Boys basketball
Coach: Jim Ray (14th season)
Last year: The Capers finished 12-9 and got the seventh seed in the playoffs. The Capers lost to third-seeded Mountain Valley in the semifinals.
Players to watch: Seniors Ian Place-center and Tom Ray-guard; juniors Connor Lawler-forward, Alex Bowe-forward and John Messina-guard; sophomore Andrew Dickey-forward.
Outlook: The Capers are only returning one starter from last year’s team that went all the way to the Class B semifinals. With a mostly new starting lineup this season, the Capers will rely on younger players like Bowe (who had a team-high 10 points in Cape’s playoff loss last year) and the senior leadership of older players like Ray. The Capers got their season started on the right note, beating Fryeburg Academy 60-41 on the road Dec. 7. Bowe led all Cape scorers with 20 points and Place pumped in 10.
Girls basketball
Coach: Chris Roberts (first season)
Last year: The Capers finished at 3-15 and finished 11th in the Class B Heal Point rankings, missing the playoffs by one spot.
Players to watch: senior Tess Wiggins-center; junior Colleen Martin-guard; sophomores Gabe Donahue-guard and Morgan Pillsbury-forward.
Outlook: Roberts returns to her alma mater to take over a young Capers squad that has struggled over the past few seasons. With very few older players, the Capers must rely on the younger players like Donahue and Pillsbury, who could be the foundation of the squad in the coming seasons. The Capers started this season 0-1 as they fell at home to Fryeburg 63-30 on Dec. 7.
Ice hockey
Coach: Jason Tremblay (fourth season)
Last year: The Capers finished 9-13 and were the fifth seed in the Class B playoffs. The Capers knocked off fourth-seeded Leavitt in the quarterfinals before falling to Greely in the semifinals.
Players to watch: seniors Matt Roy-forward/defense, Peter Kelley-forward, Colby Pearson-forward; junior Sean Eubanks-forward and sophomore Zach Labbe-forward.
Outlook: Despite having a losing record last season, Cape made it into the Class B playoffs and played their best hockey of the season when it counted. The Capers, coming off two straight Class B state titles, made up for a slow 1-7 start by finishing the season on a 7-5 run and going into the playoffs on a roll. That roll continued when the Capers beat Leavitt 5-1 to reach the semifinals where the Capers were derailed by Greely, which had beat the Capers twice during the regular season.
This year, the Capers will look to their older players like Roy, Pearson and Kelley to provide leadership for a young program looking to get back to the state championship. The road won’t be an easy one for the Capers, as they face off against several Class A teams and have some long, tough road trips to far-flung places like Presque Isle, Winthrop and Houlton.
The Capers started their season out with a 5-4 win over Gorham on Dec. 8.
Boys/girls indoor track
The Cape boys and girls indoor track teams come into the season after finishing last season on a good note with some strong individual performances at the postseason meets. The Cape boys finished fourth out of 13 teams at the Western Maine Conference championships last year and the Cape girls finished fifth out of 13 teams at the WMC championships.
The Capers will open up the season on Jan. 4 with a meet at USM against Gray-New Gloucester, Traip, York, Greely, Yarmouth and Poland.
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