Note: This is a remake of a previous article that was erased due to an outage earlier this week.

What about the 2021-2022 Portsmouth Trojans? Can they score enough to win more games? Can they move up in the OVC standings? Can they rebound enough given their undersized roster? Can they post their first winning season since 2018? Can they advance out of the sectional for the first time since 2017?

Here is the anticipated roster for 2021-22 which obviously could change somewhat: (Class is listed as to what they will be) Edited on 3/5/21 to include several on anticipated roster.

Portsmouth joined the Ohio Valley Conference in the 2014-2015 season. Here is the Trojans' finish each of those years:

2015: 1st
2016: 2nd (Fairland champion)
2017: 3rd (Fairland champion)
2018: 4th (Fairland champion)
2019: 7th (Fairland champion)
2020: 5th (Fairland champion)
2021: 6th (tied) (Fairland champion)
2022: 6th (Fairland champion)

2023: 6th (South Point champion)

5 straight years finishing no higher than 5th in the final standings.

After Portsmouth's 85-47 loss to Fairland in the sectional championship, here a few facts and figures from the 2020-21 season:

Adding on to the topic "Portsmouth's Offensive Woes", I went back on tabulated the number of wins and losses by the Trojans when scoring less than 50 pts. Included in the data are the 2011/2012 state tournament teams, and teams from 2015 to the present time:

Info below updated 2/27/21:

Number of games total scoring under 50 pts.: 48
Number of games won when scoring under 50 pts.: 9
Number of games lost when scoring under 50 pts.: 39
Number of games scoring in the 30's: 13
Number of games won scoring in the 30's: 0

Portsmouth's 60-41 loss to Fairland on 2/13/21 was the 9th time this season that the Trojans scored less than 50 points. The Trojans are 0-9 in those games. I went back and looked at preceding years to see if this was becoming a trend corresponding to the team's record for the year.

State Tournament Teams 2011 and 2012:

2011: Overall scoring avg. 60.46 PPG; 4 games in the 40's; 1 game in the 30s; Overall Record: 21-5
2012: Overall scoring avg. 61.88 PPG; 2 games in the 40's 1 in the 30's; Overall Record: 24-3

Since 2015:

Here is the varsity basketball roster for the 2020-2021 Portsmouth Trojans:

Miles Shipp..............6-2 SR*.......leading scorer returning 10 PPG; career high 27 vs.Ironton
Chris Duff................6-0 SR
Dariyonne Bryant....6-3 JR*
Drew Roe................5-8 JR*
Amare Johnson.......5-8 JR*
Donovan Carr..........6-0 JR*
Michael Duncan......6-1 SR
Reid Pendleton.......5-9 SO
Tyler Duncan..........5-10 SO
Daewan Spence......6-1 JR
Dante Hamrick........5-10 SR

Here is the schedule for the 2020-21 Trojans. The copy was hard to read, so I hope that the dates are correct.

One of the most recognizable figures over the years at PHS basketball games has been "Captain Trojan". Two of the most well known "Captains" were Greg "Bubba" Hickman and Stephen Hunter. Hickman was the original "Captain" which started in the 1980's. Hickman wore red and blue tights with a mask and cape. He would come to center court and spell "T R O J A N" and the crowd joined in. Then he would irritate the opposing team by sliding into their huddle. He would quite often get kicked but it didn't deter him from his goal of revving up the spirit of the crowd.

The Portsmouth Trojans have 12 Final 4 wins, 16 overall (16-11) in state tournament play. The 12 wins by the Trojans match the total number of Final 4 wins by the 6 conferences of the Southeast District combined..........the SOC, SVC, OVC, FAC, TVC, and the SHAC. This statistic takes into account only Final 4 wins, not appearances. Below is  breakdown of the Trojans' Final 4 wins and the 6 conferences of the SE district:

Portsmouth........1931 (2), 1934 (1), 1961 (2), 1978 (2), 1980 (1), 1988 (2), 1990 (1), 2012 (1)

SE District Conferences: