Portsmouth Trojans 2023-24

[Pinwheel]

Should win when you shoot 35 free throws, pitiful.

Don't foul ?

Happens when you have football players

[Pinwheel]

Should win when you shoot 35 free throws, pitiful.

Don't foul ?

Happens when you have football players playing basketball

[Jussmypinion]

Should win when you shoot 35 free throws, pitiful.

Don't foul ?

Happens when you have football players playing basketball

[Jussmypinion]

Should win when you shoot 35 free throws, pitiful.

Don't foul ?

Happens when you have football players playing basketball

Be lucky ref didn't have any balls, would've been 37 if I had the whistle. T'd up, no need for OT!

[osumufan]

Trojans should have won in the regulation if they wouldn't go down and throw up a shot with the lead and under a minute to go, make Ironton foul you!! They literally did this in both overtimes too! Either the coach is at fault or the boys playing have zero basketball sense!

[trojandave]

At 13-5, Portsmouth needs 2 more wins to match the records of the 2016, 2017, and 2018 teams regular season records which all went 15-7. The 2016 and 2018 teams failed to reach the district, both going 16-8 overall, but the 2017 team advanced to the district semifinal, losing to South Point and finishing with a record of 17-8.

Tough stretch to get to 15, with games tonight at South Point, home vs. Fairland tomorrow, at Fairland on Tuesday, and at Minford next Wednesday.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth continued its stellar play on the OVC road, as the Trojans bested South Point 72-68 @SPHS. PHS avenged an earlier 34 point loss on its home court to the Pointers. Portsmouth led 22-16 in the 2nd quarter, then SP went on a 10-0 run to lead 26-22. The Pointers led by 7 at the half, but PHS cut that lead to 4 at the end of 3 quarters. In the 4th period, the Trojans stayed close to the Pointers and finally put the game away with some clutch FT's in the waning seconds. Caleb Lovely of SP was amazing in the 4th quarter, coming up with bucket after bucket and answering every charge by the Trojans. Lovely is an outstanding basketball player. Definitely can play at the next level. He is SP's all time leading scorer.

DeAndre Berry proved to be the bellcow once again for the Trojans. He scored 36 points, dished out some great assists, crashed the boards, and did a majority of the ballhandling. This was, however, a total team effort, as Malachi Loper had 12 points, Donnovan Breech had double figures, while the Trojans' defense did a much better job in the 2nd half guarding the perimeter after SP hit 6 trifectas in the 1st half.

Berry's 36 points was the 7th time that he has scored at least 30 points in a game, and that sets a new PHS record for most games scoring at least 30 points. He broke the record of Damond Mannon and Kyre Allison who had 6 games of such. Berry now has 1,161 points in his career, while Malachi Loper now has 860.

The Trojans are now 9-3 in the OVC, 6-0 on the road, with wins at Chesapeake, home vs. Ironton, and at South Point just in the past week. The Trojans are only 1/2 game out of 1st behind Chesapeake but could tie for 1st if they can beat Fairland tonight at Trojan Arena. Overall, PHS is 14-5 which should bode well for a good seeding in the RPI, which comes out Sunday. Portsmouth has only 2 OVC games left, both vs. Fairland.

The Portsmouth JV team picked up a 36-34 win over the Pointers JV. PHS JV's are now 5-12. They lost to SP earlier at home.

[PTrojan59]

Another big win for the Trojans against Fairland tonight.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth continued its winning momentum Saturday night, as the Trojans beat Fairland 61-42 @PHS. The Dragons led 10-9 after 1 quarter, but a 25-4 edge in the 2nd frame proved to be the difference as the Dragons could not mount a serious rally after that. Donnovan Breech led PHS with 16 points, and recorded a double double, while DeAndre Berry added 15, and now has 1,176 for his career. Malachi Loper scored 8 points and has 868 total. PG Isaiah Lewis continues to shoot well from behind the arc, with several 3's vs. FHS, while Noah Livingston has been consistently good on rebounds.

With the win, Portsmouth is now 15-5 on the season, 10-3 in the OVC, with 1 conference game remaining at Fairland on Tuesday. After losing to Fairland 16 straight times from 2016--2023, the Trojans have won the last 2 games. PHS can get a share of the OVC title with a win vs. the Dragons, which would be the 1st OVC title since 2015. Portsmouth also is an amazing 6-0 on the road in the OVC, with wins at Ironton, South Point, and Chesapeake. PHS hasn't finished higher than 5th in the conference since 2018, and finished 6th the last 3 years.

A win on Tuesday would give Portsmouth a co-OVC championship in both the boys and girls teams. Never has a boys and girls team in school history have won a conference title together in the same year.

The 15 wins marked the 46th time in school history that the Trojans have won at least 15 games in a season. The 15 wins with Coach Lisath as HC is also the 3rd highest total by any 1st year PHS coach, topped only by Joe Suboticki (1988 27-1) and Tom Smith (1982 20-4).

The Portsmouth JV lost and are now 5-13 on the season. The Trojans lose 4 starters on the varsity after this season. Malachi Loper will be the only returning starter.

[trojandave]

The Trojans are playing their best basketball of the season now, and I'm feeling that a tournament run could happen for these Trojans. It would be great to see our kids get to play at the Convo, something that hasn't happened since the 2017 season. 64 sectional titles, 37 district titles, and 15 state tournament appearances, 4 state titles, 4 state runnerups, all 1st in the SE district. Hoping our kids can add to those numbers.

[trojandave]

This 15-5 season has been very enjoyable because of how the situation looked heading into summer ball last year. After the 2022-23 season ended, Portsmouth was faced with the loss of 3 starters......Kenny Sanderlin, Tyler Duncan, then Devin Lattimore transferred to Wheelersburg in the spring. With almost 40-45 points lost, and with a 1-18 JV team, it looked for certain that PHS was headed for yet another sub .500 season and looking up in the OVC standings which had become a regularity the past several seasons.

Enter Jeff Lisath......from the day he was hired in May, Coach preached to the kids coming back that he demanded commitment and that's what he got. The players......DeAndre Berry, Isaiah Lewis, Donnovan Breech, LeVaughn Cobb, Luke Stine, and Noah Livingston which were the core of the 2023-24 varsity rotation all put their nose to the grindstone and bought in to Coach's expectations. The gym doors were open daily, and the kids took full advantage of it. Each took on themselves personally that what happened last season was not going to happen this time around.

Then summer ball came, and the results looked encouraging. The Trojans were winning quite a few summer games, and there began to be a feel about these Trojans that it was going to be much better in 2023-24. Coach Lisath implemented a style that took advantage of the athleticism of which there was no shortage of. He had a team that he could build around DeAndre Berry and get the rest of the rotation to fill their roles. It was a case of the individual parts being greater than the whole. But this was summer ball, and results in June many times don't match what happens when the bell rings true in early December. Then Malachi Loper transferred in from Portsmouth Clay just before the school year, and he was a perfect fit for the type of team that Coach Lisath wanted to put on the floor.

December came, and from the very 1st game the Trojans had a different look to them. They beat a good Lawrence County, KY team and then proceeded to reel off 5 more wins to start 6-0. Then the slump came, and some were wondering if the clock had struck midnight with the Trojans going back to the Trojans of the past several seasons. The team struggled to win on their home court, but strangely seemed more comfortable playing on the road. PHS lost 5 of their next 8 games, and 15-5 looked to be a hundred miles away.

But Coach Lisath never lost faith in what he wanted to accomplish, and neither did his players. A 30 point win at Ironton seemed to get things going in the right direction, but then South Point came to Trojan Arena and handed PHS a 34 point spanking. Where would the Trojans go from here? At 9-5, and sinking in the OVC standings, could Portsmouth right the ship? Rather than feel sorry for themselves, they responded with a 6 game winning streak, a perfect 6-0 record on the road in the OVC, and for the 1st time since 2015 have a chance to win at least a co-championship with a win at Fairland tomorrow. 15-5 did become reality, rather than just a wild dream. It's been 7 years since the Portsmouth Trojans have touched the Convo floor....way too long for the SE's district's winningest program of all time. They have a great opportunity to make that futility end.

So to look at next season and say that it looks bleak is a cautionary tale. It certainly looked that way heading into this season with so many questions and few answers. Coach Lisath has proven with the odds stacked against him that he can make something very good out of something that didn't look so good. Let's not write off the 2024-25 season just yet even with losing 4 starters and a 5-13 JV team. Just look what's happening now and you have evidence that next season might just might be much better than what some may be doubting. Coach Lisath is not one of those doubters. Champions don't doubt, they believe, and Coach Lisath is a champion.

[TrojanTru]

This 15-5 season has been very enjoyable because of how the situation looked heading into summer ball last year. After the 2022-23 season ended, Portsmouth was faced with the loss of 3 starters......Kenny Sanderlin, Tyler Duncan, then Devin Lattimore transferred to Wheelersburg in the spring. With almost 40-45 points lost, and with a 1-18 JV team, it looked for certain that PHS was headed for yet another sub .500 season and looking up in the OVC standings which had become a regularity the past several seasons.

Enter Jeff Lisath......from the day he was hired in May, Coach preached to the kids coming back that he demanded commitment and that's what he got. The players......DeAndre Berry, Isaiah Lewis, Donnovan Breech, LeVaughn Cobb, Luke Stine, and Noah Livingston which were the core of the 2023-24 varsity rotation all put their nose to the grindstone and bought in to Coach's expectations. The gym doors were open daily, and the kids took full advantage of it. Each took on themselves personally that what happened last season was not going to happen this time around.

Then summer ball came, and the results looked encouraging. The Trojans were winning quite a few summer games, and there began to be a feel about these Trojans that it was going to be much better in 2023-24. Coach Lisath implemented a style that took advantage of the athleticism of which there was no shortage of. He had a team that he could build around DeAndre Berry and get the rest of the rotation to fill their roles. It was a case of the individual parts being greater than the whole. But this was summer ball, and results in June many times don't match what happens when the bell rings true in early December. Then Malachi Loper transferred in from Portsmouth Clay just before the school year, and he was a perfect fit for the type of team that Coach Lisath wanted to put on the floor.

December came, and from the very 1st game the Trojans had a different look to them. They beat a good Lawrence County, KY team and then proceeded to reel off 5 more wins to start 6-0. Then the slump came, and some were wondering if the clock had struck midnight with the Trojans going back to the Trojans of the past several seasons. The team struggled to win on their home court, but strangely seemed more comfortable playing on the road. PHS lost 5 of their next 8 games, and 15-5 looked to be a hundred miles away.

But Coach Lisath never lost faith in what he wanted to accomplish, and neither did his players. A 30 point win at Ironton seemed to get things going in the right direction, but then South Point came to Trojan Arena and handed PHS a 34 point spanking. Where would the Trojans go from here? At 9-5, and sinking in the OVC standings, could Portsmouth right the ship? Rather than feel sorry for themselves, they responded with a 6 game winning streak, a perfect 6-0 record on the road in the OVC, and for the 1st time since 2015 have a chance to win at least a co-championship with a win at Fairland tomorrow. 15-5 did become reality, rather than just a wild dream. It's been 7 years since the Portsmouth Trojans have touched the Convo floor....way too long for the SE's district's winningest program of all time. They have a great opportunity to make that futility end.

So to look at next season and say that it looks bleak is a cautionary tale. It certainly looked that way heading into this season with so many questions and few answers. Coach Lisath has proven with the odds stacked against him that he can make something very good out of something that didn't look so good. Let's not write off the 2024-25 season just yet even with losing 4 starters and a 5-13 JV team. Just look what's happening now and you have evidence that next season might just might be much better than what some may be doubting. Coach Lisath is not one of those doubters. Champions don't doubt, they believe, and Coach Lisath is a champion.

I’m crazy enough to believe these Trojans could very well land themselves at U of Dayton in a few weeks. That stretch of games West, Ironton, SP and Fairland has seen a new found confidence and grit emerge in Lisath’s young men. Some probably told him he was a fool for taking on this challenge, but as he said in Bannon Park back in the summer God gave him a vision! Maybe that’s why he doesn’t panic when our Trojans find themselves down double digits, he already knows what’s at the end. Reading your post, it’s almost as if Lisath entered the gym and found a glass sneaker, and Malachi was the foot that fit it.
Cinderella story. I too am enjoying the excitement around what Portsmouth has going on, both girls and boys. Continued success to you all.

[BuckeyeBlood]

Trojans laid an egg last night at Fairland. That’s alright though, another nice test against a good Minford team in mule town tonight. Playing a top team right before the tourney never hurt anyone.

[trojandave]

Fairland did to Portsmouth last night what Portsmouth did to Fairland on Saturday, as the Dragons pounded the Trojans 75-47 @FHS. PHS came into the game with a perfect 6-0 road record in the OVC, but the Dragons dominated from the opening tip and PHS had no response, as the lead ballooned throughout the game. Portsmouth had beaten Fairland 61-42 on Saturday. PHS had a 20 point lead at the half @PHS, while Fairland had a 20 point lead last night at the half.

Portsmouth finishes with a 10-4 mark in the OVC, its best mark since winning the conference title in 2015, good for a tie for 2nd with Ironton. With the loss and with Chesapeake's win over Coal Grove, the Panthers claimed the outright OVC title in a year where the top 5 teams all were in the running for the title until the final game.

DeAndre Berry led PHS with 17 points, and now has 1,193 for his career. Malachi Loper had 9 and now has 877, while Donnovan Breech had 9. Overall, PHS is now 15-6, and has a chance to post its best regular season mark since 2015, when the Trojans went 16-6. PHS will play at Minford tonight in the final regular season game.

The Portsmouth JV fell to 5-14 with the 2nd loss to Fairland in 3 days.

[trojandave]

With the cancellation of the Minford game, Portsmouth ends the regular season with a 15-6 mark, the fewest regular season losses since the 2015 team (16-6 regular season) which made the regional final, losing to Columbus Eastmoor 49-45. That 2015 team finished 20-7. PHS hasn't set foot on the Convo floor since 2017, when South Point eliminated the Trojans in the district semifinal 59-42 after Portsmouth had beaten the Pointers twice in the regular season. The 2014 Trojans finished 19-5, and lost in the district final 58-55 to Lucasville Valley on Chris Flowers' 3 pointer at the buzzer.

The 2016, 2017, and 2018 teams all went 15-7 in the regular season, but the 2016 and 2018 teams lost in the sectional. Both finished 16-8 for the season. The 2016 team lost to Eastern Brown 72-58 in the sectional final, with all time leading scorer Kyre Allison scoring 31 points in his final game. The 2018 team lost to Lynchburg Clay 47-42 with Reese Johnson leading the way with 15 points. The 2016 team had defeated Eastern Brown in the regular season at the Beast of the Southeast at Chesapeake.

The Trojans do have a very good resume of winning at Ironton, at South Point, and at OVC Champion Chesapeake. PHS's 6-1 OVC road record was the best in the conference. Hopefully that ability to win away from home will carry over to the tournament. PHS will be looking to win the 65th sectional in school history, as it opens tournament play Monday vs. Paint Valley @PHS. The winner of that game will play the winner of Westfall vs. Piketon at Waverly on Friday.

Coach Lisath has had a very good 1st season at PHS, but I know he's not satisfied with just regular season accolades.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth opened up sectional tournament play last night, as the Trojans defeated Paint Valley 66-53 at Trojan Arena. PHS bolted out to a 21-11 lead at the end of 1 quarter, but the Bearcats cut that margin to only 4 at the half. The Trojans then took command for good in the 2nd half, building as much as a 19 point lead. DeAndre Berry led PHS with 19 points, while Malachi Loper had 15, and Donnovan Breech chipped in 13. Loper was outstanding on defense, coming up with several steals for buckets. Portsmouth had a very bad game at the FT line, and must do better if they are to win on Friday.

PHS advances to play the Piketon Redstreaks on Friday at 6:15 PM at Waverly. #21 seed Piketon upset #12 seed Westfall. Piketon was formerly coached by Portsmouth's current coach, Jeff Lisath, who led the Redstreaks to the 2009 D3 Final 4. PHS upped its record to 16-6 overall.

The Trojans will be seeking a 65th sectional title on Friday. PHS hasn't won a sectional since 2017, when they bested North Adams 50-43 at Waverly.

DeAndre Berry now has 1,212 points for his career, while Malachi Loper has 892.

[danicalifornia]

Coach Lisath was 141-69 as a the coach of the Redstreaks, leading them to 4 SVC title, 7 Sectionals, 2 Districts and a Regional Championship as well

I believe it will be the first time he’s coached against the Streaks since heading to Northridge after the 2013 season.

[trojandave]

Thanks, danicalifornia, for the info on Coach Lisath's career at Piketon.

[MeanJoeGreene]

Really big fan of the draw Portsmouth got for the tournament this year. Fully anticipate them getting to the district semis.

[trojandave]

A sectional final win will give the Trojans their 17th win, which would be the 34th time that a PHS boys basketball team has won at least 17 games.

It's been a good 1st year for Coach Jeff Lisath:

1. First winning season since 2018
2. Best OVC finish (10-4 tied for 2nd) since 2015 (1st)
3. 10 game winning streak by Ironton snapped
4. Won road games at Ironton, South Point, and OVC champion Chesapeake
5. DeAndre Berry joins Portsmouth's 1,000 point club
6. 3rd most wins by a first year Trojan coach (16) (Joe Suboticki 27, Tom Smith 20)
7. Beat Columbus Linden McKinley at Buckeye Elite 62-47
8. Beat Providence Christian(FL) at Ironton Classic 77-69
9. Best road record in OVC play (6-1)
10. 2-0 in OT games (72-66 OT vs. Rock Hill) (92-85 3OT vs. Ironton)
11. Beat every team in the OVC at least once and swept Ironton
12. Won 9 games against teams with winning records
13. Prayer circle has been well received by many players, coaches, and fans