Southern: Postseason fun has arrived

The winter sports season is entering its most enjoyable phase, the postseason, and there will be a multitude of memories made in the days and weeks to come.

Basketball’s regular season culminates Thursday, a day after the girls’ hockey playoffs begin, and the big meets in other winter sports are getting closer as well.

Here’s an overview of how things stand and what’s to come:

Boys’ basketball

South Portland’s boys’ basketball team, the reigning state champion, improved to 14-3 and extended its win streak to five games after rallying from an eight-point halftime deficit and edging host Gorham, 55-54, Tuesday, avenging an earlier loss. Jaelen Jackson again played the hero, scoring 19 points, including the game-winning basket with 2 seconds left. Gabe Galarraga added 13 points.

“The play was basically to get me the ball,” said Jackson. “It didn’t matter where I got it. I wanted to attack from the top.”

“Everyone needs to chip away at that deficit,” said Galarraga. “That’s exactly what we did. Jaelen took control at the end, but the whole team was just getting those tough buckets.”

The Red Riots (second behind Thornton Academy in the Class AA South Heal Points standings) close at Portland Thursday (see our website for game story).

Scarborough was 6-11 and sixth in Class AA South following a 78-61 loss at Noble and a 79-21 home win over Massabesic. In the victory, De’Angelo Alston had 21 points and Carter Blanche added 16. The Red Storm closed the regular season at Deering Thursday.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 10-7 and eighth in the standings entering Wednesday’s regular season finale at home versus Lake Region. The Capers beat visiting Poland, 66-42, Friday, as Owen Tighe scored 23 points and Antonio Dell’Aquila added a dozen.

The boys’ basketball postseason begins next week with the Class AA South quarterfinals and Class B South preliminary round on the home courts of the higher seeds.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, Scarborough was 8-9 and fourth in the Class AA South Heals entering Thursday’s home finale versus Deering. The Red Storm won a pair of home games last week, 46-27 over Lewiston and 54-15 over Noble. Caroline Hartley led the way with 14 points against the Blue Devils and 23 versus the Knights.

South Portland was 8-9 and fifth in the region following Tuesday’s 55-51 home win over Gorham. Anna Brown scored 16 points, Ava Bryant added 12 and Emma Travis had 11. The Red Riots closed the regular season at home versus Portland Thursday as South Portland coach Lynne Hasson coached against her daughter, Abby Hasson, of the Bulldogs.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth finished the year 4-14 after a 33-23 win at Poland and a 48-44 loss at Lake Region. Olivia Manning scored 19 points against the Lakers. The Capers were 12th in the region at press time, but just 10 teams make the playoffs.

The girls’ basketball postseason begins next week with the Class AA South quarterfinals on the home courts of the higher seeds. It’s likely South Portland will face Scarborough in that round.

Girls’ hockey

The girls’ hockey playoffs begin Friday for the Cape Elizabeth/South Portland/Waynflete co-op team, which finished the regular season 11-7 and third in the South Region following a 5-1 loss at Penobscot and wins over visiting Portland/Deering (8-2) and at Falmouth/Scarborough (6-2). Cape/Waynflete/SP goes to No. 2 Gorham (12-6) for the semifinals. The Rams won the lone regular season meeting, 4-2.

Looking ahead, the regional final is Wednesday of next week at Troubh Ice Arena in Portland.

The state game is Saturday, Feb. 18 in Portland.

Boys’ hockey

South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete’s Hewitt Sykes fights for the puck during Monday’s loss at Lewiston. Daryn Slover / Sun Journal

Boys’ hockey still has a couple of weeks to go in its regular season.

Cape Elizabeth took a six-game win streak and an 11-2 record into a game Wednesday at Lewiston. The Capers blanked visiting Kennebunk, 8-0, in their most recent outing last Saturday. After going to Camden Hills Thursday, Cape Elizabeth (second to defending champion Brunswick in the Class B South Heals) visits Leavitt Saturday.

Capers senior Phil Coupe shared Class B South co-Defenseman of the Month for January honors with Cheverus/Yarmouth’s David Swift after scoring three goals and adding eight assists.

In Class A, reigning state champion Scarborough was 8-4 and fourth after a 5-0 home win over Kennebunk Monday. After hosting Biddeford Wednesday, the Red Storm welcome Marshwood Monday and go to St. Dom’s Wednesday of next week.

The South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport co-op team was 6-8 and fifth in Class A following a 5-3 home loss to Edward Little, a 2-0 win at Bangor and a 1-0 loss at Lewiston. Tobey Lappin scored twice against the Red Eddies. The squad welcomed Marshwood Thursday.

Indoor track

The Western Maine Conference indoor track championship meet is Friday at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

The Southwestern Maine Activities Association championship meet will be contested Saturday at USM.

The Class A state meet is Feb. 20 in Gorham. The Class B state meet is the same day in Lewiston.

Swimming

In the pool, Southwesterns will be contested this weekend and the state meets are Feb. 20 and 21.

Skiing

Cape Elizabeth’s Alpine ski team took part in a league giant slalom meet Monday. The boys finished second, as Logan Schwartz was the top individual with a two-run combined time of 58.53 seconds. The Capers girls were third and were led by individual champion Anya Monson, who had a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 4.41 seconds.

The Alpine state meet begins Feb. 15.

The Nordic skiing state meet starts Feb. 22.

Wrestling

The Class A South wrestling regionals will be held Saturday in Kennebunk.

The Class A state meet is Saturday, Feb. 18 in Sanford.

Press Herald staff writer Steve Craig contributed to this story.