Dirigo’s 5-0 start and status atop the Western Class C Heal Point standings heading into the holiday break is no fluke.

The Cougars opened the season with back-to-back wins over Boothbay and Winthrop, the No. 2 and No. 3 teams in the Western C Heals, respectively, then came back from 17 points down late in the third quarter Saturday to knock off Spruce Mountain, the No. 1 team in the Western B Heals.

After that win, coach Travis Magnusson lauded his team’s resilience, not only in that game but through the first three weeks of the season.

“These guys have fought through adversity,” Magnusson said. “The last couple of weeks, we’ve only had 12 kids in our whole program, and we’ve beaten three of the best teams in our league. It’s a great start, unbelievable for us.”

The Cougars hope to carry their momentum over to the other side of the break. They resume their MVC schedule on Jan. 3 when they host Telstar.

To stay sharp in the meantime, they’ll be participating in the Capital Area Hoop Classic at the Augusta Civic Center on Dec. 28, where they will have a rematch with Boothbay, who they beat Dec. 11 on Riley Robinson’s last-second shot. They will also play a second game that day against host Cony.

Magnusson said the holiday tournament is beneficial for a whole host of reasons.

“It’s great for us, one, because we’re so young, a lot of these kids haven’t played a lot of minutes on the Augusta Civic Center floor. So to get two games, at least, there is crucial for us. We’re really excited about that. Then, any time we can play really good teams, it always helps, and we’re playing two good teams there. And, it’s good for team chemistry, just being around together for a whole day.”

Holiday happenings in hoops, hockey

While the Kennebec Valley Athletic Conference’s regular-season schedule continues through the break, the Mountain Valley Conference and Western Maine Conference are not scheduled to resume their league schedules until after the new year. But many teams from those conferences will still be in action over the next 10 days, taking part in various tournaments around the state.

Gray-New Gloucester High School is hosting a Christmas tournament on Dec. 26. The field also includes Monmouth and St. Dom’s. The St. Dom’s girls are part of the seven-team field at the Capital Area Hoops Classic at the Augusta Civic Center on Dec. 27. Lewiston and Oxford Hills will meet in Augusta in a regular-season game that is also part of the tournament.

Local hockey teams will also be busy. A week after their exciting regular-season meeting at Androscoggin Bank Colisee, Lewiston and St. Dom’s are bound for Salem, N.H. for a Dec. 26-27 tournament. Lewiston girls’ hockey hosts New Brunswick at 7 p.m. on Dec. 26 at Colisee.

Sixth sense

Oak Hill won two of its last three to enter the break with a 3-2 record. That’s not a bad start considering half of the roster and 3/5 of the starting lineup was still focusing on football when basketball season started.

Coach Tom Smith has been pleased with how his players have bounced back physically and mentally after the grind of winning the Class D football title on Nov. 23.

“It’s coming. Each game, each practice, they’re getting their legs back,” Smith said.

After splitting their first two games, Smith shook up his rotation, moving sophomore guard Jonah Martin from the starting lineup to first man off the bench. Martin’s outside shooting takes pressure off leading scorer Parker Asselin and was one of the keys in a 61-45 win over Carrabec in which he scored 15 points, including four 3-pointers.

“Since I moved him to sixth man, he plays a lot better,” Oak Hill coach Tom Smith. “I don’t know what it is, but his mentality changes.”

“Teams will start out keying on Parker, but when he comes into the game, they can’t,” Smith said.

Smith is happy with how his depth is developing so far, and it should get even better when senior swingman Ryan Stevens returns.

“I’ve got guys that I can sub in with that I feel comfortable with, eight or nine guys that I can go with,” Smith said. “Carlton Banton has been a pleasant surprise for us.”

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