Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

trojandave
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Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

This thread is in response to the comments on the Portsmouth--Wheelersburg game thread.

Portsmouth is currently 6-9 and could be heading for a 2nd straight losing season. Road games at Chesapeake and Fairland this week will be very tough tests for the Trojans. The Peake beat the Trojans 80-37 at PHS, while the Dragons routed the Trojans 72-42, both games were in early December.

Coach Collins has done a great job in his 11 years at PHS. He is the 2nd winningest coach in school history(169-89), with a decorated resume of 2 Final 4's, 5 sectional titles, 3 district titles, 1 regional runnerup, and a state runnerup finish in D3 in 2012. He is the last SE district coach to win a game in the Final 4. Despite this record, which is one of the best in the SE district, there was talk on the Burg-PHS thread that a coaching change is necessary. Let me present these facts to counter this claim:

1. Portsmouth has started at least 3 sophomores in every game, and in 1 game started 4 sophomores........a total of 5 sophomores have played in virtually every game and have seen significant minutes, not mop up time minutes. PHS has one of the youngest starting 5's in the SE district.

2. Portsmouth has a roster with no significant size.......Daryionne Bryant is 6-2, Matthew Fraulini is 6-2, Miles Shipp is 6-1/6-2......nobody on the roster is a true post player. This has had a profound effect on executing a half court offense. Wheelersburg, on the other hand, has JJ Truitt at 6-4 and Andrew McCorkle at 6-5. The Pirates utilized this size to their full benefit.

3. Look at what Portsmouth has coming up for 2020-21 and beyond: JV 7-4, with a mixture of freshmen, sophomores, and several juniors.

4. There is no freshmen team this year for the first time ever because the participation numbers are too low to field a team.

5. The 8th grade team has a losing record.

6. The 7th grade team has a losing record.

How does this all add up for the future?

1. The varsity will have all but 2 players returning for the 2020-2021 season......Matthew Fraulini and Jack Workman are the only seniors. So Portsmouth should have an experienced team to put on the floor, but it looks as if a lack of size will still be problematic.

2. The sophomore class has shown that they are very talented athletically, but will it translate to success on the basketball court for the next 2 years? Portsmouth isn't the only team that starts sophomores, but there are few teams that start at least 3.

3. There are several players below from JV level on down that could help the program within a year or two, but the key will be to keep them in the system, and will they continue to play for the duration of their time in the program?

4. Portsmouth's declining enrollment over the course of the last 20 years has had a huge effect on the program, to the point that the days of producing consistent powerhouse basketball teams like in years past (before 2000) is just not realistic.

Finally, Coach Collins is experiencing some tough times record wise, but what may be surprising to some is that 7 of the last 8 coaches at PHS had experienced losing seasons:

Tom Smith (1982-1987)............108-35.......10-12 in 1985
Allan Hatcher (1992)...............9-12 in his only season
Mike Haley (1993-1995)...........7-16 in 1993
Jim Rhea (1996-2001).............4-15 in 1996......started mostly sophomores
Rick Hopkins (2002-2006)........8-13 in 2003, 9-14 in 2004, 6-15 in 2005, 6-16 in 2006
Josh Shoemaker (2007-2009)....4-18 in 2007, 9-12 in 2008, 10-12 in 2009
Eugene Collins (2010--present)..10-13 in 2013, 8-16 in 2019

Even George Heller, the winningest coach in PHS history (224-137, 1952-1968) had 3 consecutive losing seasons in 1957, 1958, and 1959. Two years later, though, he guided the Trojans to the 1961 Class AA Big School state title. Heller then had another losing season in 1962 (1-17).

One could surmise that if a coach stays at a school long enough, he will experience a losing year or two. There are exceptions, most notably Norm Persin at Chesapeake/Oak Hill and Matt Combs at Vinton County. Even Tom Barrick had a losing year or two in his final time at Wheelersburg, and Ryan Davis had some losing seasons just recently with a freshmen/sophomore starting 5 at Chesapeake. This year Davis and the Panthers are reaping the benefits of those kids getting better with more experience.

Portsmouth basketball is certainly at a point where there is a lot of uncertainty about the future. Can the Trojans at least get back to having some winning seasons and competing for OVC and district titles once again? PHS may never regain its status as the kingpin of SE district basketball, but getting back to being a competitive program is a reasonable goal, and most definitely should never experience the complete blowouts that were seen with Chesapeake, Fairland, and Wheelersburg.

GO TROJANS!!
Last edited by trojandave on Tue Jan 21, 2020 12:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.


art_vandelay
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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by art_vandelay »

Great post trojandave. Your expectations for Portsmouth basketball going forward are on point as always. I just don't see Regional-type talent coming up through the ranks there. Doesn't mean no great teams will ever come through Portsmouth again, just means that certain fans need to quit expecting yearly trips to Regionals and beyond. If people think a coaching change will make that big of a short-term difference, they're going to be disappointed with whatever coach follows Coach Collins whenever he is done coaching.*


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Thanks, art vandelay......I just want the Trojans to get back to being a consistently competitive program again. Against Chesapeake and Fairland in early December, and at Wheelersburg last Friday, we weren't competitive but instead embarrassed. I can accept losing as long as we're competitive, but I won't accept getting blown out by 30 and 40 points. I honestly think we are better than that.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Beergogglebluez »

Definitely the numbers are lower and since the open enrollment started it has dropped even more. If one school struggles and another has success you can now go to that school. You have to work with whatever you have. Numbers keep getting lower I wouldn’t be surprised to see Portsmouth division 6 in football in the future. Just a few miles up the road new Boston is having great success with little numbers. Great post Dave you are probably the most passionate person when it comes to Portsmouth sports I enjoy seeing and hearing you at games. You’re knowledge of Portsmouth sports is amazing as well.


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trojandave
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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Thanks, beergogglebluez.......good to see you at the South Point game. One would think our dropping enrollment would level off at some point, but it has steadily declined over the past 20 years. What you said is the bottom line.......you have to work with what you have. Coach Collins has done just that, but for people who don't pay close attention to today's landscape of high school basketball, they don't realize how difficult it can be to field good teams when the numbers speak otherwise. Portsmouth HS is now on a level playing field enrollment wise with many schools in our area.

Despite the odds working against us, having a competitive basketball team most years is very possible, and a very fair expectation.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Hoopie74 »

What about : all the Portsmouth area schools go together and charter a league of their own. That would perhaps bring back that school and community pride that may be missing. All the schools are now about the same size as far as numbers now. That would give you all about 12 or so league games with about 10 games to play against other old league rivals or rivalries from the past. It would also cut down on travel costs some. Just a thought.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by The Ghost of Swanker »

Hoopie74 wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 4:58 pm What about : all the Portsmouth area schools go together and charter a league of their own. That would perhaps bring back that school and community pride that may be missing. All the schools are now about the same size as far as numbers now. That would give you all about 12 or so league games with about 10 games to play against other old league rivals or rivalries from the past. It would also cut down on travel costs some. Just a thought.
All the ballers would end up at the same school, aka New Boston.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Portsmouth's 71-43 loss at Chesapeake was the 4th straight win by the Panthers over the Trojans, and the 3rd straight by at least 28 points. Here is how PHS has fared in OVC play the last several seasons to date:

Fairland: 9 straight losses, including 2 consecutive wins by 30 points
Chesapeake: 4 straight losses, the last 3 by at least 28 points
Ironton: 3 straight losses, 1 game remaining
Coal Grove: have lost 5 of the last 7, did win 72-61 @PHS earlier; CG is the smallest school in the OVC
South Point: have lost 3 of the last 4, including getting swept this season
Gallia Academy: won @Gallia 55-41 earlier in January, broke 6 game losing streak
Rock Hill: have won 3 in a row, with a game @Portsmouth later in January

Portsmouth finished 7th in the OVC last season (3-11 conference record), and currently is tied with Gallia Academy for 6th place(3-6). OVC games remaining are @Fairland, H vs. Rock Hill, H vs. Gallia Academy, H vs. Ironton, and @Coal Grove.

Note: Last night Chesapeake started the game on a 15-2 run. Earlier in December, the Panthers started the game at PHS with a 15-1 run.
Last edited by trojandave on Thu Jan 23, 2020 11:48 am, edited 1 time in total.


Moses Guthrie
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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Moses Guthrie »

Let’s face it. The last two senior classes have been far from the strongest basketball classes PHS has produced. This year’s class was always football motivated. Fraulini did develop into a very nice player in high school, but hasn’t been surrounded by threats to take the pressure off of him the last couple years.
Last year’s seniors struggled throughout youth and junior high and never turned the corner.
There is a nice sophomore nucleus with good basketball skill, however two of those primary players are 5-9” and under. It’s difficult to get physical with anyone..
We give up way too many points early in games. Against South Point at home recently, the clock was at 4:05 left in the 1st quarter and we had already given up 17!! This has become a trend. I’d much rather see aggressive in your face defense, have 2 guys foul out, give up 50 and lose by 10 rather than play soft, give up 80 and lose by 30..
Go Trojans!!


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by OHHS old timer »

trojandave...

Thanks for being a historian for Trojan basketball. Your insight is very much appreciated by myself and I'm sure others as well.

The Trojans will rise again...somethings just take time.


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Str8Baller32
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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Str8Baller32 »

Trojandave:
Collins is a good coach and has had a lot of success at PHS, but haven’t had many good seasons since the departure of Ky’re Allison, one of the best players the area had seen. But is there any truth to this being Collins last year? If so who would be considered for the job or who would you like to see?


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by biggdowgg »

As nice as Ky're was let's not forget the surrounding cast around him .

And this will only be Collins last year if he wants it to be , one thing I can tell you about Collins he is all about the program so he won't just spring it out of no where and more then likely have an input on helping find someone to take over that fits the Trojans.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Str8baller32: Kendal Reynolds graduated in 2017 after Kyre Allison in 2016. Kendal scored 1,341 points in his career, and is the 4th leading scorer in PHS history. The Trojans actually had a better record in 2017 with Reynolds than the 2016 team with Kyre.......PHS went 17-8 in 2017, and 16-8 in 2016. The 2017 team also went to the district semifinals, while in 2016 Kyre's Trojans lost in the sectional final. The 2017-2018 team went 16-8. In 2018-2019, the program started to slip with an 8-16 record, with only 4 Trojan teams ever to lose that many games in a season.

As far as Collins' future, as biggdowgg said, it is entirely up to him. He puts in about 70-80 hours a week during basketball season, and he has had to raise the money to take the team to Florida 4 times, roughly $100,000. He knows that he has a good sophomore class, and there are some freshmen and junior high kids that can help the program get back on its feet in a couple of years, but will he wait that long? Does he want to keep putting in long hours and doing fundraising for various basketball things? Coach Collins has had four 1,000 point scorers during his tenure, and this year will be the 5th with Matthew Fraulini. Portsmouth has had some good individual players since Allison's departure, but just not enough of them. Fraulini didn't have much scoring help last year, yet he still averaged 17 PPG.

One day the job will open up again......I've always felt that the Portsmouth job was a good job because at some point, a coach will have enough talent to make a run at the state tournament....but there is pressure with the job with the banners that hang in our gym. Coach Collins embraced the expectations, and in 2011 and 2012 he led PHS to back to back Final 4's, the first time in school history that's been done. The Trojans will rise again, as OHHS old timer has suggested, but it looks like it won't be in the immediate future. It's been 8 years since Portsmouth was the last SE district school to win a game in the Final 4 (74-66 vs. Ottawa-Glandorf in the 2012 D3 semifinals.)

OHHS old timer: Thanks for the compliments. I take a lot of pride in keeping track of the basketball tradition of Portsmouth, and I don't get paid a dime for it, it's a labor of love for our history. It has taken many, many hours, days, weeks, and years to compile it. Our basketball history is the greatest in the SE district, and I don't want the record of it to be lost forever.

I can accept losing as long as we're competitive, but it doesn't sit well with me to see us getting blown out as we have this year against Wheelersburg, Chesapeake, and Fairland. I understand we have limitations, but to get blown out tells me something is just not right. I don't care how good those teams are, we shouldn't be losing by 30 and 40 points. The OVC is a good basketball conference, but we're 6-17 in our last 23 conference games. We have really fallen down hard.

GO TROJANS!!
Last edited by trojandave on Thu Jan 23, 2020 12:12 pm, edited 2 times in total.


trojandave
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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Moses Guthrie: Your points are well taken and I agree about the preference to be aggressive. Having watched all the games except Florida, I think Coach Collins has employed some form of pressure during the games, which I like, but especially lately the Trojans haven't been staying in front of the opponents coming up the court. The result.......many, many layups like the other night at Chesapeake. The Panthers actually took their foot off the gas pedal in the 4th quarter and started running clock. And yet they still won by 28 points. The effort by the Trojans defensively could be much better because they have the athleticism to stay with opponents. Portsmouth is quicker than Wheelersburg, yet the Pirates beat the Trojans up the court on numerous occasions. That shouldn't happen, not against them or anybody else.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Str8Baller32 »

Trojandave: I stand corrected.... yes the year after Allison with Reynolds. I felt Allison’s last year was a huge disappointment and politics obviously played a huge part in it, it’s water under the bridge now but I think it negatively affected the program up until now. The school is full of talent and potential, now it’s about motivating / inspiring kids to come out and play. If Collins was to step down he sure has a lot to be proud of, he’s done well at PHS. I would personally like to see Allison’s dad (who’s at NB) at PHS, he seems to have a great rapport with the youth and families in the community. They say he’s had success and gets a lot of support with the pee wee football program which he’s currently over. Whoever’s next need to be a community guy who’s up on the challenges some of these kids and families are faced with today. Go Trojans


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Tater »

LOL .


When Collins is gone they better bring in an outsider , because no one in the system is ready for this job!


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Portsmouth finished the regular season with a 72-60 win at Coal Grove on Friday night. The Trojans trailed 20-10 after 1 quarter, as Corey Borders came out blazing hot, scoring the first 18 points for CG with a barrage of 3's. After that, PHS settled down and eventually took a 1 point lead into halftime. In the second half, the Trojans took firm control of the game, building as much as a 12 point lead. CG made a rally to cut the lead to 4 in the 4th quarter, but Portsmouth answered with some clutch baskets and FT's to seal the win.

Matthew Fraulini led PHS with 27 points, and now has 1,080 for his career, and has moved into 9th place on the all time Trojan scoring list. He is 17 points behind Dion McKinley (1,096) and Wayne Evans (1,096) for 7th place. Donovan Carr had a good night with 14 points. Cory Borders of CG finished his final regular season game with 29 points.

Portsmouth finishes the OVC in 5th place with a 6-8 record, 2 places better than last year's 7th place (3-11) spot. Interestingly, the Trojans did not split with any team, sweeping Gallia Academy, Coal Grove, and Rock Hill, while being swept by Ironton, Fairland, Chesapeake, and South Point.

PHS finished the regular season with a 9-12 mark, compared to 7-15 last season. The Trojans must win on Monday vs. Western Pike to secure a 10th win which would be the 84th time in school history to win at least 10 games in a season.

Portsmouth returns everybody in their rotation next season except Matthew Fraulini. With the Trojans moving up 2 spots in the OVC standings this season, and with so many coming back, it's very possible that the Trojans could seriously challenge for the top 2 or 3 spots in 2020-2021.

Coach Eugene Collins is now 172-92 for his career in this his 11th season as head coach.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by trojandave »

Portsmouth escaped with a 54-49 win over a feisty Western Indians team on Monday night at the Waverly D3 sectional. Western started out with a 7-0 lead, and led 12-8 after 1 quarter, but by halftime the Trojans used pressure defense to lead 29-15 with a 21-3 advantage in the second 8 minutes. In the 2nd half, the Indians clearly outplayed PHS with a 34-25 advantage, handling the pressure much better. The Trojans didn't help themselves with some late missed FT's which kept Western within 4-6 points.

Portsmouth advances to play Eastern Brown (21-1) on Saturday at 6:00 PM at Waverly, and if the Trojans don't raise their level of play against the Warriors, it will end their season. Inconsistency has plagued PHS all season, and last night vs. Western was a prime example of that. Stretches of very good play forcing turnovers and making shots, but then too often turning the ball over and struggling to score.

Matthew Fraulini scored 8 points, and is now only 9 points from moving into 7th place on the all time Trojan scoring list. The 10th win by Portsmouth marked the 84th time in school history to accomplish at least 10 wins in a season.

Can Portsmouth beat Eastern Brown? Yes, but not with the way they played vs. Western. It could get ugly if the Trojans don't play a whole lot better. I don't think anyone really knows, me or any other Trojan fan, what team will show up on Saturday night. Probably the most unpredictable Portsmouth team I've ever seen. I guess that's why we do have a chance on Saturday night, albeit a very uphill battle for sure.

GO TROJANS!!


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by bbjunky81 »

I could see Portsmouth narrowly upsetting Eastern Brown, or getting smoked by 30+. Strangely enough I don't see any possibilities between those two options.

Hopefully Portsmouth shows up motivated and ready to play and gives Eastern Brown all they want.


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Re: Portsmouth Trojans Basketball---More Facts Than Opinions

Post by Ironman92 »

bbjunky81 wrote: Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:03 pm I could see Portsmouth narrowly upsetting Eastern Brown, or getting smoked by 30+. Strangely enough I don't see any possibilities between those two options.

Hopefully Portsmouth shows up motivated and ready to play and gives Eastern Brown all they want.
Same thoughts except I can see EB catching up all game after being down and getting over the hump with a few min left


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