The Portsmouth Trojans will return 3 starters from a 17-8 team last year. Reese Johnson (6-1 SR), Daniel Jordan (6-2 SR), and DJ Eley (5-8 SR) will give PHS plenty of experience at key positions. Although it will be several weeks before the roster is finalized, most of the spots are set. Senior transfer Isaac Kelly (6-3, 200) will compete with MyQuel McKinley, a 6-3 JR, for the 5 position. Either player will give the Trojans a very athletic presence in the post. Matthew Fraulini, a 6-1 sophomore, will most likely split between PG and SG, and will give Portsmouth similar scoring ability to that of Kendal Reynolds, who graduated. Also battling for minutes will be Gabe Gambill, a 6-5 senior, Daniel Lattimore, a 5-10 junior, Deonta Parker, 5-10 senior, Aubrey Holley, 5-10 JR, Anthony Ferrara, 6-0 JR, Collin Boehm, 6-5 JR, Andrew Meadows, 6-2 JR, and Gage Rhodes, 6-3 JR.
Edited on 11/14/2017 to include latest updated roster changes.
With the addition of Kelly and Parker, who transferred in this year, the Trojans are a more talented team than what was thought to be just several months ago. Portsmouth should have more muscle, size, athleticism, and enough scoring punch, especially with Fraulini in the mix. PHS went 15-7 in 2016 and 2017 in the regular season, and there's reason to believe that the Trojans could possibly surpass that win total in 2017-2018. A regional berth is realistic, with D3 being a little more wide open with Fairland going up to D2 this season.
Eugene Collins enters his 9th year as the Trojans' head coach, and he has compiled an impressive 139-56 record, which makes him the 3rd winningest coach in PHS history, behind George Heller (224-137), and Red Hopkins (168-58). He has led the Trojans to 2 Final 4's (2011 and 2012), a district runnerup (2014), a regional runnerup (2015), and 5 sectional titles (2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2017). He has been honored as the SEOAL Coach of the Year, the OVC Coach of the Year, and D3 Ohio Coach of the Year (2012).
The official schedule is listed below, including the scrimmages:
November 11 scrimmage @Clay 10:00 AM PHS, Valley, & Clay
November 17 scrimmage @Portsmouth 6 PM PHS, Waverly, and Paint Valley.....changed to PHS
November 18 scrimmage home 10:00 AM PHS, Athens, Zane Trace
November 24 scrimmage 10:30 AM @Oak Hill AM PHS, Warren, Oak Hill
November 24 OVC preview 6 PM @Fairland PHS vs. Gallia Academy
November 25 Foundation game @Notre Dame 6:00 PM
Regular season: all varsity contests start at 7:30 unless otherwise indicated, and home games are marked with H. Leading scorers will be listed when available.
December 2 @ Jones Academy (Toledo) 1:30 PM.......PHS 97, Jones Acad. 66......Reese Johnson 31 pts.
December 7 H PHS vs.Huntington St.Joe......PHS 79, Hunt.St.Joe 48......Matthew Fraulini 20 pts.
December 9 @ West 2:30 PM varsity start time......PHS 80, Ports. West 56.......Daniel Jordan 17 pts.
December 12 H PHS vs. Coal Grove......CG 57, PHS 55......DJ Eley 15 pts. CG wins on buzzer beater
December 15 @South Point......PHS 65, SP 58......Fraulini 18 pts.; 23-4 run by PHS to end the game
December 20 H Western......PHS 76, Western 55......DJ Eley 29 pts.(seven 3 pointers)
December 23 @Wheelersburg......WHS 56, PHS 47.......Matthew Fraulini 14 pts.
December 29 H Ohio Valley Christian.......Cancelled.....will not be made up
December 30 H Wendy's Classic PHS vs. New Hope 7:30.....PHS 72, NH 65.....Reese Johnson 18 pts.
January 5 H PHS vs. Chesapeake........PHS 69, Chesapeake 63......Daniel Jordan 28 pts.
January 9 H Fairland.......Fairland 66, PHS 42.......Matthew Fraulini 18 pts.
January 12 @Rock Hill.......postponed due to weather.......moved to Sat. Feb.3
January 16 @Gallia Academy........postponed due to weather.......rescheduled for Sat.Jan 27
January 19 @Ironton.......PHS 56, Ironton 50.......Isaac Kelly 12 pts.
January 23 @Coal Grove.......Coal Grove 59, PHS 53.......Matthew Fraulini 11 pts.
January 26 H South Point........PHS 79, South Point 53.....Daniel Jordan 27 pts.
January 27 @Gallia Academy........GAHS 76, PHS 50.......DJ Eley 13 pts. PHS record: 9-5 (4-4 OVC)
January 30 @Chesapeake........PHS 49, Chesapeake 36.......Matthew Fraulini 14 pts.
February 2 @Fairland........Fairland 69, PHS 48.......Matthew Fraulini 19 pts.
February 3@Rock Hill.......PHS 54, Rock Hill 42......Daniel Jordan 13 pts. PHS record: 11-6 (6-5 OVC)
February 6 H Rock Hill...PHS 55, Rock Hill 37..Reese Johnson 16 pts.(66th season of at least 12 wins)
February 9 H Gallia Academy.......GAHS 71, PHS 68 2 OT.......DJ Eley 29 pts.
February 10 @Chesapeake vs Alb. Alexander 7:00 PM...PHS 53, Alexander 39..Reese Johnson 20 pts.
February 13 H South Webster......PHS 70, South Webster 55........Matthew Fraulini 20 pts.
February 16 H Ironton.......PHS 71, Ironton 56.......Matthew Fraulini 18 pts.
Tournament play: Sectional @Waverly.......PHS 69, Huntington Ross 46......Daniel Jordan 24 pts.
Saturday Feb.24......Sectional Championship......Lynchburg Clay 47, PHS 42.... Reese Johnson 15 pts.
Portsmouth finished with an 8-6 record in the OVC, good for 4th place, and 15-7 overall. It was the 3rd straight season that the Trojans have posted a 15-7 regular season mark. For the decade, PHS is 154-63, which is also Coach Eugene Collins overall record, since he took over at the start of this decade. Sophomore Matthew Fraulini led the Trojans 9 times in scoring, while the high point mark was by Reese Johnson with 31 points vs. Toledo Jones Academy in the first game of the season. Senior DJ Eley had 2 games of 29 points, while senior Daniel Jordan had games of 28 and 27 points. Every starter (Johnson, Eley, Fraulini, Jordan, and Kelly) each led the team in scoring at least once.
The 15 wins marked the 45th time in school history that a Portsmouth boys basketball team won at least that many games in a season. It also was the Trojans' 80th winning season.
Portsmouth ended the 2017-2018 season with an overall record of 16-8. The last 3 seasons has seen the Trojans go 16-8, 17-8, and 16-8. Now having completed his 9th season as the Trojans' head coach, Eugene Collins has an overall record of 155-64. He currently is the 3rd winningest coach in PHS history, with only Red Hopkins (168-58) and George Heller (224-137) ahead of him.
Portsmouth graduates 4 starters from this team, with only Matthew Fraulini returning, who will be a junior. Gabe Gambill, first sub off the bench, also graduates.
Update 3/9/2018: Leading scorer for the Trojans this season: Matthew Fraulini 14.1 PPG; also Daniel Jordan 11.7 PPG; Jordan made second team all district in D3, while Matthew Fraulini made 3rd team.