Southern: Challenges loom, but local teams overcome

The games go on, some of them anyway, and the action continues to turn heads.

There’s still a long way to go in the winter sports regular season and nothing is guaranteed, but local athletes are grateful to be able to compete and the best should still be yet to come.

Here’s a look back at the week that was:

Boys’ basketball

South Portland’s highly touted boys’ basketball team remained undefeated at press time, improving to 9-0 at the midway point with recent victories over at Massabesic (54-45), at home over Scarborough (61-42) and at Gorham (61-51). In the win over the Mustangs, JP Estrella had 27 points and Owen Maloney added a dozen. Estrella led the way with 18 points versus the Red Storm. Against the Rams, Estrella had 24 points and Jaelen Jackson finished with 23. The Red Riots visit Bonny Eagle Friday, then host rival Thornton Academy in a pivotal contest Tuesday of next week (see theforecaster.net/sports for game story).

Scarborough fell to 0-7 with losses last week to visiting Thornton Academy (55-42) and at South Portland (61-42). Rowan MacDonald had a team-high 14 points in the loss to the Golden Trojans and 18 points against the Red Riots. The Red Storm’s games this week at Noble and at home versus Massabesic and Monday’s contest at Gorham have been postponed as the Scarborough school department went to remote learning for a week. For now, the Red Storm is scheduled to return to action Jan. 21 at home versus Lewiston.

Cape Elizabeth’s streaky season began with a pair of wins, then produced three straight losses and two more victories, but last week, the Capers fell to 4-5 after falling at Gray-New Gloucester (68-54) and Fryeburg Academy (54-52). Will Bowe scored 19 points and Jake Frame added 18 versus the Patriots. In the loss to the Raiders, Frame scored 18 points and Evan Reeves added 14. Cape Elizabeth goes to Traip Academy Friday and hosts Freeport Monday.

Girls’ basketball

Scarborough’s Elisabeth LeFebvre and South Portland’s Ruth Boles go up for a jump ball to start the Red Storm’s victory Saturday. Michael Hoffer / The Forecaster

On the girls’ side, Scarborough coach Mike Giordano was on the brink of a landmark victory when Scarborough got shut down this week. Last week, the Red Storm improved to 5-2 by downing host Thornton Academy (50-31) and visiting South Portland (49-40), which put Giordano at 299 career wins. Lindsay Fiorillo had 20 points against the Golden Trojans. In the win over the Red Riots, Fiorillo went off for 13 second half points and scored a game-high 15, freshman Ellie Rumelhart came off the bench and tallied 13, and Elisabeth LeFebvre added 11.

“It was a team effort,” Fiorillo said. “We all did something good. We did a really good job moving the ball in the second half. We got a lot of momentum off our press. I think our press has its perks. We got them rattled a little bit in the second half and that led to good things on offense.”

“It was scary, but my teammates helped set me up,” Rumelhart said. “I get pushed a lot in practice which helps a lot in the games. The upperclassmen definitely push me to where I’m supposed to be.”

“I like what I’m seeing,” Giordano added. “We’re building and gaining confidence. There’s no one on the schedule we don’t think we can’t compete with and we’ve competed with everyone so far.”

The Red Storm had games postponed at home against Noble, at Massabesic and at home versus Gorham. Scarborough is scheduled to return to action Tuesday of next week at home versus undefeated Gorham in a makeup game.

“We respect everybody and fear no one,” Giordano said.

South Portland fell to 2-7 after losses at home to Massabesic (55-43), at Scarborough (49-40) and at home to Gorham (57-48). Ruth Boles scored 13 points versus the Mustangs. Neveah Bello led the Red Riots with 10 points against the Red Storm, but they turned the ball over 30 times and couldn’t hold a halftime lead.

“We could so easily be the opposite of our record,” said South Portland coach Lynne Hasson. “We’re beating ourselves. I told the kids that there isn’t a team that’s beaten us. We can’t keep making the same mistakes over and over and over. I don’t know where the panic comes from. We have all the tools in our toolbox, but at some point, we have to stop beating ourselves. We’ve had chances in every game we’ve lost.”

In the loss to the Rams, Boles had 17 points. The Red Riots host Bonny Eagle Friday and play at Thornton Academy Tuesday of next week.

“Maybe at some point, we’ll figure out that we’re good enough to beat anyone,” Hasson said. “We’ve got to attack the rim and finish. We have some things we can build on.”

Cape Elizabeth (1-5) had games postponed last week at Poland and at home versus Gray-New Gloucester and Fryeburg Academy. The Capers are scheduled to return to action Friday at home versus Traip Academy and go to Freeport Monday.

Boys’ hockey

On the ice, the South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport boys’ co-op team improved to 5-1 with wins last week at St. Dom’s (7-2) and at home over Marshwood (7-1). Against the Hawks, Cullen Adams scored two goals and added two assists, and goalie Jasper Curtis stopped 31 shots. SP/Waynflete/Freeport was at Cape Elizabeth Thursday.

Scarborough improved to 4-3 after home wins last week over Cape Elizabeth (4-1) and Biddeford (6-1). The Red Storm was scheduled to visit Thornton Academy and Portland/Deering this week, but those games were postponed. Scarborough is now primed to return to action next Thursday at South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport.

Cape Elizabeth suffered its first loss in five games last week, 4-1 at Scarborough. The Capers were at South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport Thursday and go to Falmouth Monday.

Girls’ hockey

On the girls’ side, the Cape/Waynflete/South Portland co-op team took a 6-1-1 record to Edward Little Wednesday. The squad hosts York Saturday and visits Falmouth Monday.

Scarborough (5-1-1) hasn’t played a countable game since Dec. 27 and won’t until sometime this week after games were postponed against Falmouth, Lewiston, Yarmouth/Freeport, St. Dom’s and Edward Little.