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The Portsmouth Lady Trojans will return most of the roster that led PHS to the 1st Final 4 in school history. Daysha Reid and Sienna Allen spearhead a returning cast which also includes KeKe Woods, KK Mays, Hayven Carter, Brianna Shannon and Savannah Cantrell. The Lady Trojans will have a much deeper bench which will give Coach Amy Hughes more flexibility with rotations. Coach Amy and her assistant, father Mike, have done an outstanding job of turning a once downtrodden program into a powerhouse.

Today was a big day for Daysha Reid. She signed a full scholarship offer to play basketball at Georgetown (KY). Everything is paid for; she will have no out of pocket expenses. Don't know the roster at Georgetown, but at some point Daysha will see the floor. There was a large crowd at PHS today to join in the celebration of her signing.

Portsmouth has already beaten D1 powerhouse Mason in a scrimmage @Mason.

Here is the Lady Trojans' schedule for 2024-25......one of the toughest in the state for a D5 school:

11-23....Springfield @ Vandalia Butler
11-30....H vs. Ironton
12-3.....H vs. South Point
12-5.....H vs. Ashland (KY)
12-7.....Warrensville Heights @ Canal Winchester
12-8.....Western Reserve @ Canal Winchester
12-13...@Coal Grove
12-14...H George Rogers Clark (#1 team in KY)
12-17...A Rock Hill
12-21...A Fairland
12-23...A Gallia Academy
12-30...H scrimmage Big Walnut
1-3......H Gallia Academy
1-7......A Chesapeake
1-13.....A South Point
1-16.....H Chesapeake
1-19.....Kettering Fairmont @ Classic in the Country
1-20.....Shaker Heights Laurel @ Classic in the Country (Laurel made the Final 4 last season)
1-23.....A Ironton
1-27.....H Coal Grove
1-30.....H Rock Hill
2-3......H Fairland

PHS will unveil the 2024 State Tournament Banner for the Lady Trojans at the 1st home game, Ironton, on 11-30.

GO LADY TROJANS!!

Cantrell still back?

Tougher schedule will only help when March comes around. Should get into some uncomfortable situations which will make them stronger mentally when times get tough later in the year. That was a killer last year, which you expect with such a young team, but they looked like they were handling it okay at the same time.

I’m excited to see how improved the Trojans are

danicalifornia wrote: ↑Wed Nov 13, 2024 4:28 pm Cantrell still back?

Tougher schedule will only help when March comes around. Should get into some uncomfortable situations which will make them stronger mentally when times get tough later in the year. That was a killer last year, which you expect with such a young team, but they looked like they were handling it okay at the same time.

I’m excited to see how improved the Trojans are

Yes she is also back

Really tough schedule but that will help prepare them for March. Looking forward to watching the Lady Trojans do work this season

I forgot about 6-3 SR Savannah Cantrell in my initial post, and I have edited it above to include her. She will be an important player in the rotation.

No slight to Savannah, it's just my brain doesn't fully function at times. Thanks to danicalifornia and PTrojan59 for mentioning her. It helps to have help.

Found out yesterday that if the Lady Trojans win the district title, they could end up going to either the Southeast Regional or the Southwest Regional, TBD.

Don't have a full varsity roster, but I believe that Daysha Reid and Savannah Cantrell are the only seniors in the rotation. So much of this year's Lady Trojans will be back for next season. Add to that the JH Lady Trojans have about 20 girls playing. Success breeds greater participation. A strong feeder system is starting to develop.

They will go to the Southeast regional. They would have to be the 3 seed in the district to end up in the bracket going to the Southwest and I don't see that happening. That's how I understand it anyway.

Will them and Fairland meet in the districts or regionals?

They will play twice during regular season.

Most likely meet in the regionals. SE gets three teams out so I would expect these two teams to be the top two seeds and stay in the SE regional meaning they could meet in the Regional final. BUT, if one of them falls to the bracket with the 3 seed, they could end up in the SW regional meaning they would not meet up until the state tournament. A lot of ball to be played before that point though.

dboy wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2024 8:24 am They will go to the Southeast regional. They would have to be the 3 seed in the district to end up in the bracket going to the Southwest and I don't see that happening. That's how I understand it anyway.

#1 seed gets to pick the bracket they want to come out of. #2 goes opposite. Everything fills in from there.

Jonjon wrote: ↑Wed Nov 20, 2024 12:20 pm Will them and Fairland meet in the districts or regionals?

Depends on if the end up in same bracket based on seeding.

Portsmouth opened up their season with a 60-41 win over D1 Springfield. This one was well in hand early, Portsmouth starters were pulled and didn’t play much at the end. I’m not sure how good the Springfield team is supposed to be, but it’s always good to play up divisions, a road win against a D1 school to open the year can’t hurt. Ironton on the docket next Saturday at Portsmouth.

Just regular Springfield, game was at Vandalia Butler

Springfield isn’t a strong program, but they are D1 and were around .500 last season, so I’d say they would probably be a top 5-7 team in the SE. So, a good win to start the season.

I saw where Woods had 20+, which is huge for them as a possible additional offensive weapon.

Springfield has almost 5 times the enrollment of Portsmouth, after the consolidation of Springfield South and Springfield North. To start out with a convincing win against a giant D1 school is no small feat, considering that SHS has way more girls to choose from than Portsmouth.

Saturday the Lady Trojans will unveil their 2024 state tournament banner vs. Ironton.

Tough to judge this but I agree it is a good win to start the season. Springfield will finish below .500 this year and near the bottom of that league. That said, it is a good league top to bottom. Saw Springfield over the summer and the fact remains that Springfield is not on the level of Portsmouth so this was expected. I like their schedule though and I expect them to make a another deep run come tourney time. I will be interested in the Fairland game before Christmas even though the Trojans have a couple other big games prior to that.