It’s not quite time to start crowning winter sports champions, but it’s getting closer.

The flip of the calendar from January to February means that the most exciting time of the year is upon us and that every game has even more meaning.

Here’s a glimpse at the action that closed the old month and a look ahead to what’s on tap:

Boys’ basketball

Waynflete’s Safwan Hussein takes a shot during last week’s win at St. Dom’s. Russ Dillingham / Sun Journal

Cheverus’ boys’ basketball team earned a pair of key road wins last week, downing Windham (65-53) and Lewiston (62-51) to improve to 11-4 and fourth in the Class AA North Heal Points standings. Against the Eagles, Silvano Ismail continued his terrific season with 26 points, while Gio St. Onge added 12 and Maddick Weisberg had 10. In the win over the Blue Devils, Ismail led the way with 25 points and Leo McNabb added 17. The Stags have a key showdown at top-ranked Oxford Hills Wednesday, host Massabesic Friday and close the regular season at home versus Windham Thursday of next week.

Portland was also 11-4 and was ranked third in Class AA North following a 39-36 home loss to Lewiston and a 57-31 victory in Bangor last week. In the loss, Pitia Donato had a team-high 10 points. Against the Rams, Remijo Wani had a double-double of 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Kennedy Charles added 16 points. The Bulldogs hosted Edward Little Tuesday, go to Deering Tuesday of next week, then close the regular season at home Feb. 9 versus defending Class AA champion South Portland.

Deering fell to 0-14 and ninth in Class AA North after falling at Edward Little (74-54) and at home to Oxford Hills (73-54). Against the Vikings, Evan Legassey led the way with 18 points, while Sam Anderson added 15 and Justin Jamal finished with 12. The Rams sought their first win at Windham Tuesday, visit Hampden Academy Friday, host Portland next Tuesday, then close at home versus Scarborough Feb. 9.

In Class C South, Waynflete was 8-7 and ninth in the region following wins over visiting Traip Academy (57-46) and at St. Dom’s (48-34) and a 53-27 setback at Boothbay. Against the Rangers, Matt Adey had 17 points, Connor Ford added 14 and Nico Kirby had 13. Kirby then had 23 points and Ford tallied 10 in the win over the Saints.

“My shots were falling,” Kirby said. “It is always feels good when your shots are falling and getting good looks. I think overall as a team, we played really well.”

Girls’ basketball

Cheverus’ Jenna Jensen drives to the basket during last week’s victory at Thornton Academy.  Derek Davis / Portland Press Herald

On the girls’ side, Cheverus returned to form after a recent loss at Oxford Hills with a 52-40 home win over Windham, a statement-making 49-35 victory at previously undefeated Thornton Academy and a 66-29 win at Lewiston as it improved to 15-1 and third in the Class AA North Heals. Against the Eagles, Emma Lizotte had 20 points and eight rebounds and Maddie Fitzpatrick added 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. In the win over the Golden Trojans, Lizotte had 24 points and 10 rebounds and Fitzpatrick added 15 points and 19 rebounds.

“We knew we needed to bring more energy and play as a team,” said Lizotte. “We just wanted to come in here and play our hardest and see what we could do.”

Deering fell to 3-11 and sixth in Class AA North following a 58-46 home loss to Edward Little and a 59-28 setback at Oxford Hills. In the loss to the Red Eddies, Shay Rosenthal scored 15 points, Nyabhana Lia added 12 and Maya Gayle finished with 10. Natalie Santiago had a team-high 16 points against the Vikings. The Rams hosted Windham Tuesday and welcome Hampden Academy Thursday, then go to Portland Tuesday of next week and close the regular season at Scarborough Feb. 9.

Portland fell to 2-12 and eighth in Class AA North after a 42-40 setback at Lewiston and a 56-18 home loss to Bangor. Eliza Stein had 11 points versus the Blue Devils. The Bulldogs were at Edward Little Tuesday, host Windham Saturday (see our website for game story), welcome Deering Tuesday of next week, then close the regular season at South Portland Feb. 9.

Waynflete’s Sasha Melnick protects the ball during last week’s win at St. Dom’s. Russ Dillingham / Sun Journal

In Class C South, Waynflete snapped a 10-game losing skid last week with wins at St. Dom’s (46-18) and at home over Boothbay (51-31) to improve to 4-10 and 13th in the Heals. Against the Saints, Maeve Mechtenburg led the way with 14 points and Lauren McNutt-Girouard added 12.

“It was a long time coming,” Waynflete coach Andrew Leach said. “That first opening weekend, we got our first two wins of the season and it’s been a tough schedule the rest of the way, but we’ve never stopped playing hard, consistent basketball and playing with intensity, which has been great, and they’ve stayed consistent and resilient in that, and it showed today, just pouring everything into this game. I’m so proud of the effort and energy out there, for sure. Incredible.”

In the win over the Seahawks, Lucy Hart erupted for 28 points and McNutt-Girouard added 12. The Flyers were at Traip Academy Monday, host St. Dom’s Thursday, go to Poland Monday and close the regular season at home versus Traip Academy Wednesday of next week.

Boys’ hockey

Cheverus/Yarmouth’s Brian Connolly fights for possession on a faceoff during last week’s home win over Greely. Michael Hoffer / For The Forecaster

The Cheverus/Yarmouth boys’ hockey co-op team extended its win streak to seven and its unbeaten streak to eight after victories last week over visiting Greely (6-4) and at York (7-4). Against the Rangers, Cheverus/Yarmouth got goals from David Swift, Ian O’Connor, Brian Connolly, Ben Moll, Evan Hankins and Quinn McCoy and nearly let a 5-1 lead slip away before prevailing.

“We have to play a full 45 minutes,” Connolly said. “We have a good team this year. We pride ourselves in practice on sharing the puck. We’re playing as a team and it’s working for us.”

“Greely just came at us hard,” said Cheverus/Yarmouth coach David St. Pierre. “We didn’t execute the way we needed to and that’s something we need to learn from. We buckled down defensively after the second period. We took care of pucks and put them in safe places. We held them at bay and gave ourselves a chance to win.”

In the win over the Wildcats, Truman Peters scored twice and had a pair of assists and McCoy scored once and added three assists as Cheverus/Yarmouth scored three times in the third period to pull away.

“We had scoring up and down the lineup and a strong third period to close it out,” St. Pierre said.

After playing a makeup game at Kennebunk Monday, Cheverus/Yarmouth (7-2-1 and third in the Class B South Heals) hosts defending Class B champion Brunswick in a pivotal contest Wednesday (see our website for game story), then goes to Greely Saturday.

“There are a lot of good teams, but if we play our game, we should be fine,” Connolly said.

“We’re at the halfway mark and we have a lot of tough games coming up,” St. Pierre said. “Any league opponent will be tough for us. We look forward to the second half and we’ll keep building.”

South Portland/Waynflete/Freeport was 5-6 and fifth in Class A following a 5-1 home victory over Thornton Academy Saturday. Roan Hopkins had two goals and Richard Gilboy, Seth Cloutier and Hewitt Sykes added one goal apiece. SP/Waynflete/Freeport hosts Edward Little Thursday, visits Bangor Saturday and plays a makeup game at Lewiston Monday.

Girls’ hockey

Cheverus’ Mikayla Talbot protects the puck during Saturday’s loss at Yarmouth/Freeport. Brianna Soukup / Portland Press Herald

Cheverus’ girls’ hockey team was 14-2 and has the top spot in the South Region Heals locked up after a 4-1 home win over Mt. Ararat and a 4-2 loss at Yarmouth/Freeport last week. In the victory, Mikayla Talbot had a hat trick and Zoe Radford added a goal. Against Yarmouth/Freeport, the Stags fell behind 2-0 early, then rallied to tie it on goals from Marina Friedman and Brynn McKenney, but Yarmouth/Freeport went ahead to stay with 1:33 to play, then added an empty net goal. Freshman goalie Ellie Skolnekovitch, filling in for the injured Ella Lemieux, made 24 saves.

“We didn’t win today but I thought we played a good hockey game,” said Cheverus coach Scott Rousseau. “We just didn’t win against another really good team. There was a point where it looked like we’d get run out of the building. We were getting exhausted and couldn’t get out of the zone. You could see it coming. It was an avalanche against us. We figured it out and made some adjustments and got back in the game.”

The Stags hosted Falmouth Monday, then close the regular season at Penobscot Wednesday. Cheverus expects to have Lemieux back for the playoffs, along with junior Lily Johnson, a top defender and contributor.

“We’re very encouraged that Ella and Lily are really close, but it’s not worth it to rush them back,” Rousseau said.

The Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland co-op team was 8-6 and second in the South entering Monday’s game at Penobscot. After hosting Portland/Deering Thursday, the squad closes at Falmouth Saturday.

Portland/Deering was 2-11 and seventh in the South Region following a 7-2 loss at Falmouth and a 6-3 victory at Edward Little. Jane Flynn scored twice in the setback and had three goals and two assists in the win. Hannah Dionne, Nora Bryant and Kate Martell also scored. Portland/Deering was at York Monday, hosts Greely Wednesday, visits Cape Elizabeth/Waynflete/South Portland Thursday, welcomes Penobscot Saturday and closes with a makeup game at Yarmouth/Freeport Monday of next week.

Indoor track

Portland’s Nathan Blades and Ben Prestes ran the boys’ mile at last weekend’s John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University. Blades had a time of 4 minutes, 21.83 seconds and Prestes posted a time of 4:29.66.

Portland’s Samantha Moore ran the girls’ mile in Boston and had a time of 5:06.42.

Skiing

Cheverus’ Annabelle Brooks takes part in Saturday’s Sassi Memorial 5k classical race at Black Mountain in Rumford. Brooks finished second in the girls’ division. Andree Kehn / Sun Journal

Cheverus’ Annabelle Brooks was the individual runner-up in the girls’ division at the Sassi Memorial five-kilometer classical race in Rumford. Brooks had a time of 16 minutes, 33 seconds. Portland’s Greta Holmes placed 17th (18:42.4). In the team standings, Portland was eighth (Mt. Blue came in first), Waynflete (which was led by Leah Kramer, 34th, 20:29.5) finished 10th, Cheverus was 15th and Deering (paced by Maribel Creek, 79th, 24:41.9) finished 26th.

In the boys’ competition, Deering finished eighth, Portland ninth, Waynflete 12th and Cheverus 21st. Individually, Portland’s Daniel Niles came in 18th (15:30.1), Deering’s Daniel Landry placed 27th (16:22.2), Cheverus’ Henry Morrison 43rd (17:16.4) and Waynflete’s Will Barmby 47th (17:32.7).

On the Alpine side, Cheverus’ girls were fourth at a slalom meet. The Stags were led by Maddy Marcisso, who had a two-run combined time of 1 minute, 54.20 seconds to place sixth.

In the boys’ competition, Cheverus was sixth and was led by Reis Stamaris (seventh, 1:52.78).

Sun Journal staff writers Lee Horton and Tony Blasi contributed to this story.

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