Traip Academy’s Paul Marquis will tell you that, like every other coach, he doesn’t like to lose.

But, he added, there are always things to learn from losses. And the Rangers’ last two defeats – 42-31 at Greely and 53-49 at Wells – were, he said, “two good losses.”

Why?

Well, Greely and Wells are among the top teams in Western Class B – Greely is ranked third and Wells is fourth. And Traip is a Western Class C school, currently ranked fourth.

To play that well against those two teams bodes well for the Rangers’ future.

“Every team’s goal is to be peaking heading into the tournament,” said Marquis. “I think we’re doing that.”

Yeah, it would have been nice to win at least one of those games, but the Rangers are learning something about themselves each night.

While still led by senior guard/forward Selena Lorrey – who’s fast approaching 1,000 points for her career – the Rangers are finding they have other winning components.

“We’re learning a little about the team every game,” said Marquis. “Selena has had some big games for us, but the rest of the girls do a lot of nice things. We’ve got a good group and they’re starting to find out their roles.”

For instance, Katherina Volpe has been with the team for four years. She’s under sized, plays the post and averages about 13 rebounds per game. “She understands what we need her to do,” said Marquis. “I value her as much as anyone.”

And sophomore Ali Barrett is playing well after an early slump. “She provides great defensive pressure,” said Marquis.

Right now the Rangers are 6-4. And their schedule still includes games with Waynflete, Yarmouth, Old Orchard Beach, York, Freeport and Wells, meaning there are plenty of Heal points available.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find a Class C team in the state that plays the schedule we do,” said Marquis.

And while their record may not show it at the end of the regular season, Marquis knows his team will be ready come tournament time.

“We preach our goals as being the process rather than the results,” said Marquis, who used his day off from school Monday to watch the Wells-York game.

“Our goal is to compete and play as well as we can. Results will follow hand-in-hand if we meet these goals.”

HOW BIG was Monday’s game between Deering and unbeaten Scarborough? Well, it attracted more than just the normal crowd of friends and family.

Members of McAuley’s also-unbeaten team were present, including the entire coaching staff. Scarborough plays McAuley on Friday night.

“We’ve got to prepare for Friday,” said McAuley point guard Allie Clement. “We wanted to see what Scarborough can do.”

Also on hand: Westbrook coach Chris Aube (his team plays Deering on Friday) and a sampling of the Windham team, including guards Meghan Gribbin and Bebe Butts and forward Diandra Berthiaume (the Eagles play Deering next Tuesday).

Oh yeah, Mike McDevitt, the women’s coach at St. Joseph’s College, was also there.

AFTER HIS Rams lost to Scarborough to fall to 8-4, Deering Coach Mike Murphy said of the SMAA race, “I think it’s anybody’s league right now. It’s just a very balanced league.”

Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:

mlowe@pressherald.com

Twitter: MikeLowePPH