Class B football championship, LIVE

Welcome to the Sun Journal's live coverage of the Class B state football championship between the Leavitt Hornets and Cape Elizabeth Capers.We'll be broadcasting live starting at 5:30 p.m.on Saturday.

Can't make it to the game? No problem, we've got you covered. Click below and join in the conversation!

Eagles take out Black Bears

 ORONO — Rookie Joey Diamond scored a pair of goal, but it was not enough as the University of Maine men's hockey team fell to Boston College 4-3 on Friday night at Alfond Arena. The Black Bears fall to 4-7-0 on the season and 3-4-0 in Hockey East play, while Boston College improves to 5-3-1 overall and 4-3-1 in conference play.

Black Bears hope to salvage season at New Hampshire

Before the 2009 season started, the University of Maine was talking about winning its division and its conference and returning to the playoffs.

Heading into the final game of the season at rival New Hampshire on Saturday (noon, CSNE), coach Jack Cosgrove is just grateful to have the opportunity to see the Black Bears pursue the most modest of those goals.

Maine Class C state football championship, LIVE

Welcome to the Sun Journal's live coverage of the Class C state football championship between the Dirigo Cougars and the Foxcroft Academy Ponies.We'll be broadcasting live starting at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Can't make it to the game? We've got you covered. Click below to join in the conversation!

Cougars, Ponies hope Fitzpatrick is a fast track to a title

PORTLAND — Dirigo High School was Western Class C's 2009 favorite pretty much from the moment Winthrop locked the 2008 trophy in its case. Certainly no later than the first slants and bombs of the summer 7-and-7 league.

No sooner did the Cougars start wearing that status on their dark blue sleeves than did their fans and vanquished foes start daydreaming about how ridiculously fast Dirigo might look on FieldTurf, the synthetic sod of choice for Saturday's Class C state championship.

Hornets, Capers treading on new turf

PORTLAND — Pressure? What Pressure?

Both contestants in Saturday night's Class B state championship (6 p.m., Fitzpatrick Stadium) exorcised their playoff demons last week by winning their respective regional titles. Both said they look at Super Saturday as a reward for years of pain and hard work.

CMCC takes two at home

AUBURN — Sophomore center Tyler Smithgall canned a team-high 20, including 14 in the first half, to lead Central Maine Community College in a 65-55 Yankee Small College Conference victory over New Hampshire Technical Institute on Thursday.

The Mustangs (3-2) held a 33-29 advantage at the break and were led by Matt Sceviour's 12 points in the second half. Sceviour, who couldn't buy a basket in the first half, was responsible for 10 straight Mustang points including a pair of treys.

Rutt, St. Dom's graudate, named assistant captain for USM hockey team

GORHAM — University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey head coach Jeff Beaney has chosen senior forward Chris Travis as the team's captain for the 2009-2010 season. Senior defenseman Ryan Jean and junior forward Jon Rutt, a graduate of St. Dom's, have been picked as assistant captains.

The Huskies open their season this weekend with a pair of home games. The Huskies will host Saint Michael's College at the USM Ice Arena on Friday night (7 p.m.), then entertain nationally-ranked Norwich University on Saturday (4 p.m.).

Hornets defense stings foes

TURNER — In the season opener against Hampden Academy, the Leavitt defense went into the locker room at halftime feeling embarrassed about a modest 15-7 deficit at the half.

The Hornets' chagrin wasn't so much about the score as the poor tackling and the missed assignments that had allowed the score to be what it was. They returned to the field for the second half determined not to make the same mistakes ever again.

For the most part, they haven't. 

Still a bounce in his step

AUBURN — Nine months ago, Josh Titus held the Edward Little High School gymnasium in the palm of his hand. 

Thursday night in the same gym, he held some sweaty towels. And he couldn't have been happier.

On his first night as the Maine Red Claws' team manager, Titus, 19, looked right at home. Not just because he was back to doing what he had done last winter for the Edward Little boys' varsity basketball team.

Comeback Cougar

PERU — Not one Dirigo High School football player is likely to forget the crispness of the autumn air cascading through his facemask, the light squish of FieldTurf beneath his cleats, or the dull roar of a bipartisan crowd echoing in his ears when the ball is booted into the air to start Saturday's Class C football championship.

Red Claws dazzle Auburn crowd

AUBURN — Kyle Brown approached Tony Bobbitt with a pen and paper and an unusual request.

"Can I have your phone number? I want to invite you to my birthday," said Brown, of Bowdoin, who will turn 11 next week.

Brown had to settle for giving Bobbitt his mother, Darci's phone number, in case the Maine Red Claws guard could take time out of his busy schedule for cake and ice cream and maybe a present. 

Maine NCAA Division III basketball overview

Maine NCAA Division III basketball preview

Men

Players to watch

Brock Bradford, Sr. G, Husson

Isaiah Brathwaite, Jr., G/F, Thomas

Kadare Brown, Jr. G, UNE

Adam Choice, Sr. F, Colby

Andrew Duncanson, Jr. G, Thomas

Ray Eatmon, Sr. F, St. Joe's

Will Hanley, Soph. G/F, Bowdoin

Cortez Isaac, Jr. G, USM

Tyler Kelley, Jr. F, St. Joe's

Matt MacKenzie, Sr. F, Husson

Mark Phillips, Sr. C, Bowdoin

John Sewall, Jr. G, USM

Oakes and Whitehouse pick the winners

Whitehouse

Class A

Bangor 20, Windham 16

Look, I'll be honest, I haven't seen either of these teams play. So I'm basing this mostly on what I think of both towns. Bangor is an underrated city. Nice, clean streets. Nice neighborhoods. Nice restaurants. Nice parks. Fairly nice people. Decent traffic. The only thing I'd change about Bangor is the Auditorium, which I would change with a wrecking ball. 

Top 10 High School Football Games of 2009

Saturday may be the most exciting day of the high school football season, but there were plenty of exciting games played leading up to then. Here are the top 10 in the Sun Journal coverage area:

Red Claws will be jamming at ELHS gym

AUBURN — Basketball fans will get their first chance to see the Maine Red Claws in action Thursday when the new NBA Development League team holds an intrasquad scrimmage at Edward Little High School.

The scrimmage, which will benefit Edward Little and Lewiston high school athletics, tips off at 7 p.m. Tickets are $5 each and are available at Edward Little and Lewiston high schools and will be sold at the gate, which opens at 5:30 p.m.

Squashing the competition

 LEWISTON — As Bobby Burns walked onto the court in the late stages of his match, the freshman couldn't help but recognize the opportunity before him.

Burns and his Bates College men's squash team were playing Trinity College last year. The Bantams are the most dominant team in all of college sports, and Burns had a chance to beat one of them.

Bates women face tough conference sked

LEWISTON — It would be easy for Bates College to get lost in the shuffle of both Maine women's college basketball and its increasingly brutal conference.

Competition within a two-hour radius has never been stronger. The University of Southern Maine and Bowdoin College are ranked in the NCAA Division III top 25 every year. And look no further that the University of New England's 15-point win over USM on Tuesday night to get a glimpse of the field's depth.

Sun Journal High School Football Top 10

High School Football Top 10

 

1. Bangor (11-0)

Hard to believe it's been five years since the last time the Rams played for a Gold Ball.

2. Windham (10-1)

They took out some of the challengers on their own (Deering, Portland, Bonny Eagle, Cheverus) and got some help on some others (Thornton Academy), but the Eagles were easily the most consistent team in Western A from Week 1.

3. Cheverus (8-3)

Maine QB Treister earns player of the week honor

ORONO, Maine (AP) — University of Maine sophomore quarterback Chris Treister is being honored for his prolific scoring contributions in the Black Bears' 41-17 win over Rhode Island.

Treister was named Monday as the Colonial Athletic Association's offensive player of the week. Treister, from Cape Elizabeth, completed 39 for 45 passes for a total of 465 yards and five touchdowns, and plunged into the end zone himself for another score on Saturday.

Running wounded: USM runner won't let hip injury keep him grounded

GORHAM — Tyler Jasud has played hurt all season.

And there are no pinch runners or defensive replacements in his sport. No specialized short-yardage backs. No television timeouts.

Jasud, a fourth-year junior on the University of Southern Maine cross country team, has maintained his status as one of the top NCAA Division III runners in the nation this fall.

The Rumford runner has done it while a battling a hip injury that would make it difficult for the average person to do daily chores, or maybe even walk across campus to the next class.

Flagg leads UNE to ECAC title

BIDDEFORD, Maine — Senior forward Taryn Flagg of Livermore Falls scored 2:13 into overtime to give the University of New England the Eastern College Athletic Conference Division III New England Championship with a 3-2 victory over Plymouth State in field hockey action Monday.

Off a penalty corner, Flagg collected the feed from sophomore Brianna Tupper of Winthrop and laced a shot from just inside the left side of the circle into the cage for her third goal of the evening, which tied a school record held by nine other players.

Game times for state football championships announced

PORTLAND — Football fans will get a pre-Thanksgiving feast of pigskin Saturday when the three state high school football championships will kick off at Fitzpatrick Stadium in Portland.

New owners, new vision for Martindale

AUBURN — Jim Day knows a thing or two about real estate development.

Nick Glicos, a Class A PGA professional and new president of the Maine chapter of the PGA, knows plenty about golf.

The pair hopes by combining those individual strengths, its new partnership as owner of Martindale Country Club in Auburn will lead to a new and improved era in the club's storied history.

Some Red Claws pinching themselves over opportunity

PORTLAND — Between them, Matt Clement and Billy Thomas have hit jump shots before dozens of fans in Castine, Belfast, Ireland, and Boise, Id. — and in front of thousands in Cleveland and Landover, Md.