The winter sports postseason is upon us and the rest of the month will feature an abundance of memorable action and championships.

Boys hockey is the lone sport still in its regular season, the basketball tournament is about to begin and everything else has held conference or regional championships with the state meets right around the corner.

Here’s a glimpse:

Girls hockey

The Portland/South Portland/Cape Elizabeth/Deering/Waynflete Beacons co-op girls hockey team was gearing up to take part in the South Region Final at press time.

The Beacons, ranked second, advanced with a 6-3 win over No. 7 Greely in the quarterfinals and a 3-2 victory over No. 3 Gorham in the semifinals. Against the Rangers,  Jane Flynn had three goals, Clio Cook-Sharp scored twice and Marina Bassett added a goal and two assists. Hartson Mosunic didn’t score, but had three assists. In the win over the Rams, as the Beacons avenged a loss from earlier this year, Bassett scored all three goals.

“I never feel comfortable with a two-goal lead, but we did enough of the little things to get us the victory,” said Beacons coach Bob Mills. “We got sticks in passing lanes, we played better positional hockey and we played with some intensity.”

Goalie Mya Clark made 15 saves.

“Mya just started playing goal back in November,” said Mills. “To think we’re going to play in a regional final with her in net, we’ve got a lot of confidence in her.”

The Beacons (15-5) faced the daunting task of going up against top-ranked Cheverus (15-1-1) in the regional final Wednesday.

Cheverus and the Beacons split during the regular season, with the Stags prevailing, 9-1, and the Beacons winning, 3-2.

The winner will take on either Yarmouth/Freeport (15-3-1) or Brunswick (15-4) in the state game Saturday in Portland.

Boys basketball

South Portland’s boys basketball team finished 13-5 and second in the Class AA South Heal Points standings after Friday’s 74-61 home win over Gorham. Manny Hidalgo had 22 points and Gabe Jackson added 14 as Red Riots coach Kevin Millington won his 300th career game (see story).

South Portland hosts No. 7 Gorham (6-12) in the quarterfinals Friday. The Red Riots also beat the host Rams, 63-45, during the regular season. The teams have met just once before in the playoffs, a 51-37 South Portland win in the 2020 semifinals.

If the Red Riots advance as expected, they’ll play either No. 3 Scarborough (8-10) or No. 6 Deering (8-10) in the semifinals next Thursday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth wound up 6-12 and earned the 10th and final playoff spot in the region after closing the regular season with a 78-71 loss at Poland. Eli Smith finished with 27 points in defeat.

Tuesday, the Capers went to No. 7 Leavitt for the preliminary round of the tournament and avenged a regular season loss, shocking the Hornets, 57-48, to advance. Smith had 21 points and Owen Beaureguard added 12.

“It’s a big win for these guys,” said Cape Elizabeth coach Jeff Mitchell. “We’re peaking at the right time.”

Next up for the Capers is a showdown against No. 2 York (18-0) in the quarterfinals Friday at 5:30 p.m., at the Portland Exposition Building. Cape Elizabeth twice this winter to the Wildcats, 69-51 at home and 71-49 in York. The Capers are 7-4 all-time versus the Wildcats in the tournament, but York took the most recent, 67-51, in the 2022 quarterfinals.

Girls basketball

On the girls’ side, South Portland earned the top seed for the Class AA South tournament after completing a 15-3 regular season with a 46-40 win at three-time reigning regional champion Gorham last Friday. The Red Riots built a 17-3 lead after one period and eventually held on behind 15 points from Annie Whitmore, 13 from Emma Travis and 12 from Caleigh Corcoran.

“We knew we needed this win for the one seed and we had great energy to start,” Corcoran said. “We hit a lull in the second quarter, but we came back in the third quarter and held it together through the fourth.”

“We just needed to lock in on our defense and I think our offense came from that,” said Whitmore. “Our defense really leads to our offense.”

“This gives us a lot of confidence,” said Travis. “Last year, we didn’t end the season well. This will give us momentum going into the tournament.”

“We had a big halftime talk that we had to earn it,” said Brianne Maloney, the Red Riots’ terrific first-year coach. “Just because we came in number one, just because we had a great season and beat them the first time around, we still had to come out and earn it. I felt like the third quarter, we came out and earned it. It’s great to have these big games at the end of the season to prepare us. We learned lessons the whole game.”

The Red Riots welcomed No. 8 Noble (1-17) for the quarterfinals Wednesday. The teams played way back in the season opener Dec. 6, a 51-19 South Portland victory in North Berwick. The Red Riots and Knights split four prior playoff matchups with South Portland’s 55-32 win in the 2018 quarterfinals the most recent.

“We never talked about securing the one seed, just getting to playoffs and making a run,” Maloney said. “We have momentum moving forward. It’s huge. It’s nice to be in a situation where we won’t see the top seeds until later on. We’ll prep one game at a time. Every game is important. We won’t relax at all.”

If, as expected, the Red Riots move on to the Class AA South semifinals next Wednesday at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, they’ll face either No. 4 Thornton Academy (8-10) or No. 5 Scarborough (8-10).

Cape Elizabeth wound up 0-18 and 14th in Class B South (just 10 teams made the playoffs) after closing with a 41-24 home loss to Poland last week. Finley DiGiovanni paced the Capers with nine points.

Indoor track

South Portland, the reigning Class A boys indoor track state champion, edged Scarborough (152 points to 149.5) to capture the SMAA championship meet last weekend. The Red Riots got wins from Devin Berry in the junior 55 hurdles (7.83 seconds), Jared LaRose in the junior high jump (5 feet, 10 inches), Padou Mukala in the open 55 hurdles (8.92) and Arnaud Sioho in the senior 55 hurdles (7.67), senior long jump (23-3) and senior triple jump (48-8.5). Sioho broke his own conference records in the 55 hurdles and senior long jump (he already holds the top mark in the triple jump).

“It feels great,” said Sioho. “I’m part of a team, so anything I can do to help out the team is beneficial for every single one of us. There are nerves there, but it’s something that I’m used to.”

“(Arnaud’s) just an incredible person,” said South Portland coach Dave Kahill. “He has a great energy, obviously a talent, but he just does everything in school and in track with joy. He brings everyone else up.”

South Portland’s girls finished with 74 points and came in seventh (Cheverus won the title with 153 points).

In the Western Maine Conference championship meet, Cape Elizabeth’s boys came in sixth place. Quentin Lombard captured the junior high jump (5-6). Javi Angie-Sutherland was first in the junior 55 (6.99).

Cape Elizabeth’s girls were seventh and got wins from Sloan Gardner in the senior shot put (35-9.25) and Reagan Gajan in the senior high jump (5-0).

The Class A state meet is next Monday in Gorham. The Class B state meet is the same day in Lewiston.

Swimming

In the pool, Cape Elizabeth’s girls team won the North Division Southwesterns last weekend with 376 points (Deering-Portland was a distance second with 229 points). The Capers got wins from Hope Taylor in the 200 freestyle (1 minute, 58.43 seconds) and 500 free (5:12.67), Lucy Shaw in the 200 individual medley (2:15.63) and the 100 butterfly (1:00.71), Audrey Alberts in the 100 free (56.3 seconds), Hannah Frothingham in the 100 breaststroke (1:14.02) and their 200 medley (Vivienne Parsons, Frothingham, Emmerson Gammon and Dove Brown, 1:55.81) and 400 free (Shaw, Elisa Dew, Jersi McGonial and Taylor, 3:52.04) relay teams.

South Portland tallied 170 points and came in fourth. The Red Riots got victories from Ali Maksimova in the 50 free (25.21) and 100 backstroke (1:00.58).

Cape Elizabeth’s boys had 277 points and finished second behind Greely (332). Graham Plourde took the 200 IM (1:59.35) and the 100 breaststroke (59.64). Tiger McCormick won the 50 free (22.82).

South Portland (130) was fifth.

Boys hockey

In Class A boys hockey, the Portland/South Portland/Deering/Waynflete Beacons co-op team was 3-12 and 13th in Class A (where just nine teams qualify for the postseason) following Monday’s 6-2 home loss to Marshwood. Michael McMains had both goals and Michael Zaccaria stopped 13 shots. The Beacons welcome Biddeford Saturday and go to Scarborough Tuesday of next week.

In Class B South, Cape Elizabeth was 2-14 and ninth (only eight teams make the playoffs) after a 4-2 home loss to York last week. The Capers were at Kennebunk/Wells Wednesday and close the regular season Saturday at Greely.

Press Herald staff writers Drew Bonifant and Travis Lazarczyk contributed to this story.