Wheelersburg 60 @ Portsmouth 68... 12-27-08

[biggdowgg]

Gallia is not a bad team, and when we play them it is always a tough game, esp at Gallia.

...no matter the score a win is a win, and that was one tough game.


now on to an even tougher game tonight, looking forward to the crowd at the gym, should be our largest in the new school.

[biggdowgg]

better get there early, just heard, they are expecting a sell out

[biggdowgg]

knew this would be a tough tough game.


good luck to the PIRATES, this game was never decided until the final minutes of the game

[biggdowgg]

not a sell out, but it was a huge crowd,,,,came close.

[OZZIEOHIO]

The Trojans didnt play very well tonight but a win is a win and we will take it. We looked a little tired from playing two nights in a row. 32 for burg had a nice game in the first half, and Williams for Portsmouth had a monster second half.

[biggdowgg]

Williams scored 20 in the second half, as he was put on Stegman, and held stegman to 6 or 8 points in the second half,,,so yeah, it was a huge second half for Williams.


I think we had 4 players in double figures again tonight?

I could be wroing,I know Jacob Stevens just missed it with 8 points.

[biggdowgg]

seen Ironton scouting again tonight, Im guesing they have a game coming up with Burg, since Lafon was at Gallia yesterday scouting the Trojans?

[rockfish]

seen Ironton scouting again tonight, Im guesing they have a game coming up with Burg, since Lafon was at Gallia yesterday scouting the Trojans?

Dont you mean, They were laughing at you again,like at Gallia?

[Bryant4219]

any stats?

[OZZIEOHIO]

CMO wrote

Portsmouth
Williams 2 at halftime 22 total
Bendolph 15
Cadogen 6
Horne 14
Link 3
Stevens 8

Burg
Stegman 26
Whitely 9 - 3 3's
Ward 8
Kemper 6
Miller 6
Craigmiles 2

[trojanofthepast]

Fun game to watch as a fan. Good win for the Trojans, but we need to learn to put people away and not get cocky. Good job by the Burg to weather the early storm and play their game. Stegman had a great game and will only get better, he's very fun to watch play. Good luck Pirates the rest of the way. Trojans defense will need to step up in order to separate themselves from being a good team or a great team. Were a good team right now not great yet. Keep winning Trojans and you'll get the respect your looking for this year.

[biggdowgg]

Trojans still undefeated
Williams scores 22 as Portsmouth beats the Pirates

By CHRIS DUNHAM

PDT Sports Writer

The battle of Scioto County's last two undefeated teams lived up to its hype, and was all square through three quarters.

Portsmouth, though, was able to score 23 points in the fourth to knock off Wheelersburg 68-60 Saturday night in Portsmouth.

"It was just a nip-and-tuck game," Portsmouth head coach Josh Shoemaker said. "Luckily, we made some plays in the fourth quarter that put us into position to win."

The Trojans' were led in the fourth quarter by forward Anthony Williams. The senior scored 14 of his 22 points in the fourth quarter, leading the Trojans to the win.

"I hadn't played very well early in the game," Williams said. "Before the fourth quarter, coach said, 'the game's not over, can you put the team on your back and carry them to a victory?' I said 'yes.'"

Williams did just that , making all but two of the Trojans' fourth quarter field goals, and pulling down five rebounds.

"To score 20 of 22 in the second half, that's what a senior has to do," Shoemaker said. "He put us on his back in the fourth quarter and willed us to win."

Early on, the Trojans used their outside shooting to build a lead that they would sustain until halfway through the third quarter. Tory Horne and Andrew Bendolph each hit a pair of first quarter three pointers including one at the buzzer to give Portsmouth a ten point advantage through the first quarter.

Bendolph and Horne combined for 29 points in the game, with 20 coming in the first half.

"You've got to give Portsmouth a lot of credit," Wheelersburg coach Tom Barrick said. "They came out early and made shots, played with a lot of enthusiasm, then got on the offensive boards at the end of the game when they needed them. Give them credit for making plays. We just have to step up and make some plays ourselves."

After shooting 11 of 15 in the first quarter, Portsmouth was held to just 3 of 13 in the second quarter. The Pirates took advantage, with Andy Stegman leading an 8-0 run to cut the lead to four halfway through the second. Stegman led all scorers with 26 points and 10 rebounds in the contest.

Stegman's assist to Zaide Whitley for a three pointer cut Portsmouth's lead to one with under three minutes to go in the period.

"Our kids just stayed in the game mentally and we knew that they would come back to us," Barrick said. "We just had to weather that storm early. Everything they shot, they made in the first, and it ended up being pivotal because we spent the entire game trying to get back out of (that hole)."

Portsmouth started to build its lead again in the second half, but a Whitley three pointer off a Nick Kemper assist cut the lead to two, halfway through the third period. One minute later, Brandon Schankweiler knocked down a three pointer to give Wheelersburg its first lead. Kemper added a layup on a fast break to give the Pirates their biggest lead of the contest at 43-40 with 2:47 left in the third period. This prompted Portsmouth to take a timeout and re-group.

"We just told the kids to buy into what we're doing and stay tough," Shoemaker said. "After that, we were able to play better defense, and we were able to rebound and make some shots."

Portsmouth scored two buckets out of the timeout to regain the lead, before Wheelersburg tied things up to end the third period.

The Trojans scored five quick points to start the fourth and didn't look back.

"We were able to take a three point lead at one time, but we used so much energy getting back in the game after being down early," Barrick said. "I don't know if it was fatigue. I don't know if we had mental lapses. But we just weren't able to come up with the stops down the stretch that we needed to."

Portsmouth kept pushing ahead and expanding its lead, getting it back to eleven at one point in the fourth quarter. The Trojans caught themselves looking back in the third period, and had to re-focus for the final stretch.

"We knew we had to always be ready for the next play," Williams said. " If we went down on offense and missed, we just had to be ready for the next play. If we went down on defense and they made a shot, we have to be ready go back for the next play."

Defensively, Portsmouth turned up the heat on Wheelersburg's leading scorer. Stegman, who scored 17 points in the first half, was held to nine in the second half.

"Our unsung players, Jacob Stevens and Zach Link did a heck of a job guarding Stegman in the second half," Shoemaker said. "We also had Nate (Cadogan) who did a tremendous job on the boards for us."

While a number of players had a hand in the victory, Williams led the way. He scored 12 of Portsmouth's last 18, and helped his team to secure the win.

"He's a completely different player (from what he was last year)," Shoemaker said. "He's taking pride in his ability and growing each game."

Williams, after the game, was simply excited about ending a losing streak against the rival Pirates.

"It's exciting," he said. "We've played them a lot, but haven't beaten them since 2001 and we finally did. I can't say much more than that."

Both teams will be in action Dec. 30 with Wheelersburg traveling to Ironton and Portsmouth hosting South Point.

CHRIS DUNHAM can be reached at chrisdunhamjr@aol.com.

Burg 17 15 13 15 щ60

PHS 27 7 11 23 щ68

Wheelersburg ÑŠStegman 9 8 26, Whitley 3 0 9, Ward 3 0 8, Schankweiler 2 1 6, Kemper 3 0 6, Miller 1 1 3, Craigmiles 1 0 2.

Portsmouth Ñ Williams 9 4 22, Bendolph 5 2 15, Horne 5 2 14, Jacob Stevens 3 0 8, Cadogan 3 0 6, Link 1 1 3.

3-pointersÑ—heelersburg 5 (Whitley 3, Ward 2): Portsmouth 7 (Bendolph 3, Stevens 2, Horne 2).

Records: Wheelersburg 4-1 (3-0), 5-0 (2-0)

[Burg_Grad_77]

The Burg may have lost this game but they proved two things to me tonight.

One, even though they are young, they are not going to back down from anyone and will play right to the final buzzer. They are a lot tougher and a lot better than people thought they would be.

Two, Tom Barrick is one of the best coaches in this area by far. To take a team that only has one starter coming back from last years varsity and to give Portsmouth, who is loaded in talent, all they want on the Trojans home floor proved that once again to me. If the Burg had gotten just a few breaks here or there, made their free throws, and a couple of those 3's had fallen it could have very easily been a Pirate victory.

Like trojanofthepast said in his post above, the Trojans are a good team, but they need to get rid of the cockiness and learn to put teams away to become a great team. It seemed like after they got the lead they tried to play "streetball" instead of "team" ball and they let the Pirates right back into a game they probably should have been blown out in. I see a lot of "me, me, me" in this team right now.

Good luck to the Trojans the rest of the way.

Good luck to the Pirates as well. They have a tough stretch of games coming up that will really test their mettle and see just what they are made of.

[OZZIEOHIO]

Burg_Grad_77 wrote

Like trojanofthepast said in his post above, the Trojans are a good team, but they need to get rid of the cockiness and learn to put teams away to become a great team. It seemed like after they got the lead they tried to play "streetball" instead of "team" ball and they let the Pirates right back into a game they probably should have been blown out in. I see a lot of "me, me, me" in this team right now.

Same thing happen at Gallia AC that will cost us in a big game sooner or later.

[sportsfan43]

one thing you can always count on, anytimeone team beats another, "some " people will try to degrade the winning team ,from the losiing team.

we want to talk about me,me,me,

but the Trojans had 3 almost 5 players in double figures, Burg had ONE, ...WOW!!.

[ManitouDan]

I'll add my 2 cents worth -- Ozzie and burg grad 77 are dead on --sportsfan --they were not degrading the winning team --they speak the truth. Ozzie is a portsmouth fan and he agreeing with burg fan-77.

my wrap ---Barrick is heck of a coach ! With the talent( and size, and to some extent experience) ) differences in these 2 teams the burg could have easily been ran out of the gym. Barrick , for the most part , had little trouble getting his to do what he wanted done.

The Trojans were so on fire in the 1st quarter they TOTALLY forgot the inside game until it was almost too late for them. Williams got his 20 in the 2nd half BUT lots of those buckets were stickbacks on other people misses. Poor kid was froze out for the 1st 3 quarters however.

Horn has a great shot but better committ to the defensive 1/2 of the court also. definetly a shoot 1st , look to pass later , type player.

Bendoph is just super talented , just nees more seasoning and experience. A little streaky with his decisions but once he understands when to shoot, when to drive, and when to dish he and Horn could be a nearly unstoppable backcourt.

Big Stegman was definetly the best player on the court last night. and it was'nt even close. Not mentioned in the part about Stegman only having 8 or so in the 2nd half was that portsmouth was collasping their entire D on him in the 2nd half, after he lit them up in the 1st half. No one trojan defender could even come close to stopping him. He has several assist to 3 point shooters in the 2nd half as portsmouth doubled him.

lastly I'll say as somewhat neutral observer--the portsmouth team is loaded with talent , but I can't tell whether they are coachable or not. I don't have a clue what they are being told . But streetball reared it's ugly head on too many possesions last night. That will cost you a W against the better teams. And one guy while being upset at his teamates did'nt want to join the huddle during a timeout. that just isn't cool and should'nt be tolerated by the staff. The sky the's limit for a team as good as yours, don't read the papers, don't listen to the fans , be coachable , and watch the wins pile up. and good luck MD

[fbnut]

Do you disagree with his statement or do you just disagree with him posting it? Sounds like some fans of the winning team might agree with the observations of some of the fans of the losing team. Its not surprising that stegman was the only player in double figures for the burg, he is the only player that has ever seen any varsity experience and he will have to carry the burg. I thought stegman was the best player on the court. One reason he didn't score as many in the 2nd half might have something to do with 3-4 trojans collapsing on him everytime he caught the ball and him dishing to a cutter or kicking it out for a 3. The trojans are a very talented team if they can shoot outside like they did early they will be a very tough team to beat.

one thing you can always count on, anytimeone team beats another, "some " people will try to degrade the winning team ,from the losiing team.

we want to talk about me,me,me,

but the Trojans had 3 almost 5 players in double figures, Burg had ONE, ...WOW!!.

[biggdowgg]

I will take our 5 and 0 start, and hope we can improve on what nees improvement as the season goes on, so we can prepare for the post season.

I dont care how good a team is, not MANY teams at all is going to blow Burg off the floor, esp. a rival team such as Portsmouth.


to the Portsmoutrh kids, that may be reading this site, stay focused,and learn as you go along,Im sure you have enough experienced coaches on the sideline teling you what you need to do,all you have to do is buy into what they are teaching you.

I would really like to see this team put 4 good quarters together though, they have yet to do it this year, we seem to always play one good period,and then take one or two off.

now, on to south point, who is another vey good team.

best of luck to Burg the rest of the season,, and like I said, even though people say they are down a bit, I still bet you, they will be in every game they play this year,with out being run off the floor in any of them.

[TrojanXplosion]

I know that if Portsmouth would have played their "B+" game last night, they would have ran Wheelersburg out of the gym. Portsmouth is much better than what they showed last night. If they play every game like they can, then we might be looking at an undefeated year.

[TrojanXplosion]

Also, nice to see the gym packed past night. Was that possibly the biggest crowd that Portsmouth has had in their new gym for a basketball game? Nice to see everyone coming out to support the team. "If you win they will come". Thats not a slam on Portsmouth fans. Thats just how it goes in any sport or level. High School, College, Pro and so on.