-time reigning state champion, is in position for another title run.

Last week, the Stags capped a 14-1-1 regular season with a 1-0 home victory over Yarmouth/Freeport, in a rematch of the past two state games, and a 1-0 forfeit win over St. Dom’s.

Against Yarmouth/Freeport, Caroline Rousseau scored a goal in the first period and goalie Ellie Skolnekovich made 26 saves.

“I love playing that team,” Skolnekovich said. “(Freeport’s) my hometown. They’re great competition. They improve every time we play them.”

“Winning on Senior Night means so much to me and Lucy,” said senior captain Zoey Radford. “It was such an exciting game. Yarmouth/Freeport’s always one of our biggest rivals. Playing them in two straight state finals, I think we’re they’re biggest game and they just come to play against us and we come to play against them..”

“It was not pretty, but it wasn’t pretty for them either,” added Cheverus coach Scott Rousseau. “When you get to the end and you have two really great teams, they make each other look bad. The game didn’t have great flow. We took strengths away from each other. It was a battle.”

The Stags earned their win over St. Dom’s after the Saints shut down their program early due to low numbers and injuries.

Cheverus will be the top seed in the South Region and have a bye into the semifinals Saturday. The Stags will host either No. 4 Biddeford (10-7-1) or No. 5 Falmouth/Scarborough (5-13). Cheverus beat the Tigers, 8-1, Jan. 11 at home, and swept Falmouth/Scarborough, prevailing, 5-1 at home Nov. 23 and 6-2 on the road Dec. 18.

“We just have to work together,” Radford said. “We’re a really young team this year. All of our players have shown a lot of character and growth.”

“We just need to keep playing hard,” said Skolnekovich. “Every team comes to play their best against us and it’s a big target on our back, but I think we have a chance. Absolutely.”

“I joke all the time that the jerseys are the two-time state champs and the people who were wearing them are mostly gone,” Scott Rousseau added. “This is a completely new team on a new and unique journey. I’m not worried about a run. You can’t think that way. I worry about the next game. One of the biggest strengths I think we’ve had is we just kind of keep our heads down and come to practice and go to work and fix our mistakes and hope to get better. Everything else is just noise.”

The Portland/Deering/Waynflete/South Portland/Cape Elizabeth Beacons co-op squad finished second in the South Region at 13-5 after closing with a 3-1 loss at Gorham and a wild 10-9 (overtime) home win over Penobscot. In the setback, Keke Mosunic had the goal and goalie Mya Clark stopped 24 shots. In the victory, the Beacons let a 7-1 lead slip away, but a goal from Jane Flynn with 27 seconds to go forced overtime, then Flynn scored again in OT to win it. Flynn finished with five goals, Marina Bassett added four and Hartson Mosunic also scored. Libby Hooper finished with five assists. Clark made 20 saves.

The Beacons will host No. 7 Greely (0-18) in the quarterfinals Wednesday at a time to be announced. The Beacons rolled in both regular season meetings, 8-1 on the road Nov. 27 and 10-2 at home Jan. 4.

The South Region Final will be contested Wednesday, Feb. 12, in Auburn. The state game is Saturday, Feb. 15 ,at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland.

Boys basketball

Waynflete’s Mercy Nkulu fights for possession during last week’s loss at Hall-Dale. Joe Phelan / Kennebec Journal

Cheverus’ boys basketball team completed a perfect road trip last week with impressive wins at Scarborough (59-54) and South Portland (54-37). Against the Red Storm, Leo McNabb had a game-high 24 points and the Stags got several easy baskets in the fourth period to prevail.

“I think we just locked in on defense,” said McNabb. “We had to get more ball pressure and stay together as a team. When we get up-and-down, not a lot of teams can run with us and that’s just our style.”

“We’re a spurty team,” Cheverus coach Richie Ashley said. “Sometimes that can come back and bite you, but we knew we had a spurt in there. We just had to get it close enough to take advantage. I think we did a much better job controlling the tempo and pace in the second half. We had to get inside. I think the guys played really well. We played good defense and rebounded the ball well.”

In the win over the Red Riots, McNabb had 21 points, Jameson Fitzpatrick nearly produced a double-double with 18 points and nine rebounds and Sammy Nzeyimana played lockdown defense on South Portland standout Manny Hidalgo.

“We execute every day in practice, so running our sets, controlling what we can control, we’ve done that very well the past three games,” Nzeyimana said. “It’s a game of runs. They’re a great team. We knew they’d go on a run. We stayed composed and stayed together as a team and fought back and put it away.”

“We just prepare really well,” said Fitzpatrick. “We come out and do what we need to do. We don’t worry about being on the road. Practice has made us good defensively. We just get in there and do shell drill, work hard, talk. Doing the little things is what matters.”

“It’s been an impressive stretch,” added Ashley. “The guys have buckled down. We had a great focus the last few days. Tonight, defensively, that’s one of the best performances we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Cheverus, which entered the week ranked first in the Class AA North Heal Points standings, was at Lewiston Tuesday, then closes the regular season at home versus Portland Thursday.

If the Stags wind up first in the region, they’ll have a bye into the semifinals. If they finish second behind reigning state champion Windham, they’ll host a quarterfinal round contest next week.

“We want to keep riding high and go into the playoffs on a high note,” said Ashley. “The guys believe in themselves. The team that will win (the championship) is the team that’s riding the best vibes. We’re having fun. We have one more week of the regular season, then we have some time off and then we’ll be ready for the tournament. I enjoy the guys. They’re good guys.”

Portland moved up to third in Class AA North after a 47-31 home win over Lewiston and a 62-42 triumph at Oxford Hills, which evened its record at 8-8. In the victory over the Blue Devils, Loic Ramazani scored 11 points and Lucas LeGage added 10. Against the Vikings, Cordell Jones led the way with 15 points,  Maddox Meas finished with 12, LeGage had 11 and Ramazani added 10.

The Bulldogs hosted South Portland Tuesday and closes the regular season at Cheverus Thursday.

Longtime Portland coach Joe Russo entered the week with 498 career victories.

In Class AA South, Deering was 8-9 and fourth following wins at Bonny Eagle (52-44) and at home over Massabesic (82-34) and a 67-51 loss at Thornton Academy. The victory at the Scots was highlighted by senior star Evan Legassey reaching the 1,000 career point plateau (see story). In the win over the Mustangs, on the Rams’ Senior Night, Mogga Yanga produced a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, David Otti led the way with 14 points, Michel Butera added 10 points and Ronan Wing finished with nine points and eight assists. In the setback, Tavian Lauture had a team-high 14 points, Tayshaun Cleveland added 12 and Legassey and Rudwan Mohamud each finished with 10.

Deering finishes the regular season with a showdown at Windham Thursday. The Rams hope to host a quarterfinal round playoff game next week.

In Class C South, Waynflete was 8-9 and ninth after sandwiching losses at Hall-Dale (65-55) and Old Orchard Beach (52-45) around a 66-52 home victory over Sacopee Valley. Against the Bulldogs, JJ Carlo had 23 points and Jed Alsup added 22. In the victory, JJ Carlo had 22 points, Alsup tallied 12, Mercy Nkulu added 11 and Malcoln O’Wril finished with 10. In the loss to the Seagulls, Carlo had a game-high 23 points.

The Flyers finish the regular season at St. Dom’s Thursday. If Waynflete can move up to eighth, it will host a preliminary round tournament game next week. If not, it will go on the road for that round.

Girls basketball

Cheverus’ Holly Irahoza goes up for a shot during Friday’s loss at South Portland. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, Cheverus, the reigning state champion, appears destined for the No. 2 seed in the upcoming Class AA North tournament. Last week, the Stags avenged an earlier setback with a 56-42 win at Scarborough, then fell to 11-5 after a 59-47 setback at South Portland. In the victory, Kylie Lamson scored 18 points and Abby Kelly added 16.

“It feels great to beat (Scarborough),” Lamson said. “We played hard and got the win. Moving the ball and our defensive intensity got us going and got our offensive game more aggressive.”

“We had a good mentality,” said Kelly. “We wanted this win. We knew we had to prove we could beat them.”

“All the practicing we’ve been doing has paid off,” added Cheverus coach Billy Goodman. “We’ve worked on halfcourt offense as a team. We’ve worked on defense. We’ve done a lot since (the first Scarborough) game and I’m proud of the girls for stepping up tonight. (Scarborough’s) a very good defensive team. Probably one of the top defensive teams in the league. We knew we had to move the ball to score.”

Against the Red Riots, the Stags couldn’t hold a halftime lead and went down to defeat despite 12 points from Lamson.

“Give (South Portland) credit, they made their shots,” Goodman said. “They deserved to win. We played well in the first half. If we had shots fall, it could have been a different game, but they didn’t. I had the right people shooting. It just didn’t go in tonight. We preach taking care of the basketball, not fouling and getting rebounds. Tonight, we didn’t do those things too well.”

Cheverus hosted Lewiston Tuesday and finishes the regular season at home versus Portland Thursday.

“This team has proved this year that every time we’ve had a setback, we’ve come back strong,” Goodman said. “That’s what we look to do to get some momentum for the playoffs.”

The Stags will host a quarterfinal round tournament game next week.

Portland was 4-12 and sixth in Class AA North following a 54-23 home loss to Edward Little last week. Baleria Yugu had 12 points in defeat. The Bulldogs visited South Portland Tuesday, then close at Cheverus Thursday.

Portland will be on the road for the quarterfinal round next week.

In Class A South, Deering was 2-14 after a 53-40 win at Bonny Eagle and a 45-36 home loss to Kennebunk. In the victory, Angelina Keo led the way with 18 points and Payton Legassey finished with a dozen. In the setback, Keo scored 15 points and Blake Gayle added 11.

The Rams, ranked ninth in the region, where only eight teams qualify for the tournament, went to Westbrook Tuesday and close the season at home versus Windham Thursday.

In Class D South, Waynflete was 6-11 and seventh following a 68-24 home loss to Hall-Dale and wins at Sacopee Valley (28-24, in overtime) and at home over Old Orchard Beach (25-22). Against the Hawks, Lucy Mamone forced OT with a late basket, then Elefe Angle’s 3-pointer in overtime pushed the Flyers over the top. In the win over the Seagulls, Lauren McNutt-Girouard scored 11 points and Fallon Culley added seven.

The Flyers close the regular season with a game at St. Dom’s Thursday. Waynflete will then travel to Augusta for a Class D South quarterfinal Monday, Feb. 17.

Boys hockey

The Cheverus/Yarmouth boys hockey co-op team, the reigning Class B state champion, was knocked from the ranks of the unbeaten last Thursday with a 3-0 loss at Kennebunk/Wells. Saturday, then the squad improved to 12-1 and first in Class B South after surviving Cape Elizabeth,1 -0, in overtime. Brayden Fitch made 19 saves in the setback. Colby Carnes scored the winner against the Capers. Cheverus/Yarmouth has a showdown of reigning champions at Lewiston Wednesday and welcomes Gorham Satuurday.

The Portland/Deering/Waynflete/South Portland Beacons co-op squad fell to 3-11 and 13th in Class A following Saturday’s 9-3 loss at reigning Class A champion Lewiston. The Beacons welcome Marshwood Thursday.

Indoor track

Cheverus’ girls indoor track team defeated South Portland, Portland and Deering at a regular season-ending meet Saturday. Bulldogs senior Alisandra Lindos set a new program record by winning the triple jump, with a top leap of 36 feet, 00.25 inches, breaking the record held by Madison Bolduc (Class of 2015), which was 35-3.

In the boys’ competition, South Portland came in first, Portland finished second, Deering was third and Cheverus fourth.

The Southwesterns championship meet will be held Saturday.