(Ed. Note: For the complete Freeport-Kennebunk girls’ basketball game story, please visit theforecaster.net)

The calendar has flipped to 2014 and the winter sports season is about to turn very serious, very quickly, as believe it or not, the postseason in some sports is a mere month away. Here’s a look at where local teams and athletes stand as the first full week of the new year commences.

Boys’ basketball

Greely’s boys’ basketball team entered the new year undefeated. Thirteen days after their memorable overtime win over rival Falmouth, the Rangers opened 2014 with a 61-40 home victory over Fryeburg last weekend. Michael McDevitt had 19 points and Connor Hanley added 14. Greely (7-0 and second to Morse in the latest Western Class B Heal Points standings) was at Kennebunk Tuesday, goes to York Thursday and plays at Falmouth Saturday.

The Yachtsmen, the defending Class B champion, now in Class A, moved up to second behind Bonny Eagle in the Heals after a 71-49 home win over Cape Elizabeth Saturday. Nick Burton and Thomas Coyne both had 22 points. Falmouth (6-1) hosted York Tuesday, goes to Fryeburg Thursday, has a chance to avenge its lone loss Saturday when it welcomes Greely, then visits Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

Yarmouth began the week fourth in the Western B Heals at 4-2 after a 73-32 win at Freeport Saturday. David Murphy had 20 points and Adam LaBrie finished with 16. The Clippers hosted Western C contender Waynflete Tuesday, go to Traip Thursday, visit Cape Elizabeth Saturday and welcome Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Freeport fell to 0-8 and 15th in Western B after recent losses at Kennebunk (60-43) and at home to Yarmouth (73-32). Jack Davenport had 11 points and Chandler Birmingham 10 against the Clippers. The Falcons hosted Poland Tuesday, play host to Lake Region Thursday, welcome Traip Saturday and go to Old Orchard Beach Tuesday of next week.

In Western D, North Yarmouth Academy began the week 4-2 and seventh in the standings after extending its win streak to three games with victories over host Sacopee Valley (76-51) and visiting Pine Tree Academy (59-26). Against the Hawks, Chase Gendron had 25 points, El Tayeb Dahia added 23 and Jackson Cohan-Smith ended up with 13. Gendron then went off for 28 against the Breakers.

Girls’ basketball

On the girls’ side, Greely is off to the best start. The Rangers were 5-2 and sixth in the Western B Heals at press time. Greely opened 2014 with a 52-42 win at Fryeburg Academy, behind Ashley Storey’s 16 points. The Rangers were home with Kennebunk Tuesday, welcome York Thursday and Falmouth Saturday and go to Freeport Tuesday of next week.

The Falcons started the year 1-5, but played well against some of the best teams in the league. Friday, Freeport began the new year with an impressive 71-43 home win over Kennebunk, thanks in large part to a triple-double (30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 steals) from Nina Davenport. Ashley Richardson added eight points and nine steals.

“We’ve been on the road a lot early in the season and we’ve been a little lethargic in the first half,” Davenport said. “It was good to come out and get a solid lead. We had a little wiggle room in the second half.”

“(Nina’s) really awesome,” Richardson said. “She really carries the team. When she’s on the floor she makes everyone else feel better about ourselves.”

“We’re playing more like we practice,” Falcons coach Jim Seavey added. “They work their butts off in practice. It’s hard when there haven’t been expectations, but we have more competitors now. It hurts to lose now. Nina and Ashley rub off on the younger kids. Nina’s become more vocal this year.”

Freeport (2-5 and 14th in Western B) was home against Poland Tuesday, goes to Lake Region Thursday and Traip Saturday, then welcomes Greely Tuesday of next week.

“We need to play a whole 32 minutes,” Richardson said. “That’s been our biggest struggle all year. We’ve either come out and played a strong first half or a strong second half. We need to piece it all together and then we’ll be golden.”

“We’re 2-5 and could easily by 5-2,” Seavey added. “We’ll keep plugging away. It’s not necessarily quantity, it’s quality wins we need. I like the direction we’re heading.”

Yarmouth fell to 1-5 and 15th in the region after a 51-39 loss at Gray-New Gloucester Saturday. Abby Nielsen had 12 points and Shannon Fallon, who’s returned from injury, added 11. The Clippers were at defending Class C champion Waynflete Tuesday, host Traip Thursday, welcome Cape Elizabeth Saturday and go to Falmouth Tuesday of next week.

Speaking of the Yachtsmen, they were 10th in Western A at 2-5 after 36-32 loss at Cape Elizabeth Saturday. Jess Burton and Ally Hickey both had six points in defeat. Falmouth was at York Tuesday, welcomes Fryeburg Thursday, goes to Greely Saturday and is home with Yarmouth Tuesday of next week.

In Western D, NYA was 2-3 and sixth at press time after a dramatic 39-38 home win over Pine Tree Academy Saturday. Charlotte Esancy had 17 points, including the winning foul shot with under a second to go. The Panthers were at Seacoast Christian Tuesday, go to Hyde Thursday, welcome Waynflete Saturday and visit Hebron Tuesday of next week.

Boys’ hockey

The boys’ hockey team off to the best start isn’t reigning Class A champion Falmouth or two-time Class B champion Greely, but Yarmouth, which has awakened the echoes with a 3-1-1 record. The Clippers’ most recent game resulted in a 9-3 win at York Saturday. Isaak Dearden had a hat trick and Bobby Murray added two goals. Yarmouth was home against Edward Little Wednesday (see theforecaster.net for game story) and welcomes Greely Saturday.

The Rangers fell to 1-3-1 and sixth in Western B after losing the Dudley Cup to Falmouth in overtime (4-3) and being blanked at Lewiston (3-0). Galen Arnold, Nathan Gervais and Andrew Ray scored in the loss to the Yachtsmen. Greely went to St. Dom’s Wednesday, plays at Yarmouth Saturday and hosts Thornton Academy Tuesday.

Falmouth dropped to 5-3 and third in Western A with a 1-0 home loss to Cheverus Saturday. The Yachtsmen had defeated visiting Biddeford (6-3) and remained undefeated all-time against Greely in the Dudley Cup with a 4-3 overtime win. Against the Tigers, Brandon Peters had a hat trick and Isaac Nordstrom added two goals. In the Dudley Cup, Andy Clement’s third goal of the game came in OT. Falmouth was scheduled to play at Bangor Monday, but that game was postponed. After going to Lewiston Wednesday, the Yachtsman are home versus Portland/Deering Saturday.

Girls’ hockey

On the girls’ side, the fairy tale undefeated start for Yarmouth/Freeport finally came to an end with a 4-0 loss at Leavitt/Edward Little. Monday’s game at Lewiston was then postponed by bad weather. Yarmouth/Freeport (8-1 and third in the East Region) is home against Lewiston Saturday.

Greely, the two-time defending state champion, is now second in the East with a 6-2 mark after a 7-1 home win over Winslow, a 2-1 overtime victory over Falmouth in the Dudley Cup and a 6-1 loss at Lewiston. Danita Storey had two goals against Winslow and Ellie Schad had both goals, including the one in overtime, against the Yachtsmen. The Rangers were home versus York Wednesday, go to Mt. Ararat Thursday, visit Winslow Saturday, then have a state championship game rematch at Scarborough Wednesday of next week.

In the West Region, Falmouth is fourth at 5-3 after blanking visiting Gorham/Bonny Eagle (5-0), edging visiting Biddeford in overtime (3-2) and losing to Greely in overtime in the Dudley Cup. Against Gorham/BE, Camden Carrier, Evie Clement, Sarah Hutcheon, Maddy McDonnell and Martina St. Angelo all tickled the twine. Carrier had two goals, including the winner, versus the Tigers. Carrier also scored in the loss. The Yachtsmen were at Lewiston Wednesday, host Capeflete Thursday, Cheverus Saturday and Brunswick Wednesday of next week.

Indoor track

The Western Maine Conference indoor track season was scheduled to begin Friday at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham, but that meet was moved to Monday by bad weather, where it was once again postponed.

This Friday, Greely, NYA and Yarmouth compete at 3:30 p.m., while Falmouth and Freeport compete at 6:30 p.m.

Swimming

Greely’s swim team opened 2014 by beating Kennebunk (the boys prevailed, 103-60, and the girls won, ). The Rangers are at Falmouth Thursday.

Yarmouth’s boys enjoyed an 87-74 win at Windham Saturday. The girls beat the Eagles, 91-64. The Clippers go to Thornton Academy Saturday.

Skiing

The Nordic ski season got underway Saturday with the Telstar Relays, which saw Yarmouth’s foursome of Ellie Teare, Braden Becker, Caitlin Teare and Carter Hill take the top spot with a combined time of 43 minutes, 17 seconds.

Merriconeag’s Samantha Pierce, Graham Roeber, Lily Tupper and Forrest McCurdy came in fourth (43:56), while Freeport’s Elizabeth Martin, Wilson Moore, Emma Egan and Eli McCurdy placed fifth (44:14).

The Alpine season was supposed to get underway Monday, but poor weather prevented that from happening.

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

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Freeport senior Nina Davenport leans in for a shot during last week’s home win over Kennebunk. Davenport had 30 points to help the Falcons to their second victory of the season.

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