The championship season resumed for the Rams with many exciting finishes and compelling contests. There was plenty of hype and excitement especially for the boys ice hockey team which returned to the regional final; its first in a decade. How it happened: the No. 3 Rams took care of sixth-seeded Greely in the quarterfinal match-up with a 4-0 shutout. Freshman standout Stephen Connolly brought on the heat scoring all four of the Rams goals in the third period while goalie Chesebro earned the shutout.

The Rams then moved on to the semifinals v. Kennebunk on Saturday, March 1 at the University of Southern Maine Ice Arena at the Costello Sports complex. Senior defenseman standout Jacob Shvets put the Rams on the board with a heavy shot early in the contest, which ultimately set the tone in their 3-1 victory. Kennebunk tied the game 1-1 in the second period before Levi Wagner chipped in 2 goals, one of those set up from Landan Anctil.

“It was a total team effort” emphasized sophomore forward Wagner following the semifinal win against Kennebunk. Shvets had the same sentiment as his teammate “everyone works off of each other and believes in each other and not one person puts the team on their back.”

These testaments rang true for the Rams who put on a show in their playoff quest. The Rams headed into the regional final to take on defending state champion Cheverus/Yarmouth on March 4 at Cross Arena in Portland. Connolly and Anctil both chipped in a goal apiece but it wasn’t enough to hold off the defending champs. The Rams are a young team and luckily will be back with most of their squad returning; they certainly have a bright future ahead.

Other compelling contests and accomplishments: The girls’ hockey team racked up wins in their last five regular season games in a row. They lost a close one to Portland 3-2 in their quarterfinal match up. For the Alpine ski team it was Brook Stevens and Cassidy Hjort who represented the Rams in the state championship GS at Sugarloaf mountain in Carrabassett Valley on February 25. The post season in the water results: for the second year in a row, Brodie Berlinger has another state championship win. Berlinger won the 500m freestyle in swimming.

The girls basketball team continued their post season debut spanning a decade of strong performances and deep playoff runs. Logan Doughty led the Rams back to the regional finals scoring 22 points v. Sanford in the semi’s, leading them back to another regional final debut.The girls team fell short to South Portland who went on to win the state championship in Class AA.

Four of the Rams varsity players earned much deserved recognition. Stand-out athlete Julia Reed is a Miss Maine Basketball Semifinalist, Maine McDonald All-Star, AA South Player of the Year and AA South All-Defensive team. Vanessa Walker earned AA South Honorable Mention and the Lisa Blais Manning Award. Logan Doughty earned AA South Honorable Mention and Lauren Dunbar AA South 2nd Team.

To round out the postseason, the boys basketball team was selected by the Maine Principals Association as this year’s winner of the Sportsmanship award for Class AA south. Congratulations to all of the coaches, athletes and teams for an outstanding season.