Northern: Challenges loom, but local teams overcome

The games go on, some of them anyway, and the action continues to turn heads.

There’s still a long way to go in the winter sports regular season and nothing is guaranteed, but local athletes are grateful to be able to compete and the best should still be yet to come.

Here’s a look back at the week that was:

Boys’ basketball

Greely’s Dee Martin Coyne fights Yarmouth’s Peter Psyhogeos (15) for possession during the Clippers’ 40-30 victory Saturday. Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald

Yarmouth’s boys’ basketball team remained undefeated last week, improving to 7-0 after downing host Wells (45-34), visiting Fryeburg Academy (52-32) and visiting Greely (40-30). Against the Warriors, Peter Psyhogeos had 18 points and Matt Waeldner added 12. In the win over the Raiders, Waeldner scored 20 points, Psyhogeos finished with 18 and Stevie Walsh added 11. Against the Rangers, the Clippers led, 12-2, after one quarter, but couldn’t put the Rangers away and fell behind by a point in the fourth period before Sutter Augur hit a 3 to give Yarmouth the lead for good.

“We weren’t panicking,” Augur said. “Somebody got into the paint and kicked it to me. I was open and I just let it fly and it went in. It felt good off my hand. Everyone on the team’s really supportive. I feel confident every time I take an open shot.”

The Clippers then closed the game on a 9-0 run and held on behind 13 points from Psyhogeos, 11 from Waeldner and eight from Augur as well as a strong defensive effort from Jack McCosh.

“I think our defense was the difference,” Psyhogeos said. “We knew Greely is a good shooting team and we had to key in on that. Playing tough on the defensive end helped us win. We didn’t want to get in a scoring battle with them. We just did what we had to do to win.”

“It’s wicked fun to play,” McCosh said. “Last year’s season ended early. We’re back now and we’re loving every minute of it.”

“I think we’re a pretty good defensive team, but this was a different level, so I give the guys credit,” added Clippers coach Jonas Allen. “Defense is what we focus on. It’s the brand of our program and our guys took it to a different level tonight.”

Yarmouth hoped to stay undefeated when it welcomed Leavitt Tuesday. The Clippers are at Waynflete Thursday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story).

“This year, it’s going to be about who’s healthy at the right time,” Allen added. “Right now, we’re thankful for any game we get to play. No one has to bring us back to earth. We know every night is a battle. There aren’t any easy games for us.”

In Class A South, Freeport is heating up. Last week, the Falcons stunned host Greely in overtime (70-58), won at Lake Region (61-54) and captured their fourth game in a row and extended their win streak to four with a 79-56 home victory over Poland. Against the Rangers, where Freeport erased a 10-point halftime deficit, Blaine Cockburn led the way with 21 points, while Connor Slocum finished with 13 and Colby Arsenault and Keigan Shea each added 10. In the win over the Lakers, Arsenault went off for 28 points. Against the Knights, new Falcons coach Tyler Tracy beat his former squad, as Arsenault had 25 points, J.T. Pound finished with 15 and Cockburn added 14. Freeport hosted Mt. Ararat Tuesday, goes to Wells Thursday and travel to Cape Elizabeth Monday of next week.

Falmouth remains red-hot, improving to 6-1 last Thursday by dominating visiting Gorham, 74-47, as Brady Coyne had 25 points, Jack Stowell added 19 and Judd Armstrong had 13, including consecutive rousing dunks that sparked a game-breaking 18-0 run.

“Getting dunks gets the team going and the crowd fired up,” Armstrong said. “I saw no one below the rim and I just took advantage of it.”

“We know we need to be consistent,” Coyne said. “We know we’ll have some good teams coming up we’ll have to play better against. Class AA teams are tough teams to beat.”

“We couldn’t score fast enough, so we brought it down a bit,” added longtime Falmouth coach Dave Halligan after his 551st career victory with the program. “You can’t just take the first available shot, which is what we were doing. Once we started sharing the ball, we’re pretty good because we have several scorers.”

The Navigators go to Marshwood Friday and welcome Westbrook Monday of next week.

“I think we’re making progress,” Halligan added. “There’s no rhythm to this season. You have to adjust to the conditions and control the things you can control. We just want to get better by the end.”

Greely won its first four games, but fell to 4-4 after losses last week to visiting Freeport (70-58, in overtime), host York (62-52) and host Yarmouth (40-30). Against the Falcons, Andrew St. Hilaire had 22 points. In the loss to the Wildcats, St. Hilaire had a team-high 15 points. Against the Clippers, Dee Martin Coyne dominated down low with 10 points and 18 rebounds, but the Rangers couldn’t score late.

“We came into the fourth quarter where we wanted to be, and late in the fourth, we were still pretty good,” Greely coach Travis Seaver said. “Defensively, we did what we wanted to do, but we couldn’t find the bucket all game. We just couldn’t buy a basket.”

The Rangers were scheduled to host Falmouth Tuesday, but that game has been postponed. Greely welcomes Lake Region Thursday.

“The kids are competing, which is all I can ask for,” Seaver said. “We know what we need to work on and we just have to see if we can accomplish it.”

In Class C South, North Yarmouth Academy hasn’t played a game since Dec. 21. The Panthers (2-2) had home games last week against Rangeley and Seacoast Christian postponed. NYA was scheduled to go to Waynflete Tuesday, welcomes Sacopee Valley for a makeup game Wednesday, then visits Old Orchard Beach Friday.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, NYA won its first five outings, but hasn’t played since Dec. 22. The Panthers expect to return to action Friday when they host Old Orchard Beach.

Yarmouth has had to postpone four straight contests, including games last week against visiting Wells and at Fryeburg Academy and Greely, as well as a scheduled contest Tuesday at Leavitt. The Clippers (3-1) host Waynflete Thursday and go to Lake Region Saturday.

Falmouth had games postponed last week at Gorham and Morse, but was scheduled to return to action Tuesday at home versus Greely. After hosting Marshwood Friday, the Navigators are at Westbrook Monday.

Greely actually has seen some action in recent days, extending its win streak to three games and improving to 5-2 after victories last week at Freeport (57-45) and at home over York (47-26). Against the Falcons, Chelsea Graiver had 23 points, Sophia Ippolito added 14 and Asja Kelman finished with 11. In the win over the Wildcats, Kelman scored 14 points, while Ippolito and Kaiyla Delisle added 10 apiece. The Rangers had a showdown at Falmouth Tuesday and travel to Lake Region Thursday.

Freeport was 3-4 at press time after a 57-45 home loss to Greely and victories over visiting Lake Region (49-32) and host Poland (35-24). Angel Pillsbury had 15 points and Mason Baker-Schlendering added 14 against the Rangers. In the win over the Lakers, Pillsbury had 11 points and Baker-Schlendering finished with 10. Against the Knights, Pillsbury had nine points and Baker-Schlendering and Izzy Orlando each added eight. The Falcons hoped to even their record Tuesday at Mt. Ararat. They host reigning Class B champion Wells Thursday and welcome Cape Elizabeth Monday.

Boys’ hockey

Cheverus/Yarmouth’s Matthew Robichaud skates in on the Edward Little goalie during last week’s 2-1 loss. Ben McCanna / Portland Press Herald

The Cheverus/Yarmouth boys’ hockey co-op team split a pair of 2-1 games last week, losing at home to undefeated Edward Little, then winning by that score at Leavitt. Against the Red Eddies, Truman Peters scored a goal and goalie Neal McQuarrie made 16 saves, but a valiant effort fell just short.

“I thought we played a great game,” said Cheverus/Yarmouth coach Dave St. Pierre. “They’re one of the best teams in the state this year and we went toe-to-toe with them. Our guys battled really, really hard. I’m really proud of the effort, nothing to hang our heads about. We competed and did a lot of good things.

“We were missing two of our top six defenders and that made the other four guys have to go hard all night, and I thought they played a phenomenal game. I thought we had a great week of practice and a high-energy, up-tempo week. That carried forward. Our forecheck was on target all night long. What I’m most proud of is we didn’t fold. We had chances at the end to tie it up, but we couldn’t convert.”

In the victory, Andrew Cheever and Kevin Connolly had the goals. Cheverus/Yarmouth (3-3) is home versus St. Dom’s Saturday and hosts two-time reigning Class B champion Greely Monday.

“We have a lot of hockey left and we’ll see where it takes us,” St. Pierre said. “We have depth this year and can go at anybody.”

Greely beat host Brunswick (3-2) and downed visiting Kennebunk (7-5) to make it four straight victories and improve to 5-1. The Rangers were scheduled to host York Thursday, but that game was postponed. Greely is back in action Monday at Cheverus/Yarmouth.

Falmouth fell to 3-4 after a 3-0 loss at undefeated Edward Little last week. The Navigators are back in action Saturday at home against reigning Class A champion Lewiston, then host Cape Elizabeth Monday.

The South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team improved to 5-1 with wins last week at St. Dom’s (7-2) and at home over Marshwood (7-1). Against the Hawks, Cullen Adams scored two goals and added two assists, and goalie Jasper Curtis stopped 31 shots. SP/Waynflete/Freeport goes to Cape Elizabeth Thursday.

Girls’ hockey

Falmouth’s Elizabeth Brown battles for position during last week’s loss at Cheverus. Shawn Patrick Ouellette / Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, Falmouth was 6-3 after an 8-0 loss at Cheverus and a 4-1 home win over Gorham last week. In the setback, goalie Whitney Adams made 22 saves, but none of the Navigators’ 17 shots found the mark.

“We just don’t have the same type of quality depth that Cheverus has,” Falmouth coach Rob Carrier said. “The chances we got we had to capitalize on, but their defense snuffed them out and if they didn’t, their goalie was right on top of it. We were winning a bunch of close games. This was the only blowout of the season. Every other game has been close.”

Kate Kinley scored all four goals in the victory. The Navigators are home versus reigning state champion Lewiston Saturday and play host to Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland Monday.

“The kids are battling and you can’t ask for much more,” Carrier said. “We need to shore up our passing a little bit. We’ve gotten a little sloppy with that and that showed at times today. We’ll work on that. We’ve got a tough stretch and we’ll focus on the rest of the season. I like what I have.”

Greely had a home game versus Brunswick postponed last week. The Rangers (3-4) are back in action Wednesday at home versus Gorham. After going to Mt. Ararat Saturday, the Rangers welcome St. Dom’s Monday.

The Yarmouth/Freeport co-op squad hasn’t played since Dec. 29 and had recent games against York and Scarborough postponed. Yarmouth/Freeport is scheduled to host Winslow Monday.

Skiing

Yarmouth’s boys’ and girls’ each finished first at a Western Maine Conference freestyle meet last week in Fryeburg. The boys’ squad had the top six finishers led by Cornelius Welsh, who had a time of 14 minutes, 9.7 seconds. The girls were paced by Sonja Bell (third, 17:10.4).