Portsmouth Trojans vs. Col.Eastmoor Acad.--D3 Reg.Final
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2015 2:13 pm
Saturday night at 7:00 in the Convo, the Portsmouth Trojans will play the Columbus Eastmoor Academy Warriors for a regional championship and a Final 4 berth next week in Columbus. The Trojans sport a record of 20-6, while the Warriors come in with a mark of 16-11. Portsmouth will be trying to advance to the OHSAA state tournament for the 16th time, while Eastmoor will be playing for its first trip ever.
The Trojans defeated Ironton 72-51 in the regional semifinals on Wednesday, while the Warriors edged out Belmont Union Local 77-71 in their semifinal game. The Trojans will be facing the quickest team that they have played to date, but sizewise match up fairly well with Eastmoor. PHS has been led in tournament scoring by 6-3 sophomore Kendal Reynolds, who has tallied 80 points in 4 games. The Trojans, though, have had every starter score double figures in at least 1 game in the postseason. The Warriors are led by 6-0 senior guard Jalon Lewis, who had an outstanding game vs. Union Local. Both teams have relied on quickness and athleticism for their success this season, although Eastmoor looks to be the quicker of the two teams. Eastmoor started 2 freshmen vs. Union Local.
Eastmoor's record is deceiving because they play in the Columbus City League, where a number of the schools in their South Division are larger than they are. Eastmoor also played D1 schools Gahanna Lincoln and Reynoldsburg, both strong basketball programs. Portsmouth has played 4 tournament opponents in which each had a winning record. 4 of the Trojans' 6 regular season losses were to D1 Chillicothe, Logan, and twice to D2 Warren, all of which had winning records. The other 2 losses were to Ironton and Chesapeake, but Portsmouth beat both of those teams in the tournament and 2 out of 3 games overall. Portsmouth will be trying to end a dominant run by Columbus schools at Athens starting with last year. Columbus Harvest Prep won the D4 regional title last year, while Columbus Bishop Ready won the D3 regional title. Last night, Columbus Walnut Ridge handed undefeated Unioto its first loss of the year in the D2 regional semifinals. This year in D4 either Harvest Prep or Columbus Africentric will win the D4 regional title in a rematch of last year's regional final.
Portsmouth will be looking to advance to its 3rd Final 4 in 5 years. Coach Eugene Collins is 106-39 in just his 6th year as head coach at PHS. 6-2 junior Kyre Allison was the media's choice as the SE District POY in D3. Allison averaged 18.1 PPG, but had several games above the 30 point mark this season.
Starters for Portsmouth: Kyre Allison, 6-2 JR, Sky Oliver, 6-0 SR, Alex Dickerson, 6-3 SR, Kendal Reynolds, 6-3 SO, Ethan Leonard, 6-0 JR.
The Trojans defeated Ironton 72-51 in the regional semifinals on Wednesday, while the Warriors edged out Belmont Union Local 77-71 in their semifinal game. The Trojans will be facing the quickest team that they have played to date, but sizewise match up fairly well with Eastmoor. PHS has been led in tournament scoring by 6-3 sophomore Kendal Reynolds, who has tallied 80 points in 4 games. The Trojans, though, have had every starter score double figures in at least 1 game in the postseason. The Warriors are led by 6-0 senior guard Jalon Lewis, who had an outstanding game vs. Union Local. Both teams have relied on quickness and athleticism for their success this season, although Eastmoor looks to be the quicker of the two teams. Eastmoor started 2 freshmen vs. Union Local.
Eastmoor's record is deceiving because they play in the Columbus City League, where a number of the schools in their South Division are larger than they are. Eastmoor also played D1 schools Gahanna Lincoln and Reynoldsburg, both strong basketball programs. Portsmouth has played 4 tournament opponents in which each had a winning record. 4 of the Trojans' 6 regular season losses were to D1 Chillicothe, Logan, and twice to D2 Warren, all of which had winning records. The other 2 losses were to Ironton and Chesapeake, but Portsmouth beat both of those teams in the tournament and 2 out of 3 games overall. Portsmouth will be trying to end a dominant run by Columbus schools at Athens starting with last year. Columbus Harvest Prep won the D4 regional title last year, while Columbus Bishop Ready won the D3 regional title. Last night, Columbus Walnut Ridge handed undefeated Unioto its first loss of the year in the D2 regional semifinals. This year in D4 either Harvest Prep or Columbus Africentric will win the D4 regional title in a rematch of last year's regional final.
Portsmouth will be looking to advance to its 3rd Final 4 in 5 years. Coach Eugene Collins is 106-39 in just his 6th year as head coach at PHS. 6-2 junior Kyre Allison was the media's choice as the SE District POY in D3. Allison averaged 18.1 PPG, but had several games above the 30 point mark this season.
Starters for Portsmouth: Kyre Allison, 6-2 JR, Sky Oliver, 6-0 SR, Alex Dickerson, 6-3 SR, Kendal Reynolds, 6-3 SO, Ethan Leonard, 6-0 JR.
