(Ed. Note: For the complete Greely-Yarmouth boys’ basketball, Greely-Yarmouth and Yarmouth-Waynflete girls’ basketball and Falmouth-Scarborough and Yarmouth-Brunswick boys’ hockey game stories, with photos, see theforecaster.net)

The basketball and ice hockey seasons are well underway and there have been some positive signs in the early going for local teams.

Here’s an overview:

Boys’ basketball

Falmouth’s defending Class A champion boys’ basketball team opened by defeating visiting Kennebunk (69-46) and host Biddeford (60-46). Colin Coyne had 36 points against the Rams. The Yachtsmen’s game at York Saturday was postponed by bad weather. They hosted Brunswick Tuesday, go to Mt. Ararat Thursday and next week, welcome Westbrook Tuesday and battle Cape Elizabeth Thursday, Dec. 29 in a countable game at the Portland Exposition Building.

Greely has passed its tests with flying colors, defeating visiting Cape Elizabeth (62-44), visiting York (77-51), host Brunswick (55-44) and visiting Yarmouth (80-58). Against the Capers, Jordan Bagshaw had 20 points. Matt McDevitt scored 19 points, Ryan Twitchell added 18 and Bagshaw had 14 in the win over the Wildcats. Shane DeWolfe led the way at the Dragons with 18 points. In the victory over the Clippers Monday in a game postponed 48 hours due to bad weather, DeWolfe had 23 points, 15 in the third period alone, as the Rangers pulled away, Bagshaw added 20 and Twitchell finished with 16.

“At halftime, we talked about how we’re a family and that we need to play together,” said DeWolfe. “We really meshed in the second half and found the open man.”

“We have a great group on the court,” Twitchell said. “Coach told us at halftime that we’re a totally different team when we don’t rush shots and look for each other. We got hot.”

“It was a tale of two halves,” Greely coach Travis Seaver added. “In the second half, we had five guys playing together.”

Greely was home with Gorham Tuesday and closes the 2016 portion of its schedule Thursday when it welcomes Morse.

In Class B South, Yarmouth won its first three games: 61-41 over visiting Gray-New Gloucester, 75-55 at Lake Region and 45-43 over visiting defending Class C South champion Waynflete. Gibson Harnett and Jonny Torres both had 13 points in the win over the Patriots. Aleksandar Medenica scored 18 points and Harnett added 13 against the Lakers in a rematch of last year’s regional final loss. Medenica led the way again in the win over the Flyers with 17 points. Monday, in an 80-58 loss at Greely, Medenica had 16 points and Hagerty and Harnett had 14 apiece.

“I was pretty pleased with how we came out,” Yarmouth coach Adam Smith said. “We’re still getting used to each other, so coming out and matching their intensity in the first half was a good sign for us. I had higher aspirations in the second half, but Greely’s a very good team and they showed it.”

The Clippers hosted Maranacook Tuesday and close 2016 with a trip to Sacopee Valley Thursday.

Freeport opened with losses at Poland (48-43) and Waynflete (55-30) and at home to Spruce Mountain (66-46). Toby Holt led the way with 13 points versus the Knights. Matthew Nielsen had six points in the loss to the Flyers. Against the Phoenix, Holt had 15 points. The Falcons were at Sacopee Valley Tuesday and close the old year Thursday at Traip Academy.

In Class C South, North Yarmouth Academy went overtime in its first two games, splitting them. In the opener, the Panthers rallied to force OT, but lost at home to Old Orchard Beach, 54-46, despite 18 points and 14 rebounds from Te’Andre King and 14 points from Jake Malcom. NYA then edged visiting Traip Academy, 47-43, rallying from a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter before prevailing in overtime behind 16 points from King and 11 from Chandler Waldron. Friday, the Panthers fell to 1-2 after a 55-54 loss at AR Gould. Malcom had 20 points, Waldron 16 and King 13. NYA hosted rival Waynflete Tuesday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and closes the 2016 portion of its schedule Thursday at Richmond.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, Greely has lived up to billing. The Rangers started by beating visiting Cape Elizabeth (78-45), host York (72-42) and visiting Brunswick (65-46). Anna DeWolfe had 31 points and Brooke Obar finished with 15 against the Capers. In avenging last year’s playoff loss to the Wildcats, DeWolfe scored 23 points and Obar added 13. DeWolfe had 20 points and Isabel Porter 17 in the win over the Dragons.

Monday, Greely improved to 4-0 with a 54-37 home win over Yarmouth, as the Rangers beat the Clippers for the 22nd consecutive time. Greely shot to a 13-2 lead and never looked back as DeWolfe had 22 points despite fouling out. Porter added 12 points and Obar finished with 10.

“It was good to send a message right at the beginning of the game,” DeWolfe said. “It started on defense.”

“It’s been a fun season so far,” said Moira Train, who had six points, eight rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots. “I love this group. We hope to do something special. I’m excited.”

“I love coaching these girls,” said first-year Greely coach Todd Flaherty. “They work hard. They’re confident and they respect their opponent. They have good heads on their shoulders. They’re really nice girls.”

The Rangers had an interclass showdown at defending AA champion Gorham Tuesday and finish the 2016 portion of their schedule Thursday at Morse.

Falmouth lost its first game, 41-34, at Kennebunk (despite 13 points from Adelaide Cooke), then gave new coach Dawn Armandi her first victory, 56-31, over visiting Cape Elizabeth behind 17 points from Cooke. A 41-19 home win over Biddeford followed (Cooke had 13 points and Candice Powers 10). After Saturday’s home tilt versus York was postponed by bad weather, the Yachtsmen went to Brunswick Tuesday, host Mt. Ararat Thursday and play at Westbrook in their 2016 finale Tuesday of next week.

In Class B South, Freeport lost its opener, 40-20, to visiting Poland, then defeated visiting Waynflete (55-53) and host Spruce Mountain (49-47). Caroline Smith led the way with seven points in the defeat. Against the Flyers, Taylor Rinaldi scored 19 points. Rinaldi had 15 points in the win over the Phoenix. The Falcons were home with Sacopee Valley Tuesday and close out the old year at home versus Traip Academy Thursday.

Yarmouth dropped a 46-35 home decision to defending regional champion Gray-New Gloucester in its opener, then avenged last year’s painful playoff ouster with a 28-24 win at Lake Region. In the loss, Cory Langenbach had 16 points. The Clippers then beat the Lakers for the first time since Feb. 25, 2005 thanks to 11 points from Sara D’Appolonia. Thursday, Yarmouth rolled at Waynflete, 55-23, behind 20 points from Langenbach (15 in the first half), Alison Clark added 16 points and D’Appolonia finished with a double-double of 12 points and 10 assists. 

“Our guards moved the ball around well in the second half,” Clark said. “We swung it and I got the ball in good spots.”

“We’re taking it game by game, but we’re really excited about what we can do,” Langenbach said.

“I think we’re definitely more experienced than we’ve been in the past and I think that will benefit us,” D’Appolonia said.

“These seniors have played together for a long time,” added Yarmouth coach Christina Strong. “They love the game and they’re ready to play and they’re ready to win.”

Monday, the Clippers fell to 2-2 after a 54-37 setback at Greely. Clark led the way with a double-double (16 points, 14 rebounds).

“It was a tough start,” said Strong. “They’re everything people say about them. They have it all. They don’t just have two scorers, they’ve got seven. They’re aggressive.”

Yarmouth was at Maranacook Tuesday and closes the old year at home versus Sacopee Valley Thursday.

In Class C South, NYA sandwiched home losses to Old Orchard Beach (36-26) and Traip Academy (33-29) around a 58-35 victory at Hyde. Katie Larson had 10 points against the Seagulls. Larson had 11 and Maggie Larson added 10 in the loss to the Rangers. The Panthers were home against rival Waynflete Tuesday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and close the 2016 portion of the schedule at Richmond Thursday.

Boys’ hockey

Falmouth’s boys’ hockey team opened with a pair of dramatic games. The Yachtsmen first rallied past host Biddeford, 4-3, the settled for a 3-3 home tie versus Scarborough in a regional final rematch. Against the Red Storm, Falmouth trailed, 2-0, going to the third period, but got two goals from Robbie Armitage and another from Parker Wyatt to take the lead, but Scarborough tied the score in the final minute and the game wound up deadlocked.

“It’s a good learning experience,” Armitage said. “I think we came out slow. It shows how much heart we have. It was a C-plus effort tonight, but even if we didn’t play well, we found a way to tie.”

“Win, lose or draw, to have these kids come out and have that rivalry is what high school hockey is all about,” said Yachtsmen coach Deron Barton.

Falmouth was at Yarmouth Tuesday and plays at Cape Elizabeth Dec. 30.

Greely split its first two games, losing, 3-2, at Gardiner, then dominating visiting Messalonskee, 12-2. Matt Kramlich and Peter Lattanzi had goals in the loss. Eleven different players scored in the victory, including Adam Rost, who had two goals. The Rangers improved to 2-1 Monday with an impressive 3-2 win at defending A South champion Scarborough in a makeup game. Kramlich, Ryan Megathlin and Quinn Molloy all scored. Greely is idle until meeting Falmouth in the Dudley Cup Jan. 2.

Defending Class B South champion Yarmouth started with a 2-2 home tie with Brunswick (Owen Ramsey and Chris Romano had goals, but the Clippers allowed the equalizer late).

“I’m definitely disappointed,” said Clippers coach Dave St. Pierre. “For stretches of the game I thought we played well. It’s a game I think we’ll look back on and wish we’d finished it off the right way.”

Yarmouth then got in the win column with an 8-0 victory at Maranacook (Cooper May had a hat trick and Romano and Dom Morrill both scored twice). The Clippers’ state game rematch at Waterville Saturday was postponed and rescheduled for Wednesday. First, Yarmouth hosted Falmouth Tuesday. The Clippers close out the old year with a game at Gorham Tuesday of next week.

Girls’ hockey

On the girls’ side, Falmouth won its first six games, capped by a 6-1 victory at Biddeford last Wednesday. Kayla Sarazin scored twice. The Yachtsmen were supposed to host Portland/Deering Saturday, but that game was postponed by bad weather. Falmouth closed the 2016 portion of its schedule at Yarmouth/Freeport/Gray-New Gloucester Tuesday.

Greely lost its opener to defending champion St. Dom’s, then won five in a row, capped by a 12-0 win at Mt. Ararat/Morse last week and a 1-0 victory at Scarborough in a makeup game Monday. Molly Horton, Bridget Roberts and Courtney Sullivan had two goals apiece against Mt. Ararat/Morse. Against the Red Storm, Roberts scored the lone goal and Nica Todd made 27 saves in goal.

The Rangers finish the old year at Brunswick Thursday.

Yarmouth/Freeport/GNG improved to 5-3 after an 8-3 win at Lewiston last week and a 7-6 come-from-behind home victory over Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland Monday. In the latter win, Katie Clemmer scored four times and Caroline Grant added two goals.

Yarmouth/Freeport/GNG hosted Falmouth Tuesday and welcomes St. Dom’s in its 2016 finale Tuesday of next week.

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

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Yarmouth sophomore Clementine Blaschke goes up for a shot during the Clippers’ 55-23 win at Waynflete last week.