The Thanksgiving snow across the state is a reminder that the high school winter sports season is upon us with athletes vying for state championships in seven sports.
December 5 is the first day of countable games in most sports but the schoolgirl ice hockey season is already underway with Cheverus High of Portland/Windham looking to make it three Class A state championships in a row.
This season, Medomak Valley of Waldoboro has been added to the Cheverus/Windham cooperative team. Two years ago, the Cheverus co-op team also included Old Orchard Beach and Kennebunk as well as Windham.
There is only one class for the girls with seven teams in the North and seven in the South and the state championship game will be played on Feb. 15 at the William B. Troubh Ice Arena in Portland with puck drop at 3 p.m.
The boys hockey season will kick off with the first countable games on Dec. 5 with Lewiston and Cheverus/Yarmouth seeking to repeat as state champions in A and B, respectively. Lewiston opens the season Saturday, Dec. 7, at home against Messalonskee of Oakland. Cheverus/Yarmouth opens at home Dec. 7 against Mt. Ararat of Topsham.
The state championship games will be held at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland on March 8 with the B final at 10:30 a.m. and the A final at 1 p.m.
In boys basketball, Windham captured the AA championship with a 62-58 win over Gorham and will open the season on Dec. 6 at Lewiston; Gray-New Gloucester became the fifth different winner in five years in A with a 52-41 triumph over Hampden Academy and will open up on Dec. 10 at Mt. Ararat in Topsham; Orono beat Oceanside of Rockland 56-48 for its second straight B championship and will open the season Dec. 6 at Mount Desert Island; Monmouth Academy edged Mount View of Thorndike 52-50 in the Class C finale and will open the season at home Dec. 6 against Maranacook; and Bangor Christian took home the D crown with a 44-31 triumph over Valley High of Bingham and opens up on Dec. 6 at home against Stearns of Millinocket.
On the girls side, Cheverus captured its second state AA title in three years with a 38-24 win over Gorham and opens the season Dec. 6 at home against Deering of Portland; Brunswick topped Cony of Augusta 54-30 in the A final and opens up on Dec. 6 at Fryeburg Academy; Oceanside made it two championships in three years with a 33-25 win over Old Town and starts the season Dec. 6 at Cony of Augusta; Dexter became the sixth different champ in six years in C with a 48-41 victory over Hall-Dale of Hallowell and Farmingdale and opens up Dec. 6 at Penquis Valley of Milo; and Southern Aroostook of Dyer Brook made it three straight state D crowns and five in six years with a 60-42 victory over Valley and opens its season Dec. 6 at Central Aroostook in Mars Hill.
The Class A state championship games for the boys and the girls will be on Feb. 28 at the Augusta Civic Center with March 1 seeing the B and AA state games being contested at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland and the C and D finals being held at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
In indoor track, the South Portland boys ended Scarborough’s seven-year reign as state winners in A and the Greely boys of Cumberland Center claimed the B crown while the Scarborough girls and York girls triumphed in A and B, respectively, with York making it two in a row.
The state meets will be on Feb. 17 at the University of Southern Maine in Gorham (A) and Bates College in Lewiston (B).
In swimming, the Scarborough and Cape Elizabeth boys each won their third straight state titles in A and B, respectively, while the Deering/Portland girls won in Class A and the Cape Elizabeth girls made it six in a row in B.
The state meets will be held on Feb. 17 with the A boys and girls meet at the University of Maine in Orono and the B swimmers competing at Bowdoin College in Brunswick.
In cheerleading, the defending state champs are Lewiston (A), Ellsworth (B) and Lisbon/St. Dom’s of Auburn in C. Lisbon has won two in a row with St. Dom’s and won it solo in 2022.
Ellsworth will be looking for its third state win in a row and Lewiston will be seeking its third in four years.
There was no Class D a year ago and there won’t be this year, either.
The state championships will be held on Feb. 8 at the Augusta Civic Center.
In wrestling, Massabesic of Waterboro (A) and Wells (B) captured state titles with Noble of North Berwick and Wells earning state crowns in the duals competition.
The Noble girls garnered the first ever girls state team championship.
The duals competition will be held on Feb. 1 in Sanford with the team championships being held on Feb. 15 at The Colisee in Lewiston.
The girls individual competition will be decided on Feb. 18 at Mt. Blue High School in Farmington.
In skiing, on the boys side, the defending champs are Falmouth (A) and Fort Kent (B) in Alpine while Mt. Blue (A) and Freeport (B) each notched their third state titles in a row in Nordic. The Fort Kent boys won their third straight C title in Nordic.
On the girls side, Falmouth and Fort Kent made it two in a row in Alpine with Falmouth having Waynflete of Portland on board in 2023. Mt. Blue was the Nordic winner in A for the third successive season and Greely was the B winner.
The Fort Kent girls won the C Nordic championship for the third consecutive season.
The Nordic competition in all three classes will be held on Feb. 17-18 at Black Mountain in Rumford; the A Alpine slalom competition will be contested at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington on Feb. 24 with the A Alpine giant slalom event being held on Feb. 25 at Sugarloaf Mountain in Carrabassett Valley and the Class B Alpine event at Saddleback Mountain in Rangeley on Feb. 24-25.
