Waynflete’s Jared Johnson goes up for a shot in traffic in last week’s 71-43 home victory over Freeport.

Portland’s Pedro Fonseca, left, and Trey Bellew reach for the ball during the Bulldogs’ 54-23 loss at Thornton Academy Friday.

(Ed. Note: For the complete Waynflete-Freeport boys’ basketball game story, see theforecaster.net)

The final games of the winter sports regular season are upon us and with the girls’ hockey playoffs beginning next week, that means the calendar is about to flip to February and it’s time to start thinking about championships.

Here’s a glimpse at what happened last week and a look at what’s upcoming:

Boys’ basketball

Waynflete’s boys’ basketball team improved to 10-2 and second behind Winthrop in the Class C South Heal Points standings after last Tuesday’s surprisingly lopsided 71-43 home win over Freeport. The Flyers went on a mindboggling 35-3 run to break the game open and prevailed behind a balanced attack which featured 12 points from Dominick Campbell, 11 apiece from Askar Houssein and Finn Scott and eight each from Jared Johnson and Alex Saade.

“The whole team contributed and got to spots,” said Johnson. “We made (Freeport) turn the ball over. Changing up the defense brought more intensity and brought the whole team up. It was fun. It’s a great win for us.”

“I think in the second half, everyone bought in,” said Houssein. “We weren’t really satisfied, but as the run got bigger, we were fine. We know we’re capable of this.”

“We had to settle down,” Waynflete coach Rich Henry added. “I just told the guys, when we lose games, the leaders on the team say to channel the feeling. I hope we can channel this feeling because I don’t think we played out of character. We played how we should play.”

The Flyers were at Sacopee Valley Tuesday, host Old Orchard Beach Friday, then close next week at St. Dom’s and North Yarmouth Academy.

“What I want to see now is consistency,” Henry said. “We know the feeling. We have to keep doing it.”

In Class AA North, Deering was 9-5 and fourth in the standings following home wins last week over Massabesic (47-35) and Windham (51-43). Against the Eagles, Ben Onek had 17 points and 11 rebounds, while Max Morrione added 13 points and Darryl Germain finished with 12. After traveling to Thornton Academy Tuesday, the Rams host Noble Friday, then close the regular season with games at Cheverus and at home versus Portland.

Speaking of Portland, the Bulldogs fell to 9-5 and fifth in Class AA North after Friday’s 54-23 loss at Thornton Academy. Portland got five points apiece from Jeremiah Alado and Finn Katz-Cronin, but suffered its most humbling loss in years.

“I didn’t feel as if my starters did anything I wanted them to do,” said Bulldogs coach Joe Russo. “Run an offense. Play defense. This has to be the worst showing in any game I coached in my entire life. If they were just missing shots, that’s fine, but you really should never have a night where you’re not running what you’ve been asked to run. It’s now up to them how they respond to this.”

Portland hoped to bounce back Tuesday when it hosted dangerous Bonny Eagle. After welcoming Cheverus Thursday (see theforecaster.net for game story), The Bulldogs close next week with a home game against South Portland and a trip to Deering.

Cheverus was ranked sixth in Class AA North with a 7-7 mark following 54-49 loss at Oxford Hills. Nick Galli scored 14 points and Matt Duchaine added 11, but it wasn’t quite enough.

“I don’t think we were ever able to turn the corner and get downhill into the paint like we want,” said Stags coach Ryan Soucie. “They were holding us up on our cuts and we missed some shots. I don’t know what we shot from (3-point range) but it wasn’t very good, and that’s a huge part of our game.”

Cheverus was at Noble Tuesday, travels to Portland Thursday, then welcomes Deering Tuesday of next week before closing at South Portland next Thursday.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, Portland evened its record at 7-7 with a 42-30 home win over Cheverus Friday and began the week ranked fifth in the Class AA North Heals. Against the Stags, Amanda Kabantu scored 17 points and Davina Kabantu added 10. The Bulldogs were at Bonny Eagle Tuesday, visit Scarborough Friday, welcome South Portland Tuesday of next week, then close at Deering next Thursday.

Cheverus fell to 5-10 and sixth in the region after losses to visiting Oxford Hills (46-24) and at Portland (42-30). Lauren Jordan had six points and 10 rebounds in the loss to the Vikings, then scored 10 points against the Bulldogs. The Stags hosted Noble Tuesday, welcome Deering Tuesday of next week, then close at versus South Portland next Thursday.

Deering was 1-13 and eighth in Class AA North after losses last week at Massabesic (49-31), South Portland (58-17) and Windham (49-31). Delaney Haines is back from injury for the Rams and led the way against the Mustangs with 11 points. Mandy Mastropasqua and Gloria Muka each had four points in the loss to the Red Riots. Against the Eagles, Haines scored 18 points. Deering was home against Thornton Academy Tuesday, visits Noble Friday, travels to Cheverus Tuesday of next week, then finishes at home versus Portland Thursday of next week.

In Class C South, Waynflete was 1-12 and 18th in the region following its first win of the year (29-26 at Sacopee Valley) and losses at Freeport (46-23) and at home to Hebron Academy (41-33). In the victory, the first for new coach Jim Marshall, Kilee Sherry had 11 points and Sophi Aronson and Margaret Ojut had seven apiece. In the loss to the Falcons, Sherry led the way with eight points. Ojut scored 13 points and Sherry added 10 against Hebron. The Flyers were home with Sacopee Valley Tuesday, play at Old Orchard Beach Friday, welcome St. Dom’s Tuesday of next week, then close at NYA next Thursday.

Girls’ hockey

The Cheverus/Kennebunk girls’ hockey team has the inside track on the top seed in the South Region for the second year in a row. Entering play this week, Cheverus/Kennebunk was 14-2 and first in the standings following last Monday’s 4-2 home win over defending champion Greely/Gray-New Gloucester in a state game rematch. Cheverus/Kennebunk hosts Scarborough Thursday in a critical game for playoff seeding, then closes at St. Dom’s Saturday.

Portland/Deering began the week 4-12 and was holding on to the sixth and final playoff spot in the South after a 7-5 home win over Yarmouth/Freeport and a 5-4 home loss to Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland. Emily Demers had three goals and Caroline Lerch added two in the victory and Demers also had a hat trick in the loss. Portland/Deering is at St. Dom’s Wednesday and closes at York Saturday.

The Cape/Waynflete/SP co-op team was 8-7 and fourth in the South after a 7-0 home win over Winslow in a makeup game and a 5-4 victory at Portland/Deering last week. After visiting Falmouth Wednesday, the squad finishes at undefeated Lewiston Saturday.

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

Boys’ hockey

On the boys’ side, Portland/Deering was 5-6 and fifth in Class A South following a 6-5 loss at Cheverus and a 5-1 home win over Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills last week. Against the Stags, Jake Luce had three goals, but it wasn’t enough.

“We’ve been struggling about a week and a half, getting over some illness and flu,” Portland/Deering coach Jeff Beaney said. “I thought we played well. We had a little trouble in the second period with turnovers inside the blue line.”

In the win, Donnie Tocci had two goals.

Portland/Deering welcomes Bangor Thursday and goes to defending Class B champion Old Town/Orono Saturday.

“We’re still a work in progress, but this year, the way the league is, you make the playoffs and you have a chance,” Beaney said.

Cheverus was 5-7 and sixth in Class A South after beating host Lake Region/Fryeburg/Oxford Hills (5-1), visiting Portland/Deering (6-5) and host South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete (4-1). Against Portland/Deering, Colby Anton scored three times, including the winner with a minute left.

“I was coming across the middle, I waited and waited and waited, then the goalie went down and I went top shelf,” Anton said.

“We gave up a two-goal lead and it would have been easy to roll over,” said Cheverus coach Mike Carmody. “It’s my first year in the rivalry. Fun to be a part of it, but I’d rather be playing in it. It’s a lot more stressful coaching.”

After visiting Falmouth in a key contest Tuesday, the Stags go to St. Dom’s Saturday.

The SP/Freeport/Waynflete co-op fell to 4-6 and seventh in Class A South after its 4-1 home loss to Cheverus Saturday. After playing at Windham/Westbrook Wednesday, the squad is home with Scarborough Saturday (see theforecaster.net for game story).

Indoor track

Local indoor track teams are back in action Saturday in the final regular season meet at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet is the following weekend.

Swimming

Cheverus’ defending Class A champion boys’ swim team defeated South Portland, 100-69, last weekend. The Stags girls’ squad defeated the Red Riots, 95-75.

Portland swept Windham, as the boys prevailed, 113-47, and the girls beat the Eagles, 86-70.

Waynflete was swept by Kennebunk, as the boys lost, 94-50, and the girls were beaten by the Rams, 88-70.

Deering’s meet at Sanford was postponed.

Skiing

At last weekend’s Nordic Sassi Memorial, Deering’s Grace Tumavicus was fifth individually in the girls’ race. Sierra Aponte-Clarke came in 10th.

Waynflete’s boys’ and girls’ teams were both eighth at an 11-team skate race last week at Pineland Farms.

In Alpine action, Cheverus’ girls finished fourth and the boys were fifth in a slalom meet at Shawnee Peak last week.

Wrestling

Cheverus’ wrestling team improved to 15-6 after beating Portland (36-32), Scarborough (39-28), Kennebunk (49-30) and Marshwood (45-28) last week.

Portland was 12-6 at the start of the week after losing to Cheverus (36-32), beating Massabesic (48-24) and Westbrook/Gorham (57-17) and losing to Noble (42-30).

Deering fell to 3-11 after losing to Massabesic (42-36) and Biddeford (43-36).

The wrestling regular season ends Saturday.

Sun Journal staff writer Randy Whitehouse and Press Herald staff writers Steve Craig and Kevin Thomas contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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