Southern: February arrives, and this year, a postseason beckons

After COVID prevented a postseason last year, local winter athletes are looking forward to an opportunity to compete for a championship this time around.

First things first: There is still a regular season to complete and there figure to be no shortage of compelling contests in the days to come.

Here’s a look back at the week that was and what’s still on tap:

Boys’ basketball

Cape Elizabeth’s Evan Reeves drives to the basket during Tuesday’s home win over Yarmouth. Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald

Cape Elizabeth’s boys’ basketball team suffered a 71-57 loss at Freeport last week (Evan Reeves had a team-high 13 points), but Tuesday, the Capers improved to 8-7 with a pivotal, come-from-behind 58-55 home victory over Yarmouth. Reeves had 16 points, Will Bowe 14, Jake Frame 13 and Sam Lombardo nine, including some clutch free throws late.

“We didn’t panic,” Lombardo said. “It was good to have the crowd energy here. It gets us ready for the tournament because it will be loud there.”

“We’ve worked really hard to become more of a team,” Reeves said. “Everyone lifted each other up today and that helped with mental toughness.”

“I told the guys that this is one of the best wins I’ve been a part of as an athlete or coach at Cape Elizabeth,” said Capers second-year coach Jeff Mitchell (class of 1998). “It’s just an all-around great win, one that we really needed for our confidence. We’ve been up and down. I’m hoping this is our catalyst to more consistency.”

Cape Elizabeth (sixth in the Class B South Heal Points standings at press time) was back in action Wednesday at home versus Fryeburg Academy, goes to Poland Friday, then finishes with a home game versus Old Orchard Beach Monday.

“After tonight, I feel a lot better about our team,” Mitchell said. “Our goal is to win out. We have to continue to work on our defense. Our offense, when it’s clicking, it’s great, but we need to keep teams under 50 points. We know defense will prevail at the end.”

In Class AA South, South Portland improved to 15-1 and first after beating visiting Bonny Eagle (56-47) and host Noble (72-32). JP Estrella had 20 points and Jaelen Jackson added 18 in the win over the Scots. Against the Knights, Jackson had 20 points and Estrella finished with a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds. The Red Riots host Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Scarborough was 1-12 and seventh in Class A South following a 49-46 win at Noble and losses at reigning Class AA champion Edward Little (65-39) and Sanford (43-41, in overtime). Reid Deniso, Rowan MacDonald and Jack Simonton all had nine points versus the Red Eddies. Against the Spartans, where the Red Storm erased a nine-point fourth quarter deficit, MacDonald had 16 points. The Red Storm welcomed Massabesic Thursday, host Noble Friday, go to Cheverus Monday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story) and visit Massabesic Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, Scarborough improved to 11-3 and second in Class AA South after beating visiting Noble (49-38), Edward Little (41-17) and Sanford (55-39) in recent action. Against the Knights, Lindsay Fiorillo had 17 points, Caroline Hartley finished with 13 and Elisabeth LeFebvre added 11. Fiorillo had a team-high 10 points in the win over the Red Eddies. Against the Spartans, Fiorillo had 19 points, freshman Ellie Rumelhart added 13 and Hartley finished with 10.

“Defense is what keeps us in games,” Fiorillo said. “It was a little rough at the start, but we stepped it up.”

“As I’ve told the girls after, ‘We’ve won eight out of nine or something like that, so now, you’re the hunted and you’ve got to be ready for a team’s best effort right from the get-go,'” said Red Storm coach Mike Giordano.

Scarborough was at Massabesic Thursday, goes to Noble Saturday and welcomes Massabesic Tuesday of next week.

South Portland was 5-11 and fifth in Class A South after sandwiching wins at Bonny Eagle (40-38) and at home over Noble (59-51) around a 48-36 setback at Falmouth. Against the Scots, Ruth Boles led the way with 11 points. In the loss, Emma Travis had 10 points. In the win over the Knights, Ava Bryant had 18 points and Boles added 10. The Red Riots were at Portland Thursday and visit Gorham Tuesday of next week.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth fell to 1-9 and 14th after a 45-34 home loss to Freeport and a 40-18 setback at Yarmouth. Against the Falcons, Olivia Manning scored 18 points. Manning had a team-high seven points versus the Clippers. The Capers were at Fryeburg Academy Wednesday and host Poland Friday before going to Old Orchard Beach Monday.

Boys’ hockey

On the ice, the South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport boys’ co-op squad was 8-3 and third in the Heals following a 6-2 home win over York last Thursday and a 4-3 overtime victory at Lake Region. Cullen Adams and Richie Gilboy both scored twice in the victory over the Wildcats. In the second win, Adams, Gilboy, Ian Wright and Jake Udomsay all had one goal. The squad was at Windham Wednesday and hosts Lewiston Saturday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story).

Scarborough improved to 8-4 and fourth in Class A after wins at Biddeford (5-3) and Marshwood (6-2). Wyatt Grondin had a hat trick versus the Hawks. The Red Storm were at Thornton Academy Wednesday and visit Bangor Saturday.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 6-2-1 and second after last Saturday’s home game versus Yarmouth was postponed. The Capers host York Saturday.

Girls’ hockey

On the girls’ side, the Cape Elizabeth/South Portland/Waynflete co-op team improved to 9-2-2 and first in the South region after a 3-0 home win over Falmouth last week and Monday’s 4-2 victory over Cheverus. In the second win, Marina Bassett scored twice. Cape/SP/Waynflete hosted reigning state champion Lewiston Wednesday (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story) and closes the regular season Saturday at York.

Scarborough was 8-3-1 and third in the region after a 2-1 loss at Edward Little and a 7-0 home victory over Portland/Deering. After hosting Lewiston Thursday, the Red Storm close at St. Dom’s Saturday.

Indoor track

Last weekend at the University of Southern Maine, Cape Elizabeth’s boys finished second to Freeport in a seven-team meet. The Capers girls came in third.

Swimming

In the pool, Scarborough’s boys defeated Yarmouth, 128-29, and set three new school records in the process, in the 200 freestyle relay (Brennan Fravert, Yandy Placeres, Evan Wardrop and Ethan Schulz, 1 minute, 29.82 seconds), 400 free relay (Placeres, Owen Kasper, Jack Pillsbury and Schulz, 3:20.85) and Schulz in the 100 free (47.37 seconds). The Red Storm lost to the Clippers, 92-67.

Skiing

Cape Elizabeth’s boys and girls were first in a Western Maine Conference Alpine giant slalom meet last week. The boys were led by Cody LaBonty, who was the individual runner-up with a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 4.27 seconds. Dana Schwartz paced the girls with a fourth-place showing (1:10.63).