Portsmouth Trojans 2013-2014 Preview

[trojandave]

Going into the 2013-2014 season, Coach Eugene Collins was the 9th winningest coach in PHS history, with an overall 67-28 record. With the win vs. Lynchburg Clay, the Trojans now have a record of 18-4 and Collins has tied Bob Doll as the 6th winningest coach. He passed Bill Rohr (80-29, 1947-1951), Jim Rhea (81-52, 1996-2001), and is even with Doll (85-59, 1969-1975). Eugene's 5 year record is now 85-32. Below is listed his year by year records:

2009-2010: 12-7
2010-2011: 21-5 D3 state semifinalist
2011-2012: 24-3 D3 state runnerup
2012-2013: 10-13
2013-2014: 18-4 (season still in progress) Sectional champions.......61st sectional title in PHS history

[trojandave]

The Trojans have played in quite a few sectional thrillers in the last several years. Here is a list of those games:

2008: Zane Trace 80, PHS 74 (game tied with 40 seconds to go)
2009: North Adams 77, PHS 75 OT (North Adams was undefeated)
2010: Lucasville Valley 63, PHS 62 (Zach Utley hits game winning 3 pointer with seconds to play)
2011: PHS 65, South Point 64 (Pointers missed a shot at the buzzer)
2013: Wheelersburg 45, PHS 42 (Dylan Miller hits 3 pointer at the buzzer)
2014: PHS 55, Lynchburg Clay 53 (Sky Oliver hits 15 foot jumper at the buzzer)

The above 6 games were decided by a total of 15 points!!

[LetsGoPSU]

love to see Geno pick up another 20 win season in 2014

[LetsGoPSU]

love to see Geno pick up another 20 win season in 2014

[Jeff Lisath]

Good Luck to Coach Collins and the "Men of Troy". Always a fan and always a Trojan.

[trojandave]

The Trojans lost a heartbreaker 58-55 to Valley in the district championship, as the Indians' Chris Flowers hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer. PHS finished 19-5 in Coach Eugene Collins' 5th year. His overall record is now an outstanding 86-33. With the win vs. South Point in the district semifinals, Coach Collins passed Bob Doll into 6th place among the winningest coaches in PHS history.

Portsmouth has 7 of the top 8 players back for the 2014-2015 season, and I have already pegged them as the D3 favorites in the SE District. They have more returning players than any other team in D3. The Trojans play two league schedules next season, the last year of the SEOAL and the first year of the OVC, which will comprise 20 of the 22 games. The 2 non-conference games most likely will be Chillicothe and Wheelersburg. PHS will be favored to win both leagues, and considering the success of this year's Trojans (19-5), could very well be challenging for a 20 win regular season in 2014-2015.

With the varsity returnees, and the kids coming up from the freshmen and 8th grade teams, I look for the Trojans to put together a tremendous run of very successful basketball over the next 3-4 years, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Red and Blue makes another trip to Columbus in the very near future, perhaps even next year.

[pfloyd]

The Trojans lost a heartbreaker 58-55 to Valley in the district championship, as the Indians' Chris Flowers hit a 3 pointer at the buzzer. PHS finished 19-5 in Coach Eugene Collins' 5th year. His overall record is now an outstanding 86-33. With the win vs. South Point in the district semifinals, Coach Collins passed Bob Doll into 6th place among the winningest coaches in PHS history.

Portsmouth has 7 of the top 8 players back for the 2014-2015 season, and I have already pegged them as the D3 favorites in the SE District. They have more returning players than any other team in D3. The Trojans play two league schedules next season, the last year of the SEOAL and the first year of the OVC, which will comprise 20 of the 22 games. The 2 non-conference games most likely will be Chillicothe and Wheelersburg. PHS will be favored to win both leagues, and considering the success of this year's Trojans (19-5), could very well be challenging for a 20 win regular season in 2014-2015.

With the varsity returnees, and the kids coming up from the freshmen and 8th grade teams, I look for the Trojans to put together a tremendous run of very successful basketball over the next 3-4 years, and it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Red and Blue makes another trip to Columbus in the very near future, perhaps even next year.

… trojandave this is what the Ouija Board is saying as well … add to the list 2 league championships in the SAME year next season as well (OVC & SEOAL) … nothing but clear skies for the 2014-15 Trojans …

[art_vandelay]

Great season for the Trojans...last game was a heartbreaker for sure, but they got the pieces in place for a serious run to State next few years. What kind of size on the frontline is in the pipeline next year? Also, Allison getting any serious college looks yet?*

[biggdowgg]

Look for. (BIG) things next year. :122246 :122249

[trojandave]

art vandelay: Right now, size is still an issue for the 2014-2015 Trojans, but hopefully someone like 6-3 Kendall Reynolds will grow a couple of inches in the offseason, perhaps 6-2 Kyre Allison as well. It would be nice to have someone 6-4 or 6-5 to compliment what we already have...........look at what 6-4 Hayden Dunn has done for Valley.........having a legitimate big in the post makes a big difference in running an offense. The Trojans for the most part, were a jump shooting team, and even with that being inconsistent at times, the kids still put together a 19-5 record. If the 2014-2015 Trojans can establish more of a post presence from someone, our guard play will be even more outstanding. Defensively, I would like to see the Trojans defend the 3 pointer better next year, making opponents beat them off the dribble.

Kyre has already gotten interest from several D1 schools......I have heard Penn State, Dayton, Wichita State, and Detroit. Kyre's hasn't even come close to his ceiling yet. He averaged 19.5 PPG and 9 RPG, and led the team in assists as well........all as a sophomore. Not only is he is an outstanding player, but he is a quality person as well, very mature for his age.

[biggdowgg]

The great thing is Kyree still has 2 more years to make a decision :122245

[trojandave]

Coach Eugene Collins now is the 6th winningest coach in PHS history, after the Trojans beat South Point 66-57 in the district semifinals. His overall record is an outstanding 86-33, the 86 wins being 1 better than Bob Doll (85-59, 1969-1975). He has posted 4 winning seasons in 5 years after taking over a program that had suffered 7 straight losing seasons (2003-2009) and went 52-100 during that time. Coach Collins will have an excellent chance to surpass 100 career victories in 2014-2015, as he has 7 of his top 8 players back for next season. He already has 2 Final 4 trips on his resume, those being in 2011 and 2012, with a state runnerup finish in 2012.

We are blessed to have Eugene as the coach of our Trojans!!..........and he has an excellent staff to assist him as well.

[Jeff Lisath]

Kyre' is best Portsmouth Trojan basketball player as a sophomore. I've seen since Craig Tubbs. In 1979 Craig was 1st Team All-Ohio, District Player of the year, averaged 24.5 his senior year (without the three point line). Everyone knew Craig was going to be a special player his sophomore year. I believe with a great work ethic and building the upper body, Kyre' may be as good as both Craig Tubbs and Portsmouth's all time great Larry Hisle by the end of his senior year.

[biggdowgg]

That's quite a statement right there from one of Portsmouth's best ,and a great coach ,, kyree is some kind of special though so I totally agree, and has a great group around him

[trojandave]

It's time to make a closing statement on this thread.........the Trojans finished 19-5, D3 district runnerup, KSA Champions (Florida), SEOAL co-champions, placed 5 players on the all-SEOAL teams, Coach Eugene Collins was co-COY in the SEOAL, and return 7 of the top 8 players for next season. The schedule next year will include 20 league games, which will be a round robin of both the SEOAL and OVC. There will be 2 non-conference games, both of which will be at home, Chillicothe and Wheelersburg. The Trojans will not only be favored to win both leagues, but in my opinion will be the favorite to win the D3 district title, with the real possibility of reaching Columbus.

The complete list of scores for this past season can be found on page 3 of this thread.

It should be an exciting 2014-2015 year for the Portsmouth Trojans!!

I will start a new thread on next season when summer basketball starts.

[pfloyd]

… great stuff trojandave … looking forward ALREADY to next season as you Portsmouth boyz will be one of the Big Dogs Below the Lancaster-Dixon Line in 2014-15 … I will have Pfloyd's Elite 8 in Southern/Southeastern Ohio - the Preseason Edition coming to a thread near you in the next few days …

[bbjunky81]

trojandave,

Any update on how the Trojans fared this Summer? Rumors are out there saying Portsmouth may be receiving a transfer or two, any word on that?

[trojandave]

bbjunky81: I will start a thread entitled "Portsmouth Trojans 2014-2015" soon, but right now I'm waiting on some things to happen before I start the thread. Of course there have been rumors about this and that as there always is, but in a few weeks the murky water will become much clearer.