The 1948 Portsmouth Trojans (17-6) won the district championship, which was only the second one of the decade of the 40's (1941 the other). PHS had a 3-4 record in the GOL, beating Hamilton, Springfield, and Lima once, while losing to Middletown twice. In the regular season, the Trojans won 2 games by 1 point, and 2 games by 2 points. Portsmouth swept Chillicothe, split with Ironton, and beat Columbus West, Greenfield, Washington CH, Huntington East WV, Monroe, Lima South. Fred Shumate led the 1948 Trojans in scoring, while Elwood Sparks, Dave Leigtenheimer and Jack Young all scored over 100 points.
In the tournament, Portsmouth advanced all the way to the regional by defeating Nelsonville, Lancaster (57-56), Greenfield, and Hillsboro. Akron South would end the Trojans fine season with a 67-51 victory. The 1948 district title would be the first of 3 for Coach Bill Rohr (80-29 career record), who would guide the Trojans to the regionals in 1950 and 1951.