2018/19 Portsmouth Trojans

[mattash]

Please post:

• Schedule

• Roster with #/Name/Height/Year

• Outlook

[trojandave]

Roster for the 2018-2019 Portsmouth Trojans: (subject to change in the event of JV players being brought up)

MyQuel McKinley......6-3 SR*
Daniel Lattimore.....6-0 SR*
Matthew Fraulini.....6-2 JR*
Miles Shipp............6-2 SO*
Amare Johnson.......5-8 FR*

* denotes likely starter

Andrew Meadows....6-6 SR
Gage Rhodes.........6-4 SR
Eli Johnson...........5-10 JR
Caden Davis..........5-10 JR
Jack Workman.......5-9 JR
Brandon Clark........6-3 JR
Richie Bowman......6-2 JR
Chris Duff............6-0 SO
Daryionne Bryant....6-1 FR
Drew Roe.............5-9 FR

The Trojans OVC schedule is posted on SEOPS on the OVC topic. The non-conference schedule includes Wheelersburg, South Webster, Huntington St.Joe, Minford, Green, Western Pike, Southeastern Ross at Piketon on Dec.1st.

There are 3 things that standout about the 2018-2019 Trojans. First, this may be the quickest team in Coach Eugene Collins 10 years at PHS, second, there is much more size on the roster with 7 players 6-2 or taller, and third, the Trojans will be fielding a team with a lot of inexperience, as PHS lost 4 starters from last season's 16-8 team.

Matthew Fraulini is the Trojans lone returnee from the starting 5, and he comes back after a solid sophomore year in which he averaged 14 PPG with several games above 20. He is the only proven scorer the Trojans have, so finding other players who can score 10+ on any given night will be a challenge for Coach Collins. Amare Johnson will be the PG, and he is a high motor dynamo who is relentless on every play. Hopefully this will be contagious on the rest of the team. Miles Shipp, transfer from Notre Dame, gives the Trojans some much needed muscle in the paint. Shipp has a nice jumper from the FT line area, and he can go to the basket strong. McKinley lost 15 LBS playing for the Trojan soccer team, and is in great shape. He, along with Shipp, give the Trojans an athletic presence down low. Lattimore was the football QB, and he is aggressive in driving to the hole which can set up teammates for open shots from the perimeter.

Andrew Meadows has improved a great deal from his play on the JV team last season, as has Brandon Clark, and they will be important players to spell McKinley and Shipp. Bowman has the ability to drive to the basket or hit the trifecta, and will be counted on for the 2 or 3 position. One player to watch is Bryant, who right now is recovering from a football injury and might be ready to play by early to mid December. He has grown 4 inches in the past year and has excellent defensive instincts to go along with a smooth style of play offensively. The rest of the roster will be asked to fulfill a specific role, and to date there has been excellent enthusiasm from all the players.

As far as a prediction, this year is difficult with so many new players, but I'm going with 14-8 simply on the basis of how quick and athletic the Trojans are. It could be a game or two better or worse, depending on how quickly they overcome obvious inexperience, and how much scoring can be found outside Fraulini. Portsmouth could finish in the top 3 of the OVC, or fall to the middle of the pack if they struggle in the aforementioned areas. Still, this looks to be a very fun and different team to watch, and should be competitive even in losses.

Coach Eugene Collins is returning for his 10th season at PHS, which is the 3rd longest tenure in school history. His overall record is 155-69, with 5 sectional titles, 3 district titles, 2 regional titles, 1 regional runnerup, back to back Final 4's, 1 state runnerup, and is 5-0 in regional play vs. Ironton, Chesapeake, and Wheelersburg. He is only 14 wins shy of becoming the Trojans second winningest coach all time, as Red Hopkins won 168 games from 1926-1936.

Of course the goal as always at Portsmouth is to get to the state, or at least to the regionals. Getting to the Sweet 16 will be a tall task, but with 64 sectional titles and 37 district titles already, I don't think you can completely eliminate the Trojans from that possibility. Portsmouth is the last SE district school to win a game in the state tournament, that being a 74-66 win over Ottawa-Glandorf in the 2012 semifinals. The Trojans 15 state appearances rank 3rd all time in Ohio, their 27 games played in the state tournament ranks 3rd all time, and their 16 wins in the state tournament (16-11) rank 3rd also. Their 4 state championships rank 6th, and Portsmouth has appeared in the state tournament in 8 decades, ranking second only to Canton McKinley.

GO TROJANS!!!

[Moses Guthrie]

Roster for the 2018-2019 Portsmouth Trojans: (subject to change in the event of JV players being brought up)

MyQuel McKinley......6-3 SR*
Daniel Lattimore.....6-0 SR*
Matthew Fraulini.....6-2 JR*
Miles Shipp............6-2 SO*
Amare Johnson.......5-8 FR*

* denotes likely starter

Andrew Meadows....6-6 SR
Gage Rhodes.........6-4 SR
Eli Johnson...........5-10 JR
Caden Davis..........5-10 JR
Jack Workman.......5-9 JR
Brandon Clark........6-3 JR
Richie Bowman......6-2 JR
Daryionne Bryant....6-1 FR

Two others that may play varsity

Chris Duff............6-0 SO
Drew Roe.............5-9 FR

The Trojans OVC schedule is posted on SEOPS on the OVC topic. The non-conference schedule includes Wheelersburg, South Webster, Huntington St.Joe, Minford, Green, Western Pike, Southeastern Ross at Piketon on Dec.1st.

There are 3 things that standout about the 2018-2019 Trojans. First, this may be the quickest team in Coach Eugene Collins 10 years at PHS, second, there is much more size on the roster with 7 players 6-2 or taller, and third, the Trojans will be fielding a team with a lot of inexperience, as PHS lost 4 starters from last season's 16-8 team.

Matthew Fraulini is the Trojans lone returnee from the starting 5, and he comes back after a solid sophomore year in which he averaged 14 PPG with several games above 20. He is the only proven scorer the Trojans have, so finding other players who can score 10+ on any given night will be a challenge for Coach Collins. Amare Johnson will be the PG, and he is a high motor dynamo who is relentless on every play. Hopefully this will be contagious on the rest of the team. Miles Shipp, transfer from Notre Dame, gives the Trojans some much needed muscle in the paint. Shipp has a nice jumper from the FT line area, and he can go to the basket strong. McKinley lost 15 LBS playing for the Trojan soccer team, and is in great shape. He, along with Shipp, give the Trojans an athletic presence down low. Lattimore was the football QB, and he is aggressive in driving to the hole which can set up teammates for open shots from the perimeter.

Andrew Meadows has improved a great deal from his play on the JV team last season, as has Brandon Clark, and they will be important players to spell McKinley and Shipp. Bowman has the ability to drive to the basket or hit the trifecta, and will be counted on for the 2 or 3 position. One player to watch is Bryant, who right now is recovering from a football injury and might be ready to play by early to mid December. He has grown 4 inches in the past year and has excellent defensive instincts to go along with a smooth style of play offensively. The rest of the roster will be asked to fulfill a specific role, and to date there has been excellent enthusiasm from all the players.

As far as a prediction, this year is difficult with so many new players, but I'm going with 14-8 simply on the basis of how quick and athletic the Trojans are. It could be a game or two better or worse, depending on how quickly they overcome obvious inexperience, and how much scoring can be found outside Fraulini. Portsmouth could finish in the top 3 of the OVC, or fall to the middle of the pack if they struggle in the aforementioned areas. Still, this looks to be a very fun and different team to watch, and should be competitive even in losses.

Coach Eugene Collins is returning for his 10th season at PHS, which is the 3rd longest tenure in school history. His overall record is 155-69, with 5 sectional titles, 3 district titles, 2 regional titles, 1 regional runnerup, back to back Final 4's, 1 state runnerup, and is 5-0 in regional play vs. Ironton, Chesapeake, and Wheelersburg. He is only 14 wins shy of becoming the Trojans second winningest coach all time, as Red Hopkins won 168 games from 1926-1936.

Of course the goal as always at Portsmouth is to get to the state, or at least to the regionals. Getting to the Sweet 16 will be a tall task, but with 64 sectional titles and 37 district titles already, I don't think you can completely eliminate the Trojans from that possibility. Portsmouth is the last SE district school to win a game in the state tournament, that being a 74-66 win over Ottawa-Glandorf in the 2012 semifinals. The Trojans 15 state appearances rank 3rd all time in Ohio, their 27 games played in the state tournament ranks 3rd all time, and their 16 wins in the state tournament (16-11) rank 3rd also. Their 4 state championships rank 6th, and Portsmouth has appeared in the state tournament in 8 decades, ranking second only to Canton McKinley.

GO TROJANS!!!

Thanks for the rundown Dave. I would like to see just a little more depth, however this team could very well surprise a few teams this year. The addition of Shipp was big. He will play a large role and take pressure off Fraulini.
Hoping to see Bryant get in the mix as well. He will be a great player..
Go Trojans!!

[biggdowgg]

Nice post trojandave , great info on the TROJANS

[Reds Fan]

sounds like Fraulini is a stud. might have to make the trip to the river to watch the Trojans this year.

[piratebasketball]

Youth will be an issue with the Trojans. Not having a great ball handler will hurt, but if Fraulini gets going WATCH OUT!

[art_vandelay]

Shipp and Fraulini will form a solid tandem next 2 years. Only thing PHS missing is a big-time frontcourt player. Still see them as a potential Convo team in D3 and capable of upsetting a Burg or Beaver Eastern in the tourney.*

[biggdowgg]

I have seen this team play in two scrimmage and have loved what I have seen,they are very quick and Scrappy, did very well against a very good raceland team ,and played toe to toe with Waverly who is hyped to go very deep in the tournament ,so for a team that lost four starters and starts a freshman and a sophomore and brings another freshman off the bench,I think this team is going to be better then a lot of people think

[trojandave]

Early returns on the Trojans are very favorable.......as biggdowgg said, they are quick and scrappy. They can get up and down the court in a hurry, and their defense could possibly lead the OVC in creating turnovers. Signs of inexperience are showing, especially against a good press like Waverly employed. With more exposure to it, the Trojans will handle it better and better, and when they do, they are plenty fast enough to get a quick bucket off the press. Chris Duff has been a pleasant surprise, as he has already elevated himself to varsity level, and has shown the ability to knock a perimeter shot down, which PHS could certainly use to go along with Matthew Fraulini. The ceiling is very high for freshman PG Amare Johnson, and as the season goes, he will get more comfortable with his role. Sophomore Miles Shipp plays aggressive in the paint, something the Trojans have needed for quite a while. Teaming with MyQuel McKinley, who was a standout at the Waverly scrimmage, that tandem gives Portsmouth a very athletic presence down low. Danny Lattimore is always trying to push the ball up the court, and is fearless in driving to the basket. He is also an excellent FT shooter. Matthew Fraulini will prove to be one of the top players in the SE district, and could very well find himself on one of the all state teams. He is also proficient from the charity stripe. Andrew Meadows and Richie Bowman will prove to be very valuable members of the varsity rotation.

Considering the personnel losses from last season, the Portsmouth basketball Trojans of 2018-2019 look to be a team that not only will be fun to watch, but should be a really good team by the second half of the season. If confidence comes early, maybe even sooner than that.

[pfloyd]

" Roster for the 2018-2019 Portsmouth Trojans: (subject to change in the event of JV players being brought up)

MyQuel McKinley......6-3 SR*
Daniel Lattimore.....6-0 SR*
Matthew Fraulini.....6-2 JR*
Miles Shipp............6-2 SO*
Amare Johnson.......5-8 FR*

* denotes likely starter

Andrew Meadows....6-6 SR
Gage Rhodes.........6-4 SR
Eli Johnson...........5-10 JR
Caden Davis..........5-10 JR
Jack Workman.......5-9 JR
Brandon Clark........6-3 JR
Richie Bowman......6-2 JR
Daryionne Bryant....6-1 FR

Two others that may play varsity

Chris Duff............6-0 SO
Drew Roe.............5-9 FR "

... trojandave ... do you have the uniform numbers for the respective players on the Portsmouth squad ? if you could post those THAT would be great Thanks in advance .

[biggdowgg]

Bryant will definitely play varsity ,he is hurt right now and Duff is already playing varsity ,he played well at Waverly

[biggdowgg]

And I honestly think roe will be playing varsity very soon he can play the game.

[Pa Trojan]

love hearing the news coming out of the home town, young and feisty Go Trojans

[biggdowgg]

You can find information on Trojan basket ball on this website .

www.portsmouthbasketball.net

[trojandave]

pfloyd: Don't have the official uniform numbers at this time.

Checked out the new website and it is really nice!!

[trojandave]

First 4 games for the Trojans in this 2018-2019 season:

Portsmouth 61, Southeastern Ross 52@ Piketon HS
Portsmouth 78, Franklin Furnace Green 46
Portsmouth 72, Huntington(WV) St.Joe 43
@Coal Grove 66, Portsmouth 54

Coming up games: South Point at Portsmouth Friday, Dec.14
@Western Pike Wednesday, Dec. 19
@Portsmouth West Saturday, Dec. 22
Minford at Portsmouth Saturday, Dec. 29

Although it has been only 4 games, the Trojans overall have done well considering losing 4 starters from last year. Their quickness has forced a lot of opposing turnovers, and they have rebounded well, especially with the addition of Miles Shipp. Matthew Fraulini has been outstanding, as he scored 22, 22, and 28 points going into the Coal Grove game (don't have his official scoring total for that game but he scored over 20). Against Coal Grove, the Trojans' 24 turnovers proved to be their fatal flaw, as the Hornets scored many times off those miscues. Still, Portsmouth outrebounded the Hornets 36-33 and forced them into 18 turnovers. The Trojans did cut a 47-30 lead by CG to 56-50 with 4 minutes to play. Coal Grove has proven to be a nemesis for the Trojans, as they have won 4 of the last 5 meetings between the two.

Going forward, Portsmouth will have to find more scoring against zone defenses from the perimeter, as Fraulini is the only threat from the arc. The Trojans are disruptive enough on defense to be competitive in about every game. Danny Lattimore has been a leader in forcing turnovers, deflecting passes, and scrambling for loose balls.

3-1 is a good start for the varsity Trojans, and the JV pushed their record to 2-0 with wins over Piketon and Coal Grove. The PHS JV only won 1 game last season. Coach Eugene Collins has upped his career win total at PHS to 158 (158-65 overall), and needs only 11 more wins to pass Red Hopkins (1926-1936) as the 2nd winningest coach in Trojan history. After the Coal Grove game, Portsmouth's all time record now stands at 1,453-768.

[Jeff Lisath]

Good start for the Trojans. So great to see my nephew Amare Johnson in the starting lineup. Best of luck to Coach Collins and the Trojans this season, I hope to catch a couple of games this season.

[trojandave]

Jeff: Amare has done well considering he has made a major transition from junior high to starting PG for the varsity Trojans. Amare plays hard all the time, and is fearless at taking the ball to the basket against much bigger defenders. I think he is starting to feel more comfortable in his role, and his upside as the season goes is exciting.

[trojandave]

The Trojans edged South Point 47-45 at PHS on Friday night. Portsmouth trailed 29-20 at the half, but the Trojans cut the deficit to 6 at the end of 3 quarters. PHS forced several Pointer turnovers in the final 8 minutes, leading to some fast break buckets. The Trojans took a 45-42 lead, but after several SP offensive rebounds, they knocked down a 3 to tie the game at 45. MyQuel McKinley scored on a put back basket with just 4 seconds remaining for the winning score. McKinley had his best game as a Trojan with 19 points, while sophomore Miles Shipp tossed in 18, including double digit rebounds, which is becoming commonplace for Shipp. Portsmouth cut down on turnovers from the Coal Grove game, from 24 to 15, and outrebounded SP 34-23.

South Point has a very nice, athletic team that will cause headaches for anybody they play. Not a lot of size, but good quickness and the ability to defend hard. Unfortunately senior guard Tayshawn Fox suffered another injury, with him the Pointers would really be a tough team.

Portsmouth is now 4-1 overall and 1-1 in the OVC. With Ironton's upset of heavy preseason favorite Gallia Academy, the OVC just might be very competitive at the top of the standings.

GO TROJANS!!!

[trojandave]

The most important aspect of the win over South Point was that the Trojans showed that they can win without Matthew Fraulini having a big scoring game. Fraulini only scored 3 points, as the Pointers were determined to shut him down. Still, Matthew played hard at both ends of the court, and was on the floor several times for loose balls. He is still averaging 20 PPG, with games of 22, 22, 28, 27, and 3. There will be nights like that for Matthew, but the important thing was that he contributed to the team in other ways. College coaches look at things like that.