For the second year in a row, Dexter Regional High School sophomores Peyton Grant and Avery Herrick were honored for their play during the high school basketball tournament at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor by being chosen as two of five players on the 2019 Bangor Daily News All-Tourney Team for Class C North.

Two wrestlers from Piscataquis Community High School qualified for the all-state tournament on Feb. 23 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School after their performances at the Class B championship the Saturday before. On Feb. 23 senior Zachary Wilson and sophomore Jacob Nadeau represented the Pirates at all-states.

One school record was not enough for Stone to break on Saturday. Stone brought home the championship, an invitation to New Englands and he was honored as the Outstanding Wrestler competition. He had received Outstanding Wrestler recognition at the Class B championships the Saturday prior. Stone, a junior, has had an excellent season and is prepared to take the mats in Providence.

Dexter beat Penobscot Valley twice during the regular season, but even though the Tigers led by eight at halftime of Saturday night, Feb. 23’s Class C North girls basketball championship game, the Howlers were confident that they could come out on top.

In a battle of the Lakers, No. 3 Greenville pulled an upset win over top-seeded Rangeley to come out on top 41-20 for the girls’ D South regional crown at the Augusta Civic Center on Saturday, Feb. 23. The regional title is the first for Greenville since earning top honors in Class D West in 2010.

The Girls AA/A/B North team includes Foxcroft Academy’s Makenzie Beaudry among the 13 players on the roster. The Girls C/D North team includes Kaylee Deering of Dexter Regional High School and Camryn Rolfe of Penquis Valley High School. Trever Richards of Dexter is a Boys Class C/North team selection.

It will be an offensive juggernaut against a stifling defense in Friday’s 7:05 p.m. Class C North schoolgirl semifinal between sixth seed Calais, 19-1, and second seed Dexter, 16-3, at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Penobscot Valley High School hosted approximately 28 schools and 56 grapplers across eight classes at Maine’s first all-female state wrestling championship. Three Dexter Regional High School Tiger wrestlers took to the mat on Wednesday, Feb. 20 hoping to be a girls state champion -- two met that goal.

The Dexter Tigers play a tenacious, cohesive brand of player-to-player defense. As evidence, if the team had not scored a single point in the second half on Wednesday morning, Feb. 20, the second-seeded Tigers still would have won the game. Coach Jody Grant’s team built a 17-point halftime lead behind its aggressive defense, shutting down No. 7 Fort Fairfield to earn a 47-25 Class C North girls basketball quarterfinal victory at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

In Tuesday, Feb. 19’s boys Class C North quarterfinal, there were no secrets when second seed Mattanawcook Academy met No. 7 Dexter. The teams, which played twice during the regular season, advanced to the tournament largely on the strength of their defense and that was the key dynamic as they met for the third time this season.

Four Foxcroft Academy girls swam between two relay teams at the 2019 Class B swimming and diving championship on Monday, Feb. 18 at the University of Maine.

My first experience with high school basketball came back in middle school. It was the annual Dover Grammar School spelling bee, and I figured I was one of the favorites to move on to the Piscataquis County finals until that dream came to a crashing halt.

The Tigers of Dexter wrestled hard, brought home two state champs, an Outstanding Wrestler award winner, and placed second as a team behind Wells High School -- who brought 11 individual wrestlers to the tournament. Wells scored 161.50 points -- to earn the program’s third consecutive state championship -- and Dexter followed with 99 points.

The girls basketball team from Piscataquis Community Middle School ended the 2018-19 season as the Penquis League small school champions. The Pirates finished the season with an overall record of 11-4, with only one of the loses coming against a fellow small school program (the other three came vs. large school division squads).

Penquis Valley High School senior Cymeria Robshaw won the 55-meter dash and triple jump, and she came in second in long jump, at the 2019 Class B indoor championship on Feb. 16 at Bates College.

Last spring, I wrote about a project to prevent invasives from gaining access to Rainbow Lake. Rainbow Lake is one of just a dozen waters in Maine that holds native Arctic charr. In fact, Maine is the only state in the lower 48 to have any native Arctic charr. These fish are very sensitive to aberrations in the natural ecosystem.

The same four entities will be showing the state’s boys and girls high school basketball tournament games this season either online or on the TV, according to Dick Durost, the executive director of the Maine Principals’ Association.

The Foxcroft Academy swim team took part in the Penobscot Valley Conference championship on Feb. 8-9 at the University of Maine.