Portsmouth Trojans 22-23 Basketball

[trojandave]

Portsmouth hasn't won a sectional title since 2017, when the Trojans defeated Lucasville Valley and North Adams to advance to the Convo, where they lost to South Point 59-42 in the district semifinals. PHS had beaten the Pointers twice in the regular season.

The drought of sectional titles since 2017 is the 2nd longest in school history. Portsmouth won a sectional title under Coach Rick Hopkins in 2004 when the Trojans defeated 22-4 South Webster (Jeeps made the D4 state), and beat 16-5 Albany Alexander for the sectional title. PHS didn't win another sectional until 2011 when the Trojans beat Wheelersburg and eventually that team would finish in the Final 4.

Winning the sectional in 2023 will be difficult, given the Trojans' inconsistency. One factor that might play into the PHS's favor could be playing away from home. They have played their best basketball on the road, beating Fairland with a great 2nd half, outscoring the Dragons 50-31. They also beat Wesley Christian 58-57 at the Ironton Classic, beat Mars Hill 68-54, lost at Ironton in OT 77-71, lost at North Adams 72-70, and lost at Coal Grove 64-60.

Also, Portsmouth (8-13) will have to win on Friday vs. Minford to avoid the 10th season in school history of losing at least 15 games. Previously the Trojans lost at least 15 games in 1946, 1958, 1962, 1993, 1996, 2005, 2006, 2007, and 2019. The 2007 season marked the most losses in PHS history in a season with 18 (4-18). The fewest wins ever was in 1962, with a 1-17 record. A loss to Minford and a tournament loss will give PHS the distinction of another 15 loss season.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth and Minford had a good competitive game going last night, with the Falcons leading the underdog Trojans only 33-32 at the half. Then helter skelter broke out, and the game was ruled a no contest. Shame it ended that way because PHS was playing some of its best basketball of the season, giving MHS all they wanted. Portsmouth ends the regular season at 8-13, but if they can play that way at Peebles on Tuesday, I like our team's chances of advancing.

Kenny Sanderlin scored his 1,000th point for his career, and even though the game was ruled a no contest, as far as I'm concerned keeping the records of PHS basketball for www.trojanhoops.org, I recognize his achievement. He made Trojan history last night. It's not his fault the game was stopped in the 3rd quarter.

[Jeff Lisath]

Congratulations Kenny! A very unfortunate situation from what I was told.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth trailed at the half vs. Peebles 24-18 last night, but the Trojans outscored the Indians 39-20 in the last 2 periods to post a 57-44 sectional tournament 1st round win. DeAndre Berry scored 19 pts., Devin Lattimore had 14, and Kenny Sanderlin chipped in 12. Sanderlin now has 1,015 pts. for his career. Isaiah Lewis spearheaded the Trojans' comeback in the 2nd half with some outstanding on-ball defense.

Eugene Collins picked up his 201st win as PHS head coach, and also his 24th tournament win. He is 24-13 in tournament play in his 14 year career.

3 JV players dressed for the game last night, Olynshay McKinley, Jayden Brewer, and Landon Malone.

Portsmouth advances to play at OVC champion South Point on Saturday at 7 PM. The Pointers eliminated the Trojans last year 66-56 in the sectional championship which was at SP also. PHS hasn't won a sectional title since 2017, when it advanced to the district semifinal against South Point, which beat the Trojans 59-42 at the Convo. Portsmouth beat the Pointers twice in the regular season that year, with the Pointers beating the Trojans twice in the regular season this year. PHS lost 73-55 at SP early in the season, and then again 56-53 in OT at PHS later on a 3 pointer at the buzzer.

[FIDO]

I still believe the Trojans and Pirates can play with anyone in the district. The next round of games should be fun.

[AllBallJo]

I still believe the Trojans and Pirates can play with anyone in the district. The next round of games should be fun.

I agree. I’ve seen both these teams play and on any given night could pull out a win.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth will have to bring their A game on Saturday evening to beat the South Point Pointers in their gym. A slow start like what happened at Peebles will probably doom the Trojans, because SP has a lot more firepower than Peebles. I wouldn't be surprised at all to see PHS come out and play well. Whether that will be enough to topple the home team Pointers we'll see.

GO TROJANS!! GET THAT 1ST SECTIONAL TITLE SINCE 2017!!

[PTrojan59]

Portsmouth fell to SP in OT again last night to end their season. Portsmouth played well, well enough they could’ve and should’ve won. Not hitting free throws ultimately lost them this game. Defense was much better. If you don’t count OT they held SP in the 40’s. Maybe a questionable call by not calling goal tending against SP but I felt the game was overall officiated decently. SP is a really good team, and I think last night showed Portsmouth was too despite their record. Trojans will lose Sanderlin & Duncan off this team. So next year they’ll need to replace them, and that won’t be easy. I look for Lattimore & Berry to have huge senior seasons though. After next year the cupboard seems to be pretty bare. Good luck to SP as they continue on their journey this season.

[MeanJoeGreene]

Free throws cost Portsmouth that one. Tough way to go out.

[PTrojan59]

Thank you to coach Collins for bringing Portsmouth basketball back from some rough years. The last 15 years have been quite the ride. Great coach, leader and man. Seems like the right time to ride off into the sunset, enjoy it coach!

[biggdowgg]

Thank you to coach Collins for bringing Portsmouth basketball back from some rough years. The last 15 years have been quite the ride. Great coach, leader and man. Seems like the right time to ride off into the sunset, enjoy it coach!

Agree, the program was at it's lowest point ever when he took over , " how soon some forget" was glad to see him get his 200th win and was pretty close to being the winningest basketball coach at portsmouth , but while I hate to see him go,I'm very happy for him, class act all the way

[trojandave]

Proud of the Trojans for the way they fought to the very end against a very good South Point team. Unfortunately for the 2nd time Portsmouth lost in OT to the Pointers. Made SP work for everything they got. As has been said above, FT's cost PHS the game (16 for 30). It wasn't the officials, although I do think they missed the goaltend call. Best wishes to Kenny Sanderlin, Tyler Duncan, and Brock Anthony as they move on from basketball season.

A HUGE THANK YOU to Coach Eugene Collins for 14 years at the HC of the Trojans. Overall record of 201-130 with 2 Final 4's, a state runnerup, a regional final, 3 district titles, D3 Coach of the Year in 2012, an SEOAL and OVC championship, an 8-4 in the KSA tourney in Florida, and 6 players that scored at least 1,000 points. Wish Coach the best as he moves on to another chapter of his life. What he did behind the scenes for his kids with little publicity speaks to how much he cared for the kids, trying to keep them on the right path and being more than just a coach to them.

Hopefully with the kids coming back will get that work ethic itch to better, much better. Given the 1-18 record of the JV team and the 0-15 mark of the JH, there's a lot of room for improvement. The new coach has a difficult but doable task ahead of him.

Final Record of the 22-23 Trojans: 9-14

[transplant]

Any early candidates Portsmouth is looking at to replace Coach Collins?

[trojandave]

transplant: Jeff Lisath's name has come up, and there's always the possibility that the PCS may hire someone already on staff. I anticipate not a lot of "outsiders" will apply, because few applied when Coach Collins got the job in 2010. Right now, Jeff has a good situation going at Dayton Northridge, but he has said repeatedly that someday he would like to be the coach of the Trojans.

Portsmouth is not an easy job, not just from the current basketball culture that exists, but the tradition that follows any Trojan basketball coach. The standard at PHS is to get back to the state someday. Conference titles are nice, but at Portsmouth tournament success far outweighs any regular season accomplishments.

[transplant]

Thanks, I wondered if Lisath would be interested or not. I do think he has a good thing there in Dayton, but like you said, if he ever leaves there, it will be for Portsmouth.

[trojandave]

Jeff Lisath's name is gaining momentum as I type this. He would be a home run hire in my estimation. It would certainly create an exciting buzz around the Portsmouth community, given his pedigree as a State Champion Trojan and a coach who has won everywhere he's been......Unioto, Piketon, or Dayton Northridge. The fact that he is a State Champion gives instant credibility which his players will be able to relate to even though they didn't see him play. I can guarantee that the level of competitive play on the court will pick up, and it wouldn't be surprising at all to see greater participation numbers increase along with those who left possibly coming back to PHS.

[MeanJoeGreene]

Lisath coming home would be huge. That would be exactly what the doctor ordered for PHS basketball.

[trojandave]

Kenny Sanderlin officially ended his career with 1,027 points, tied with Phil Whitehead (1991) for 11th on the all time scoring list. He played his first 2 seasons at Wheelerburg, then transferred to Portsmouth. His total is being officially counted on www.trojanhoops.org.

[trojandave]

I just hope the coaching search doesn't take a long time like it did in 2010, when Coach Collins accepted the job. Naming a coach soon gives him the time to name a staff, meet with the returning players, and get a summer schedule planned. Chances are the new coach could have some staff changes along with his hiring.

Considerations include.....does the new coach want to have a freshman team? Will there be enough players to field one? Right now, it doesn't look that way, although the JV was mostly freshmen last season and will take up most of the JV roster as sophomores. Same situation with the JH. PJHS only had 1 junior high team, with 7th and 8th graders combined. Will that continue or will there be separate 7th and 8th grade teams?

[Hoopster98]

Any candidates out there that you would like to see take the job if Lisath doesn’t take it? I don’t seem Jeff applying for the job because of his situation in Dayton. Any local candidates out there? Next year won’t be bad but after that it would be very down years.