By Michael Hoffer
With the postseason drawing ever closer, local winter sports teams know time and wins are of the essence.
The news continues to be largely encouraging across the board.
SUBHEAD-Boys’ basketball: Greely marches on
While Falmouth was winning at Yarmouth and Freeport continues to battle for a playoff spot (please see accompanying stories, page ?), Greely’s boys’ basketball team bounced back from its loss to Cape Elizabeth with three impressive wins.
The Rangers held off visiting Traip 51-45 last Tuesday, downed host Waynflete 59-45 Friday and won 43-37 at Lake Region Monday.
Against Traip, sophomore Sam Johnston led the team with a dozen points. In the win over the Flyers, junior Trevor Tierney had 13 points. At Lake Region, senior Chris Young led the way with 12.
Greely (now 11-2 and second to Falmouth in the Western Class B Heal Points standings) is idle until Saturday when it hosts Freeport. Tuesday brings a showdown at Falmouth.
In Western C, NYA bounced back from a 49-42 loss at Sacopee with a 51-49 home victory over Freeport Thursday. Sophomore Andrew Escancy won it with a buzzer-beater. Senior Andrew Gendron led the way with 29 points. Monday, the Panthers fell to 4-7 with a 52-36 loss at Fryeburg. Escancy had 13 points.
NYA (17th in the Heals) was at Buckfield Wednesday (too late for this edition) and hosts St. Dom’s Saturday.
SUBHEAD-Girls’ basketball: Freeport earns second win
On the girls’ side, Falmouth got a much needed victory over Yarmouth, while Greely continues to roll (please see stories, page ?).
Freeport, meanwhile, downed North Yarmouth Academy 47-35 Friday for its second win. The Falcons got 11 points from senior Kristen Poulin. The Panthers were paced by nine from sophomore Blair Haggett.
Freeport (2-10 and 14th in the Western B Heals) is idle until Friday when it goes to York. Saturday, the Falcons host Greely. Tuesday, they play at Cape Elizabeth.
NYA fell to 4-7 Monday with a 55-38 home loss to Fryeburg. Haggett did have 15 points and senior Kate Merrill added 11. The Panthers (17th in the Western C Heals) hosted Buckfield Wednesday and visit St. Dom’s Saturday.
SUBHEAD-Boys’ hockey: Greely stays red-hot
On the ice, the Falmouth boys completed a regular season sweep of Thornton Academy (please see story, page ?).
In Western B, Greely continues to sparkle in perhaps its best season to date. Last Wednesday, the Rangers edged host Scarborough, a Western A power, 5-4 in overtime, on senior Jesse Shavel’s third goal. Saturday, Greely had no trouble with visiting Presque Isle, winning 10-1. Monday, the Rangers rolled at Yarmouth 7-0, breaking open a close game with three goals in the second period and three more in the third. Shavel and junior Ian Gray both scored twice.
Greely (first in the Western B Heals) is idle until Saturday when it visits two-time defending Class A state champion Biddeford.
Yarmouth’s loss to the Rangers left it 2-6-1 on the year. The Clippers had previously fallen at South Portland (5-0) and at home to Bonny Eagle (3-2).
Yarmouth (sixth in the Western B Heals) is at Deering Thursday and goes to Camden Saturday.
SUBHEAD-Girls’ hockey: Greely wins a pair
On the girls’ side, Greely improved to 9-3-2 with recent wins over host Leavitt (3-2) and host Yarmouth (2-0). Against the Hornets, freshman Ceci Hodgkins scored twice to lead the way. Against the Clippers, Hodgkins and Eleanor Saffian tickled the twine.
The Rangers (second to Lewiston in the East Region Heals) visit the Blue Devils Tuesday.
Yarmouth fell to 4-9-1 with the loss to Greely. The Clippers (fifth in the East) were home with St. Dom’s Wednesday (too late for this edition) and go to Winslow Saturday.
Falmouth beat visiting Deering 5-0 last Thursday and won 10-5 at Gorham Saturday to extend its unbeaten streak to four, but the Yachtsmen fell to 7-4-3 Monday with a 2-1 home loss to Leavitt. Junior Nicole Foley had two goals in the win over Deering. Against Gorham, freshman Megan Fortier had a hat trick.
Falmouth (fourth in the West Region Heals) hosts Brunswick Saturday and welcomes Portland Monday.
SUBHEAD-Swimming
In the pool, Falmouth’s girls defeated NYA 110-42 last Thursday, while the Panthers won the boys’ competition 68-64. Greely swept St. Dom’s Friday with the boys winning 35-24 and the girls triumphing 55-38. Yarmouth split with Windham Saturday. The boys won 67-64. The girls fell 103-88. The girls also lost to McAuley 105-88.
Yarmouth hosts NYA Thursday, Greely welcomes Sanford Friday, and Falmouth swims at Cape Elizabeth Friday.
SUBHEAD-Skiing
Local Alpine ski teams had meets Monday.
Falmouth’s boys tallied 15 points to beat Freeport (41), Fryeburg (50) and Lake Region (65). Yachtsmen senior standout Chris Moody was first individually (1 minute, 29.06 seconds). The Falcons featured runner-up sophomore Ryan Collet (1:35.05).
In the girls’ race, Fryeburg won with 21 points. Falmouth (31) finished runner-up and Freeport (48) came in third. Yachtsmen junior Casey Hilfrank was third individually (1:57.10). Falcons’ senior Monika Krahn placed fourth (1:58.89).
Yarmouth’s boys scored 17 points to down Greely (42), Gray-New Gloucester (64) and Cape Elizabeth (95). Rangers’ junior Luke Booth was first (1:04.76). The Clippers were led by senior Lee Woodside (second, 1:05.49).
In the girls’ meet, Yarmouth won with 15 points. Greely was second with 40. Clippers’ senior star Lauren Stackhouse came in first in a time of 1:07.68. The Rangers were paced by junior Kelsey Ouellette (second, 1:11.10).
In Nordic action, local teams took part in the Maranacook Wave race Saturday.
In boys’ competition, Yarmouth was third, Greely seventh, Freeport 11th, and NYA 16th out of the 21 teams participating. Clippers’ senior Willie Walsh was the top local individual (fifth, 14 minutes, 12.7 seconds).
On the girls’ side, Yarmouth came in third, Greely was 11th, Freeport placed 19th, and NYA was 20th out of 22 teams. Locally, Clippers’ sophomore Becca Bell was tops, coming in fifth in 16:51.3.

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