Happy Anniversary Portsmouth Trojans

[Jeff Lisath]

Happy 40th Anniversary to the 1978 Ohio Class AA State Basketball Champions Portsmouth Trojans and Happy 30th Anniversary to the 1988 Ohio Division II State Basketball Champions Portsmouth Trojans!

1978 State Semifinal: Portsmouth 59, Ottawa-Glandorf 43

Ottawa-Glandorf: Pothast 1-0-2, Burgei 1-1-3, Maas 6-6-18, Kaufman 4-1-9, Beckett 3-2-8, Schmiedebusch 1-0-2, Spencer 0-1-1
Portsmouth: Burrows 2-2-6, Taylor 4-1-9, Lisath 9-0-18, Boden 2-0-4, Tubbs 7-7-21, Rickman 0-1-1

Ottawa-Glandorf..........14 7 7 15 43
Portsmouth..................8 21 13 15 59

1978 Championship Game: Portsmouth 63, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 62
Cleveland Cathedral Latin: Warren 5-2-12, Irish 5-1-11, Morris 10-6-26, Washington 3-1-7, Strickland 3-0-6
Portsmouth: Burrows 2-1-5, Taylor 2-4-8, Lisath 11-0-22, Boden 3-1-7, Tubbs 8-2-18, Murray 0-3-3

Cleveland Cathedral Latin............12 16 14 20 62
Portsmouth...................................12 16 13 22 63

Records: Portsmouth 19-7, Cleveland Cathedral Latin 24-2
1988 Division II (the very first in OHSAA history) state tournament:

1988 State Semifinals: Portsmouth 68, Mansfield Malabar 65

Mansfield Malabar: Thompson 3-0-8, Beauford 12-2-26, McDougal 2-0-4, McCruter 5-0-10, Carmichael 5-2-13, Remmer 0-0-0, Mosley 1-1-4...........3 point goals: 4
Portsmouth: McKinley 5-2-12, Burns 3-2-8, Barnes 10-4-24, Tubbs 1-0-2, White 4-0-8, Apel 1-1-3, Taylor 4-1-9, Miller 1-0-2............3 point goals: 0

Mansfield Malabar...........14 12 22 17 65
Portsmouth......................13 25 9 21 68

1988 Championship Game: Portsmouth 54, Chesterland West Geauga 47

Chesterland West Geauga: Suttell 10-3-23, Durgin 1-1-3, Long 0-1-1, Kearney 3-0-6, Quinlan 1-0-2, Bertino 1-2-4, Hunt 1-2-4, Frazier 2-0-4, Casey 0-0-0.
Portsmouth: McKinley 6-7-19, Burns 1-0-2, Barnes 3-0-6, Tubbs 3-3-9, White 3-0-6, Apel 1-4-6, Taylor 2-0-4, Miller 1-0-2...........3 point goals: 0

Chesterland West Geauga..........12 11 18 6 47
Portsmouth..................................10 14 14 16 54

Records: Portsmouth 27-1 (school best), Chesterland West Geauga 25-3

[Moses Guthrie]

Right on Jeff! Recognition is certainly in order! I would have liked to have had a reunion for both teams this year at a home game. Unfortunately it did not happen. It's difficult when most if not all have moved away..
In the 88 semi, the depth of the Trojans is amazing considering leading scorer Pat Tubbs only had 2 .. and still went on to get the W.

[trojandave]

Those were great teams and very special in the decorated history of Portsmouth basketball. Jeff Lisath still holds the Trojan record for the most points scored in the state tournament with 40 points total in the 2 games of 1978 (18 semifinal and 22 in the final) Craig Tubbs is second all time with 39 points (21 in the semifinal and 18 in the final).

Jeff returned from an injury in time for the tournament. The Trojans struggled down the stretch of the regular season, and in fact lost at home to Wheelersburg 54-52 in the season finale. Portsmouth beat Ironton 60-49 in the first game of the sectional, then Jeff made a bank shot at the buzzer vs. Wheelersburg in the sectional final to send the game into OT. PHS reversed the score in the regular season, winning 54-52.

Portsmouth beat Chesapeake 61-42 in the district semifinal, but had to go to overtime to beat Washington CH 56-54 in the district championship. Craig Tubbs made a clutch corner jumper to tie the game at the end of regulation. The Blue Lions were led by outstanding guard John Denen.

In the regional, Portsmouth dominated 1977 state runnerup Columbus Mifflin 64-49 in the semifinal, then easily defeated Bellaire 75-53 for Portsmouth's first regional title since 1961.

The 1978 state tournament, held at St.John Arena (wish it were still there--great atmosphere), featured the defending state champions, the Cleveland Cathedral Latin Lions, led by Colin Irish, Karl Morris, and Ed Washington. PHS won rather handily vs. Ottawa-Glandorf, setting the stage for a classic state championship game. The game was tied many times, with neither team holding a substantial lead. In the end, clutch free throw shooting by the Trojans sealed Portsmouth's 3rd state championship. It was PHS's first year in Class AA. Coach Dick Hopkins joined his father Red as the only father/son duo to win state champioships in Ohio. Red won the Class A (big school) state title in 1931.

The 1988 Trojans were coached by first year mentor Joe Suboticki, who had come to Portsmouth from Akron St.Vincent St.Mary. Suboticki had coached the Irish to a 75-71 win over Wheelersburg in the 1984 Class AA state championship game. PHS returned 4 starters from a 22-3 season in 1987. The Trojans only loss in that 1988 season was a 95-73 loss at Russell, KY, in Ohio Kentucky Athletic Conference play. Portsmouth beat Russell in the return match 83-74.

In sectional play at Shawnee State, the Trojans easily defeated Portsmouth West 72-47. In the final, Ironton proved to be a tough out indeed. With just under 5 minutes remaining, Portsmouth was down 52-44. Patrick Tubbs proved why he was one of the all time great Trojans, as he scored 13 points in those final minutes to push PHS past the Tigers 59-56. Doug Birchfield's 3 pointer at the buzzer was off the mark, and Trojan fans could wipe the sweat off their brow.

Another nail biter occured in the district semifinal final vs. Gallipolis. After 3 quarters, the Trojans led only 28-27 as the Blue Devils under Coach Jim Osborne controlled the tempo of the game. Portsmouth then used pressure defense in the 4th period to take the game over, and the Trojans escaped with a 46-37 win to advance to the district championship vs. Thornville Sheridan. Sheridan had lost only 2 games coming into the district championship game, but Portsmouth jumped to a 9-0 lead and coasted to a 88-65 win.

To win the D2 regional at UD Arena, Portsmouth had to beat perennial power Kettering Alter in the semifinal and Cincinnati Forest Park in the final. Against Alter, 6-5 David Barnes had an incredible game, scoring 24 points to go along with 24 rebounds, going against a Knights front line of 6-9 Matt Popp and 6-7 Bob Vriend. Portsmouth won 76-68 and advanced to play Forest Park, a team that featured Alex Davis, who would go on to start at Ohio State, Tony Watson, who would go on to start at Ohio University, and Carlton Gray, who would play football at UCLA and eventually the Seattle Seahawks. This game would prove to be one of the all time classics in Portsmouth history. Down much of the game, Portsmouth rallied late in the 4th quarter, and with just seconds remaining, the Trojans' Jason Taylor nailed a 3 pointer from the corner to tie the game and send it into OT. It would take 2 OT's to overcome the Chargers, but Portsmouth would prevail 90-80 to win a regional that would no doubt prove to be one of the toughest to win ever by a SE district school.

The 1988 season was the first for the 4 division system, and Portsmouth made state tournament history by being the very first D2 state champion. But it was not an easy road. Mansfield Malabar had an outstanding post player in 6-5 Brian Beauford. The Falcons had the Trojans down during the game, but once again as in past games PHS rallied late to win 68-65. David Barnes had 24 points, which is a Trojan record for most points in a single state tournament game. In the state championship vs. West Geauga, the Trojans were down 41-32 late in the 3rd quarter. Coach Joe Suboticki's pressure defense eventually took its toll, and the Trojans pulled away late to capture the school's 4th state title with a 54-47 win.

I was privileged to watch the 1978/1988 state tournaments, and I also was blessed to have watched my alma mater play in the state tournament in 1980, 1990, 2011, and 2012. Whether we won or lost, I felt so proud to see our Trojans playing on the biggest stage in high school basketball. Having played against so many of those players on the Lincoln School playground, and having grown up on Waller Hill gave me a special bond with them. I saw first hand the hard work and the many hours that those kids (in those days they were kids) put in, and they were rewarded with the highest honor of being a state champion or a Trojan who played on a state tournament team. To this day, all those state tournament teams are special, and they helped to make the Portsmouth Trojans one of most respected basketball traditions in the state of Ohio.

For more history of the Portsmouth Trojans, go to www.trojanhoops.org.

[Jeff Lisath]

Thanks....It's crazy but I remember the smallest details of both championship journeys. What a great time we had and to see our community come together and support us was truly amazing! Memories that last a lifetime! Thanks Dave for all that you have done over the years and continue to do for the Portsmouth Trojans basketball program.

[yabbadabbadoo]

I almost died at the 78 Burg-Portsmouth Sectional final game at Valley. My Dad and I got there early and was the first ones in line. Crowd started filing in behind us. When they finally decided to open the doors the powers that be at Valley thought it would be better to just open one door. Doors were both glass and I just happened to be stuck against the one they didn’t open. The crowd started surging towards the one door and I unfortunately was getting crushed against the door and it started to bow, ready to break. Dad somehow pushed people out of the way and got me out of there and then gave the Valley people a piece of his mind about only opening one door.

Game was incredible and the talk was the winner of that game would probably win state and Portsmouth did. Remember it like it was yesterday.