With the basketball tournament set to begin this week (see story), there has already been an abundance of postseason excitement in the other winter sports.

With more to come.

Here’s an overview:

Girls’ hockey

The Yarmouth/Freeport girls’ hockey team has already produced the best regular season in program history and Saturday night, the squad won a semifinal round playoff contest for the first time.

Yarmouth/Freeport, ranked first in the North Region, dispatched No. 4 Brunswick, 5-1, as Sophie Smith (from Adelaide Strout) and Sophie White (from Ella ZurMuhlen) scored first period goals, then Strout and Smith (from Celia Zinman) made it 4-0 before the Dragons got on the board late in the second period. Yarmouth/Freeport, which finished with a 38-11 shots advantage, then iced the victory in the third period on a goal from Isabelle Peters (set up by Rosie Panenka).

Yarmouth/Freeport (16-2-1) will next take on No. 2 Penobscot (15-3-1) in the North Region Final Wednesday at 5 p.m., at Troubh Ice Arena. Yarmouth/Freeport eked out a 2-1 home win Dec. 10, then the teams played to a 4-4 tie Jan. 7. It will be the teams’ first playoff encounter.

If Yarmouth/Freeport is able to advance to its first ever state final, it will meet either Cheverus (16-3) or Gorham (13-6) Saturday at 3 p.m., in Portland. Yarmouth/Freeport split with the Stags this season, losing 3-2 in Portland and winning 4-2 at home, and beat host Gorham, 6-1, in the teams’ lone meeting.

Greely finished 0-18 and ninth in the North Region, but only six teams made the tournament.

In the South, Falmouth wound up 5-12-1 and fifth and didn’t take part in the postseason.

Indoor track

Both the Western Maine Conference and Southwestern Maine Activities Association indoor track championship meets were contested last weekend at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham.

Friday night, Freeport’s girls won the WMC crown with 145 points. The Falcons got first-place performances from Lucy Riggs in the junior 55 (7.81 seconds) and junior 200 (28.0), Lizalyn Boudreau in the junior 400 (1 minute, 4.32 seconds), Avery Baker-Schlendering in the senior high jump (5 feet-2 inches) and Kessa Benner in the open pole vault (9-0).

Greely (120 points) was second. Abigail Jacobson was first in the senior 200 (27.6). Elise Provencher won the senior 400 (1:06.46). Lia Traficonte captured the open triple jump (32-11.5). The Rangers’ 4×200 relay team (Jacobson, Jennifer Medrano, Provencher and Lilian Pierce) also came in first (1:51.37).

Yarmouth (50) tied Gray-New Gloucester for fourth. Tessa Dougherty won the junior high jump (4-5), Abby Noble was first in the senior 55 (7.68) Emma Butsch captured the senior shot put (32-3.25)

North Yarmouth Academy/Maine Coast Waldorf (11) came in 11th.

In the WMC boys’ meet, won by York with 131 points, Freeport (71) was runner-up. Brady Weber won the junior high jump (5-6). Jordan Knighton was first in the senior high jump (5-10). Henry Horne took the open 800 (2:00.36). Reece Perry was first in the open pole vault (13-0).

Greely (67) placed fourth. William Coull was first in the open mile (4:41.93).

Yarmouth (65) was fifth. Harry Dougherty was first in the senior 55 (6.7).

NYA/MCW (5) was 14th.

In the SMAA championship meet Saturday, Falmouth’s boys were third with 101 points (South Portland took top honors with 159). Miles Gay was first in the senior 400 (51.97). Kaleb Barrett won the senior long jump (20-7) and senior triple jump (40-9.25). The Navigators also took the top spot in the open 4×200 (Max Shapiro, Gay, Miles Woodbury and Finn Caxton-Smith, 1:34.38) and open 4×400 (Shapiro, Caxton-Smith, Woodbury and Gay, 3:35.88) relays.

In the girls’ meet, won by Scarborough with 160 points, Falmouth (38.5) came in ninth.

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

Swimming

The North and South Division swimming and diving Southwesterns were contested last weekend.

In the North Division girls’ meet, Greely tallied 299 points and came in second behind Cape Elizabeth. Audrey Cohen captured the 200 individual medley (2 minutes, 5.7 seconds) and 100 freestyle (52.05 seconds) and was named the Female Swimmer of the Meet. Abby Hollis was first in the 100 backstroke (1:00.88). The Rangers also won the 200 medley (Emma Richard, Hollis, Jordan Young and Sabine Sites, 2:02.57) and 200 freestyle (Cohen, Hunter Maxham, Emma Cyr and Katie Hankinson, 1:45.29) relays.

Falmouth (88 points) was seventh and produced event winners Katrina Waite in the 50 free (25.24) and Jillian James in diving (427.75 points).

The boys’ meet also saw Cape Elizabeth come in first with 329 points. Greely (256) was third. The Rangers got a first-place showing from their 200 free relay team (Asa Giffune, Ben Poor, Mason Rodgers and Matt Desmond, 1:36.39).

Falmouth (82 points) finished sixth.

In the South Division, Yarmouth’s girls had 213 points and finished second, just five points behind champion Thornton Academy. The Clippers’ 200 medley relay team (Sarah Dressel, Poloma Kitchens, Aaliyah Miller and Lyla Kitchens) came in first (2:07.87).

Freeport (75 points) was eighth.

In the boys’ meet, won by Gorham with 215 points, Yarmouth (198) was a close second. The Clippers won the 200 free relay, as Gabe Merrill, Jude Landry, Matt Dressel and Adam Strobel had a time of 1:44.83.

Freeport (62 points) finished seventh.

The state meets are Monday and Tuesday of next week.

Skiing

Yarmouth’s boys won the WMC Nordic championship last week. Aksel Yeo won the skate race in 12 minutes, 50.3 seconds and was sixth in the classic (18:20.5). Cornelius Welsh was runner-up in the skate (12:50.9) and finished 11th in the classic (18:51.2). Owen Redfield was fourth in the skate (13:07.7) and seventh in the classic (18:33.7). Stuart Baybutt finished ninth in the classic (18:36.9). Aksel Moon placed 12th in the skate (14:16.3).

Freeport was second and was led by Will Morris (second in the classic, 18:11.2) and Teo Steverlynck-Horne (third in the skate, 12:51.9).

Greely’s Tait Harvey was first in the classic (17:36.1) and Bez Mendelsohn came in seventh in the skate (13:35.4) as the Rangers came in third as a team.

Maine Coast Waldorf/NYA came in sixth. Soren Stark-Chessa finished 32nd in the classic (21:27.1) and 33rd in the skate (16:27.3).

In the girls’ WMC Nordic championship meet, Freeport took the top spot, as Reed Proscia was runner-up in both the classic (20:55.7) and skate (16:07.9). Jillian Wight came in fourth in the skate (17:15.6) and was seventh in the classic (23:15.0). Lucy Huggett was fifth in the skate (17:19.4) and came in 18th in the classic (24:49.6). Laurel Wight was sixth in the skate (17:21.2) and finished 14th in the classic (24:26.6).

Yarmouth came in second and was led by Sonja Bell (seventh in the skate, 17:30.7, and ninth in the classic, 23:36.1)

Greely featured Sylvia Harvey, who won the classic (20:30.6) and the freestyle (15:50.9). The Rangers were third as a team.

MCA/NYA placed fifth. Lydia Sharp was fifth in the classic (22:49.4) and 12th in the skate (18:04.5).

Yarmouth’s boys also won the WMC Alpine crown. Killian Marsh was second in the giant slalom (1:01.75) and third in the slalom (1:37.28). Tyler Moore was third in the GS (1:02.56) and placed fourth in the slalom (1:40.29). Henry Weiss was eighth in the GS (1:03.77). Oliver Whipple came in 11th in the GS (1:05.43) and placed 18th in the slalom (1:57.3). Mathieu Charrette was 16th in the slalom (1:56.78).

Freeport finished third and featured Bobby Strong (fourth in the GS, 1:02.77) and Ansel Goode (fifth in the slalom, 1:42.74).

Greely placed fifth and was led by Ben McCarron (13th in the GS, 1:05.61) and Lukas Cook (25th in the slalom, 2:03.02).

In the girls’ WMC Alpine meet, Freeport came in first. Rosie St. Cyr was third in the slalom (1:42.24) and sixth in the GS (1:04.93).Alexa Scott finished fourth in the GS (1:04.51) and was eighth in the slalom (1:49.49). Luciana Bourgeois came in 10th in the slalom (1:52.17). Silvi Strong placed 11th in the slalom (1:53.01) and was 12th in the GS (1:07.91). Sadie Grogan came in 16th in the GS (1:10.71).

Yarmouth placed second, but Brooke Boone won the slalom (1:36.73) and was second in the GS (1:02.93).

Greely was fourth. Ruth Weeks placed fifth in the GS (1:04.86) and fifth in the slalom (1:47.40).

Falmouth’s girls won the SMAA Alpine championship meet. Margo Hesson was second in the slalom (1:52.1) and sixth in the GS (1:07.17). Celia Geci placed third in the slalom (1:52.36) and fifth in the GS (1:06.04). Bridget Jacobson was third in the GS (1:04.86). Kate Swallow placed seventh in the GS (1:09.29). Patty Riley was 12th in the slalom (2:12.6). Regan Swallow finished 14th in the slalom (2:14.22).

Falmouth’s boys were also tops in the SMAA. In the slalom, Porter Beaule was second (1:51.98), Ian Christie placed third (1:52.27), Hayden Davis was fifth (2:00.14) and Alex Lallemend placed 11th (2:08.58). In the GS, Beaule was third (1:04.2), Davis fourth (1:05.33), Christie seventh (1:07.28) and Lallemend 12th (1:10.42).

The Alpine state meet begins Wednesday. The Nordic state meet starts Feb. 22.

Boys’ hockey

Boys’ hockey is the only sport which is still in the midst of its regular season.

Falmouth stretched its win streak to 13 games and improved to 13-2 with victories last week at home over St. Dom’s (6-1), at Edward Little (3-2) and at home over Bangor (2-1, in overtime). Aaron Higgins had two goals and an assist against the Saints. In the win at the Red Eddies, Higgins had two more goals.

“We knew we would have our hands full and we did,” Falmouth coach Deron Barton said. “(The Red Eddies) are a good team and I really like their team. Obviously they are well-coached and we needed to play three periods of hockey to beat them.”

Against the Rams, Higgins tied the game in third period, then won it in overtime. The Navigators host Lewiston Thursday, go to Biddeford Monday, then finish the regular season next Wednesday at St. Dom’s.

South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete was 7-8 and fifth in Class A after 1-0 loss at Lewiston and a 3-2 home win over Marshwood. Goalie Jasper Curtis stopped 17 shots in the setback. In the victory, Richie Gilboy and Liam Anderson helped the squad erase a deficit and Roan Hopkins produced the winning goal with just 12 seconds left. South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete welcomes Biddeford Thursday, goes to Windham Saturday and closes at reigning Class A champion Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

The Cheverus/Yarmouth co-op squad was 10-3-2 and third in Class B South following a 5-2 loss at Leavitt (which snapped an 11-game unbeaten streak) and a 4-1 home win over Messalonskee. In the loss, Quinn McCoy and Truman Peters had the goals. In the victory, Andrew Cheever, Brian Connolly, Owen Walsh and David Swift all scored. After playing at Edward Little Wednesday, Cheverus/Yarmouth visits York Saturday, then closes the regular season at Cape Elizabeth Feb. 22.

Greely fell to 2-13 and eighth in Class B South after two losses last week to reigning Class B champion Brunswick, 7-4 at home and 5-0 on the road. Charlie Moore scored twice in the first game. The Rangers hosted Thornton Academy Tuesday, welcome Cape Elizabeth Saturday and close at Leavitt Wednesday of next week.

The boys’ hockey playoffs begin with the Class B South preliminary round next Saturday on the home ice of the higher seeds. The Class A preliminary round begins March 1.

Sun Journal staff writer Nathan Fournier contributed to this story.

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net.

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