The harsh part of losing in the playoffs is the finality of it all.
Players gather in the locker room for one final time. Tears are shed. And it’s tough for coaches, too.
After his Wildcats lost in the Western Class B semifinals to Cape Elizabeth, York boys’ basketball coach Randy Small didn’t hide his feelings.
“I will miss those kids,” he said. “I love them.”
He said York’s season really didn’t end with the loss. Next season is “just beginning.”
The Wildcats had only one senior on the roster and started three juniors and two sophomores.
“It’s been an incredible experience for them,” said Small. “I told them to remember this feeling (of losing) and to use it next year.”
Kristy Parent, coach of the Sanford girls, was also saddened by her team’s semifinal loss Saturday against Deering, but for another reason: four of her starters were seniors.
“We had a good season overall,” she said. “But we lose some great leadership. This was one of the closest teams I’ve ever had. And that makes it tough on everyone.”
EMMA CLARK graduated from York last year but was on hand Saturday to watch the Wildcats play Leavitt in the Western Class B final. Leavitt won 58-55 in overtime in one of the most spectacular regional finals in the last two decades.
The loss was hard on the Wildcats, who won the state championship last year and had a 42-game winning streak. Clark was there to help console York senior center Nicole Taylor, joining Taylor’s family to comfort Taylor after the game ended.
“It’s hard,” said Clark. “I know the feeling, the state game my junior year (losing to Waterville). It stays with you.”
Taylor said the Wildcats simply made too many mistakes against Leavitt’s full-court pressure, which forced 30 turnovers. But she was proud of York’s comeback from seven points down in the fourth.
“We knew the game wasn’t over and what we had to do,” she said. “(Leavitt) played great. And we played our hardest.”
THEO BOWE of Cape Elizabeth was named the winner of the Pierre Harnois Award as the top player-sportsman in the Western Class B boys’ basketball tournament. Bowe joined his brother, Alex, as a Harnois winner. Alex won the award two years ago. The Capers have had three of the last four winners – Andrew Dickey won in 2008.
Cape plays Eastern Maine champion Camden Hills for the Class B state title at 8 p.m. Friday at the Cumberland County Civic Center. It’s a rematch of the 2009 final, won by the Windjammers, 62-49.
THE BOOTHBAY boys’ basketball team has had its close games with Dirigo, so when the Seahawks fell behind 21-8 after the first quarter of Saturday’s Western Class C final, it was out of the ordinary.
“We dug ourselves too much of a hole,” senior guard Dan Dickinson said. “Poor defense. We allowed too much in the first quarter.”
Dickinson, with several steals keying fast breaks, helped rally Boothbay, which closed to within a point before losing 53-48. The Seahawks, who won the Mountain Valley Conference tournament, finished at 17-4.
“Good season,” Dickinson said. “I think we exceeded expectations.”
WHEN THE eight-team field for the Western Class A hockey playoffs was finalized, Portland (6-12) and Deering (10-8) just missed out, finishing ninth and 10th in the Heal point standings.
Portland’s scheduled proved too hard, and Deering’s too easy.
The Bulldogs played a Tier I schedule and lost all 10 games against other Tier I teams (two apiece to Biddeford, Thornton Academy, Falmouth, Scarborough and South Portland).
Portland also lost to Bangor and Cheverus, and the 3-2 loss to Cheverus on Feb. 19 may have knocked the Bulldogs out of the postseason.
Deering won eight of its last nine games, including two wins over Cheverus, which made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed. But the Rams could not accumulate a lot of Heal points with their schedule. They played one Tier I team (losing to Portland), and the win against Cheverus was their only one against a team with a winning record.
As for Cheverus, wins over Noble, Cape Elizabeth, Portland and South Portland helped the Stags’ cause.
THE FIRST Nordic skiing state title in North Yarmouth Academy history comes on the heels of a Class C cross country championship won in the fall.
Not surprisingly, the seven boys who skied for NYA in Rangeley last week — juniors Cam Regan (the individual classic winner), Evan Kendall, Rudy Guliani, Jake Susla, Grant McPherson and Robert Field, and freshman Ian Moore (the freestyle winner) — also ran cross country.
“They’re just a really hard-working group,” said second-year NYA Coach Kalie Dunn, a 2004 graduate of Yarmouth High. “Coming into the ski season, they were in great shape, which was wonderful for me because we could work on ski-specific things.”
NYA was third in Class C a year ago and fifth in the Western Maine Conference. This winter, NYA placed a close second to Yarmouth in both the Sassi Memorial race and the conference championships before handily defeating Freeport, 49-86, at the state meet, with Fort Kent well back in third (among 13 schools) with 120 points.
The top seven skiers from NYA also trained throughout the year with Jordi St. John as part of the Maine Coast Nordic team.
“There’s a lot of roller skiing, but also weights, ski-specific workouts and even some hiking,” Dunn said. “It’s a great way for them to meet skiers on other teams, too.”
Although the high school state meets are over, the ski season continues with Eastern High School qualifying at Black Mountain on Saturday, and the J2 Championships the following weekend at Gunstock in Gilford, N.H.
Moore will take part in the Junior Olympics in Minneapolis from March 4-13.
SIMILARLY, THE ALPINE season is still going strong. Skiers who placed among the top 10 in their class in slalom or giant slalom qualified for the Eastern High School Alpine Shoot Out held Sunday at Mt. Abram.
Alex Rose and Lindsey Jacques of Livermore Falls were first among a dozen boys and a dozen girls who advanced from that race to the Eastern High School Championships March 12-13 at Cannon Mountain in Franconia, N.H.
Two of the 12 girls who qualified — freshman Elyse Dinan and sophomore Maddie Whittier — are from Greely’s unbeaten Class A championship squad, the first in school history.
Whittier is a two-time Class A giant slalom champion, and Dinan is the reigning skimeister who placed second in GS and ninth in slalom. Freshmen Jill Booth and Teal Otley, sophomore Jordan Ouellette and senior Cat Ferguson round out the Rangers.
The other girls’ Alpine champions — Freeport in Class C and Yarmouth in Class B — finished second and third, respectively, to Greely in the Western Maine Conference meet.
Ouellette has 12 girls on his team. Five ski in the Gould Sunday River weekend program. Five others regularly ski with their family at Sunday River or Sugarloaf.
“So 10 of 12 are on snow almost all the time,” he said. “That makes a big difference.”
— Staff Writers Tom Chard, Mike Lowe, Kevin Thomas and Glenn Jordan contributed to this report.
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