Jeff Lisath Is The Portsmouth Trojans Coach

[trojandave]

Totally agree with biggdowgg.......if there was one thing that stood out about Coach Lisath's 1st summer basketball at PHS, it was the play of our 2 bigs, Noah Livingston and Luke Stine. Feel really good about the improvement of these players at both ends of the court.

There was also some good development off the bench as Tyreke Lewis, Dontavion Parker, and Jayden Brewer showed that they can give Coach Lisath some positive minutes, especially on the defensive end.

Conditioning will be a huge emphasis going forward......Coach Lisath demands great conditioning to put his plan fully in place. There will be a lot running come November.

South Webster beating Portsmouth was no fluke. The Jeeps should be a real threat to not just get to the regional in D4, but win it. I have to think SW could be at least in the top 3 of the SOC, with Minford probably the favorite.

Considering that Coach Lisath has won everywhere he's been, I feel good about the 2023-24 season. His all in demeanor will lend itself to success. He didn't take the Portsmouth job to fail. I'm confident he will reach the goals he has alluded to this summer, one of which he has emphasized over and over.......to defend the whole court with a smothering defense. "Return to Prominence" will prove to be more than just a catchy cliche.

There will be more polish on the product come November. Coach Lisath will see to that in talking to him the past few days.

GO TROJANS!!

[Bozo]

What days did they play the Portsmouth shootout? Thursday/Friday?

[trojandave]

Bozo: The shootout was played Thursday and Friday......June 29th and 30th.

[trojandave]

Open gyms are scheduled through July 2-3 times per week.

[trojandave]

After watching summer ball and anticipating Coach Lisath's 1st season, here are some projections just for fun:

Starting 5 for the 2023-24 season:

DeAndre Berry................6-1 SR
Noah Livingston..............6-2 SR
Luke Stine....................6-4 JR
Donovan Breech.............6-3 SR
Isaiah Lewis..................5-9 SR

Looking into the future 2 years from now (2024-25)

Luke Stine...................6-5 SR
Landon Malone.............5-7 JR
Dontavion Parker...........5-9 JR
Jayden Brewer..............6-1 SR
Tyreke Lewis................5-9 JR

3 years from now: (2025-2026)

Landon Malone.............5-8 SR
Dontavion Parker...........5-9 SR
Tyreke Lewis................5-9 SR
Joe Greene..................5-10 FR
Mekhi Berry..................6-3 FR

Obviously these are lists that could change drastically, especially the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. For what Coach Lisath wants to do, though, there's plenty of athleticism to go around.

[trojandave]

DeAndre Berry should be the next Trojan to join the 1,000 points club. He is about 320 points short of that magic number. He averaged almost 17 PPG last season and should easily approach that mark this coming season barring injury.

[trojandave]

Very healthy numbers last night at open gym, on the heels of the shooting clinic coming on Wednesday.

[trojandave]

Good turnout for the shooting clinic in the 12-3 session which was for grades under HS......about 20 kids. The 4-7 session for HS kids had about 10 kids. I counted 6 out of 8 in the projected varsity rotation did participate. The instructors were really good at breaking down the fine points of shooting, ballhandling, and foul shooting.

The lead instructor's (Thom Townsley) first point of emphasis was that ballhandling was the most important skill of basketball. He said college and pro coaches look at 3 things which determine wins and losses.......foul shooting, turnovers, and rebounding. If a team wins 2 of those 3 things, they will win most of their games. He had the athletes do drills for each of those 3 things. For instance, one thing with foul shooting that he relayed was for the shooter to focus on the back of the rim and pick a spot to shoot for.....for example, a hook that holds the net up. He said when you're tired in the 4th quarter, focusing on the back of the rim could negate a player's fatigue somewhat, and would increase the chances of a successful FT.

He mentioned a number of NBA athletes that he has personally worked with.......one of his favorites was Reggie Miller, because Reggie was one to ask a lot of questions. He also showed a drill that Michael Jordan used in his pre game workout. He included the story of Jeff Hornicek, who ended up having a very good career with the Utah Jazz. He told the kids how hard Hornicek worked to make himself a good player, from a walk on in college to making it in the NBA. He also told the tale of Larry Bird who was slow of foot but made himself quicker by anticipating certain things in the course of a game. He said Calvin Murphy averaged 22.7 PPG for his career but 8 of those points almost always came at the FT line.......Murphy was close to a 90% career shooter on FT's.

He said that the Indiana Pacers have strict guidelines for their workouts.......if a player is as little as 5 minutes late, he gets docked out of his paycheck.

It was some interesting information from a perspective of a coach(s) who has attained the highest level of basketball instruction, yet broke it down into very understandable points that was easy to incorporate into the HS basketball athlete workouts, routines, and game preparation.

[trojandave]

Got some new information regarding the final rankings of the Portsmouth Trojans basketball team. Rankings listed are from 1950-2023; they are the final AP rankings done before tournament play. Thanks to Coach Trent Arey of Peebles for his work on the website www.district14bk.com which has a lot of interesting historical information. The rankings have also been updated on www.trojanhoops.org.

1950: 5 District Champions
1951: 3 District Champions
1952: 19 District Champions
1953: 7 Lost to Minford in district tournament
1955: 7 District Champions
1956: 18 District Champions
1960: 13 District Champions
1961: 6 Class AA (Big School) State Champions
1963: 30 District Champions
1964: 8 District Champions
1965: 8 Lost to Athens in district tournament
1979: 1 Lost to Ironton in district tournament
1980: 14 Class AA State Runnerup
1981: 9 Lost to Hillsboro in district tournament
1982: 10 District Champions
1983: 6 District Champions
1984: 10 Lost to Wheelersburg in district tournament
1987: 5 District Champions
1988: 2 Division II State Champions (1st in OHSAA history)
1989: 11 District Champions
1990: 13 Division II State Runnerup
1991: 3 Regional Finalist
1999: 14 District Champion
2011: 10 Division III State Semifinalist
2012: 6 Division III State Runnerup (last win by a SE District school in Final 4 play)

[BigBlueNation]

Got some new information regarding the final rankings of the Portsmouth Trojans basketball team. Rankings listed are from 1950-2023; they are the final AP rankings done before tournament play. Thanks to Coach Trent Arey of Peebles for his work on the website www.district14bk.com which has a lot of interesting historical information. The rankings have also been updated on www.trojanhoops.org.

1950: 5 District Champions
1951: 3 District Champions
1952: 19 District Champions
1953: 7 Lost to Minford in district tournament
1955: 7 District Champions
1956: 18 District Champions
1960: 13 District Champions
1961: 6 Class AA (Big School) State Champions
1963: 30 District Champions
1964: 8 District Champions
1965: 8 Lost to Athens in district tournament
1979: 1 Lost to Ironton in district tournament
1980: 14 Class AA State Runnerup
1981: 9 Lost to Hillsboro in district tournament
1982: 10 District Champions
1983: 6 District Champions
1984: 10 Lost to Wheelersburg in district tournament
1987: 5 District Champions
1988: 2 Division II State Champions (1st in OHSAA history)
1989: 11 District Champions
1990: 13 Division II State Runnerup
1991: 3 Regional Finalist
1999: 14 District Champion
2011: 10 Division III State Semifinalist
2012: 6 Division III State Runnerup (last win by a SE District school in Final 4 play)

That's impressive trojandave. Didn't Portsmouth win a state championship in 1978.

[trojandave]

BigBlueNation: The Trojans won the Class AA state title in 1978, but they were not ranked. They had an 11-7 regular season record, partly because Jeff Lisath sprained his ankle and was out for about 6 games. He returned in time for the tournament, and he certainly was a huge factor in PHS winning it all. He scored 22 points in the state championship game vs. Cleveland Latin, still today a PHS record for most points by a Trojan in a state tournament game.

[trojandave]

Last night was one of the best open gyms this summer. About 25 kids showed up, and the play was intense the whole 2 hours. Coach Lisath was there and I think he was very pleased with the turnout. Open gym will end on July 31st.

[trojan7]

BigBlueNation: The Trojans won the Class AA state title in 1978, but they were not ranked. They had an 11-7 regular season record, partly because Jeff Lisath sprained his ankle and was out for about 6 games. He returned in time for the tournament, and he certainly was a huge factor in PHS winning it all. He scored 22 points in the state championship game vs. Cleveland Latin, still today a PHS record for most points by a Trojan in a state tournament game.

Record for State Championship game, but State Tournament game Jaylen Carter had 23 in 2012 vs OG. That same game Wayne Evans had 22.

The state title game Zaide Whitley led the Trojans with 16 as they fell to Summit Country Day.

[trojandave]

trojan7: My apologies for not stating the correct fact. Thanks for the correction. I used the phrase "tournament game" instead of "title game". Not good proofreading on my part. I meant "title" instead of "tournament". Jeff does indeed hold the record for a PHS state title game with 22 points, and his 40 points total in that 1978 Final 4 is tops among all Trojans also. Craig Tubbs had 39 points in that 1978 Final 4.

The highest point total for any Trojan in any state tournament game is by David Barnes, who scored 24 points vs. Mansfield Malabar in the 1988 State semifinals vs. Mansfield Malabar. In a bit of irony, Barnes had 24 points and 24 rebounds vs. Kettering Alter in the 1988 D2 Regional semifinal. Jaylen Carter(23) and Wayne Evans (22) have the highest 2 player total in any Trojan state tournament game with 45 points vs. Ottawa-Glandorf in the 2012 D3 semifinals which was a 74-66 PHS win. Marcus Bendolph is the only Trojan who led the team in points in both the semifinal and title game. He scored 21 points vs. Willard in the 1980 Class AA State semifinal, and then added 16 points in the State Championship game vs. Hamilton Ross. Clem Hartley had 22 points in the 1961 Class AA (Big School) State semifinal vs. Elyria. Mike Haley had 20 points in the 1961 State championship game vs. Urbana.

The highest point total past district play is by Mike Lovenguth in the 1972 Class AAA Regional semifinals vs. Celina with 36 points. Darnell Lisath's 38 points vs. Greenfield McClain in the 1994 D2 District championship is the highest point total by a Trojan in any tournament game.

[BigBlueNation]

BigBlueNation: The Trojans won the Class AA state title in 1978, but they were not ranked. They had an 11-7 regular season record, partly because Jeff Lisath sprained his ankle and was out for about 6 games. He returned in time for the tournament, and he certainly was a huge factor in PHS winning it all. He scored 22 points in the state championship game vs. Cleveland Latin, still today a PHS record for most points by a Trojan in a state tournament game.

Thanks for the info.

[trojandave]

Another very good open gym with a big turnout on Saturday.......today is the last day for open gym. August is a no contact period.
Very encouraged to see such good numbers this late in the summer.

[Hoops360]

Portsmouth dropped Spring Valley from its schedule last week and due to the
inability to compete with a competitive squad. Did the first five transfer out???

[BuckeyeBlood]

Portsmouth dropped Spring Valley from its schedule last week and due to the
inability to compete with a competitive squad. Did the first five transfer out???

Yeah they all said to hell with it and transferred out. Said they were dumb to even go through the summer with the new coach and he’s a bum….you’re a moron.

[trojandave]

Portsmouth picked up Dayton Stivers.......I believe the date is Dec.22. Jeff is also trying to get Dayton Northridge on the schedule. There's really not much he can do about the schedule this season because it was pretty much set. Maybe Stivers replaced Spring Valley; haven't seen the full schedule yet. Stivers could be a good challenge for the Trojans. Starting next season Jeff wants to upgrade the non-conference schedule with some big city schools, and it looks like Chillicothe will be back on the PHS's schedule which would renew a long time intense rivalry. Here's the projected starting 5:

DeAndre Berry........6-2 SR......17 PPG last season......little more than 300 points short of 1,000
Donovan Breech......6-3 SR
Isaiah Lewis...........5-9 SR
Noah Livingston......6-2 SR
Luke Stine............6-5 JR

Off the bench:

Jayden Brewer.......6-0 JR
Landon Malone......5-8 SO
Dontavion Parker....5-9 SO
Leelind Scurlock....5-9 SO
Marquez Locklear...5-9 SO
Olynshay McKinley..6-4 SO
Tayshawn Henderson...5-8 SO

Projected 8 of the 12 will be back for 2024-25, and after that we have a really good 7th grade squad that will be freshmen in 2025-26. Joe Greene, Mekhi Berry, and Ryan Monroe are three 7th graders that right now could play on this year's JV squad.

Not certain as to whether there's going to be a freshman team. If not, those freshmen will play up on the JV squad.

[Hoops360]

Portsmouth dropped Spring Valley from its schedule last week and due to the
inability to compete with a competitive squad. Did the first five transfer out???

Yeah they all said to hell with it and transferred out. Said they were dumb to even go through the summer with the new coach and he’s a bum….you’re a moron.

Nasty response to an honest question. Through you're sarcastic response, you're basically saying it's true that Coach Lisath dropped Spring Valley because he couldn't compete with the team he has. Didn't Spring Valley play at Portsmouth last year? Oh well...so glad football doesn't drop teams they don't think they can beat.