The winter fun has begun and there’s plenty of drama to come.

The first couple weeks of the new sports season have featured strong play from local athletes and the good times figure to continue.

Here’s a glimpse at what’s occurred so far, as well as a look at what’s upcoming.

Boys’ basketball

Greely’s three-time defending Class A state champion boys’ basketball team was 3-2 at press time. The Rangers opened with a 63-51 loss to York, then held off Falmouth, 57-52, beat Fryeburg Academy, 45-38, and after losing to South Portland (81-43), downed Cape Elizabeth, 61-39, Friday. Against the Red Riots, Logan Bagshaw had 17 points and Luke Gabloff added 15. In the win over the Capers, Nick Butler led the way with 15 points, Timmy Walker added 13 and Bagshaw had 12. Greely hosts Yarmouth Thursday of next week.

Falmouth started 0-2 with losses at Kennebunk (54-50) and at home to Greely (57-52), then evened its record at 2-2 by downing Biddeford (55-41) and Mt. Ararat (66-30). The Yachtsmen hosted Westbrook Monday and with a victory, longtime coach Dave Halligan would reach 1,000 combined victories between basketball and soccer. Falmouth meets Cape Elizabeth Saturday at the Portland Expo Holiday Tournament, then welcomes Brunswick Monday of next week.

Freeport took a 3-1 record into Monday’s showdown at Waynflete. The Falcons started with victories over Poland (49-41) and Lincoln Academy (66-38). After a 35-31 loss at Cape Elizabeth, Freeport defeated Morse, 58-53, behind 10 points apiece from Colby Arsenault and Gabe Wagner. The Falcons are back in action Jan. 2 at Gray-New Gloucester.

Yarmouth edged Cape Elizabeth, 46-43, in its opener, then after a 47-40 loss to Brunswick, defeated Lake Region (58-48) and Mt. Ararat (44-38) before falling to 3-2 Friday with a 49-43 loss to Waynflete. The Clippers are at Fryeburg Academy Saturday.

In Class C South, North Yarmouth Academy started with a 74-46 loss to Traip Academy, then defeated Temple Academy (60-30) and beat Sacopee Valley (54-44) and Buckfield (58-36) to begin the season 3-1. Te’Andre King went off for 24 points and Chris Hamblett added 11 in the win over the Hawks. Against the Bucks, King led the way with 19 points, Logan Welch added 15 and Hamblett had 14. The Panthers return to action Jan. 2 with a home game versus A.R. Gould.

Girls’ basketball

Greely’s two-time defending Class A state champion’ girls’ basketball squad extended its win streak to 43 by opening the season 5-0 with victories over York (70-53), Falmouth (79-41), Fryeburg Academy (75-33), South Portland (48-47) and Freeport (58-45). In the win over the Red Riots, in a down-to-the-wire thriller, Camille Clement led the way with 24 points and Brooke Obar hit a late 3-pointer to give the Rangers the lead for good.

“I was definitely frustrated, but I tried to pick it up on defense and tried to pass to the open player because I’m not all about the points,” Obar said. “I’d rather get an assist than a bucket.”

The Red Riots then missed three potential game-winning shots in the final seconds.

“It’s a lot of fun to have close games to prepare us,” Clement said. “We got excited to play them. We missed a few box-outs and got lucky. We were focusing on energy and feeding off each other. The bench cheered us on when we were nervous. Up one with 3.3 seconds and their ball, the odds aren’t great, but we did what we needed to.”

“This was worth the price of admission,” said Greely coach Todd Flaherty. “It was a no-lose situation for both teams. You get a lot more out of a game like this than a lot of our other games.”

In the win over the Falcons, Chelsea Graiver had 20 points, while Clement finished with 17 and Obar had 12. The Rangers return to action Jan. 2 at Yarmouth.

Falmouth, which won just twice in 2018-19, has already doubled last year’s win total by starting 4-1. The Yachtsmen started with a 45-37 win over Kennebunk, then after falling to Greely, 79-41, Falmouth downed Biddeford (51-22), Cape Elizabeth (44-32) and Mt. Ararat (39-31). Anna Turgeon had 19 points and Sloane Ginevan 11 in the victory over the Capers. Turgeon had 11 points and Ginevan 10 against the Eagles. The Yachtsmen were at Westbrook Monday, then go to Brunswick Monday of next week.

Freeport opened by defeating Poland (48-21), Lincoln Academy (64-34), Cape Elizabeth (40-23) and Morse (58-19), then fell to 4-1 Friday with a 58-45 home loss to Greely. In the win over the Shipbuilders, Rachel Wall had 21 points and Caroline Smith added 14. Against the Rangers, Smith had 24 points in a losing effort. The Falcons return to action Jan. 2 at defending Class B champion Gray-New Gloucester in a rematch of last year’s regional final.

Yarmouth opened with four wins in five outings. The Clippers started with a 27-18 win over Cape Elizabeth, then lost to Brunswick, 46-41, before bouncing back to defeat Lake Region (34-17), Mt. Ararat (58-32) and Waynflete (61-18). Against the Flyers, Yarmouth didn’t allow a first half field goal and raced to a 44-10 lead after three quarters. Margaret McNeil led the way with 21 points. The Clippers host Fryeburg Academy Saturday (see pressherald.com/forecaster-sports/ for game story), then welcome Greely Jan. 2.

NYA has picked right up where last year’s regional finalist left off, starting 5-0 by defeating Traip Academy (51-41), Kents Hill (64-29), Temple Academy (79-29), Sacopee Valley (62-50) and Buckfield (75-26). Against the Hawks, Serena Mower led the way with 19 points, while Katie Larson added 16. The Panthers return to action Jan. 4 at St. Dom’s.

Boys’ hockey

Greely’s defending Class B state champion boys’ hockey team beat Brunswick, 8-1, in its opener and after a 4-2 loss to Lewiston, improved to 3-1 by downing Yarmouth (2-0) and Cape Elizabeth (6-1). In the win over the Capers, Evan Dutil had two goals, while Gage Cooney, Andy Moore, Brooks Williams and Chris Williams all added one.

“We’re still hungry,” said Moore. “This year, we’re defending a state championship, but other than that, nothing’s changed in our locker room. We’re focused. We love the competitiveness of the league toward us. We’re ready for whatever comes our way.”

“It was nice to get to six goals,” Greely coach Barry Mothes said. “We’ve struggled a bit to score. We got a bunch of different people on the score sheet. Cape’s a young team and they’ll get better as the season goes on.”

The Rangers were at Kennebunk Monday, then battle Falmouth in the “Dudley Cup” New Year’s Day.

Yarmouth started with a 6-2 win at Waterville, then lost to Greely (2-0) before falling to 1-2 with a 3-0 loss to South Portland/Freeport/Waynflete. The Clippers are at Gorham Monday of next week.

In Class A, Falmouth started with a 3-3 tie against Biddeford, then downed St. Dom’s, 6-2, lost to St. Dom’s, 3-2, and fell to 1-2-1 after a 5-3 loss to Thornton Academy. The Yachtsmen are at Bangor Friday, then meet Greely in the “Dudley Cup” New Year’s Day.

The SP/Waynflete/Freeport co-op squad opened with a 4-3 loss to St. Dom’s, then blanked Portland/Deering (5-0), Bangor (3-0) and Yarmouth (3-0), then settled for a 1-1 home tie versus Biddeford Saturday. Cullen Adams, Austin Gross and Deven Hannan had the goals and goalie Liam McGibbin made 24 saves in the win over the Clippers. Dylan Hannan had the goal in the tie. SP/Waynflete/Freeport goes to Scarborough Monday of next week.

Girls’ hockey

The Yarmouth/Freeport girls’ hockey team was a modest 3-7 at press time, but was coming off a huge victory Saturday, 3-2, over defending state champion Cheverus. Sadie Carnes scored twice and Olivia Bradford had the winning goal with two minutes to play. Yarmouth/Freeport hosted Greely Monday and goes to Winslow Friday.

Greely was 3-5 following a 3-1 loss to Edward Little and a 4-1 win over Biddeford. In the victory, Carly Asherman, Kerry Roberts, Claire Stewart and Leah Walker all had goals. The Rangers were at Yarmouth/Freeport Monday, then battle Falmouth in the “Dudley Cup” New Year’s Day.

Falmouth fell to 1-6 after a 6-1 loss to Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland. The Yachtsmen were at Gorham Monday and welcome St. Dom’s Saturday.

Indoor track

Falmouth took part in a seven-team season-opening SMAA indoor track meet Saturday. The Yachtsmen girls placed fifth and the boys came in sixth.

Swimming

In the pool, Falmouth and Yarmouth split a season-opening meet, with the Yachtsmen boys taking a 97-45 decision and the Clippers girls eking out an 85-84 victory.

Yarmouth then split with Cheverus, with the boys losing, 101-49, and the girls winning, 95-70.

In Falmouth’s second meet, its boys beat Thornton Academy, 104-45, while the girls lost to the Golden Trojans, 113-58. The Yachtsmen then swept Windham, with the boys prevailing, 94-69, and the girls winning, 94-63.

Greely swept South Portland, with the boys taking a 113-56 decision and the girls prevailing, 102-57, then the Rangers swept Waynflete, with the boys prevailing, 56-35, and the girls winning, 72-14.

Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.

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