The Portsmouth Trojans return 4 starters from an 8-16 season a year ago. 6-3 senior Matthew Fraulini, 6-2 junior Miles Shipp, 5-8 sophomore Drew Roe, and 5-8 sophomore Amare Johnson all return to give the Trojans an experienced lineup. Johnson started in a number of games, came off the bench in some others, but I have counted him as a returning starter.
Portsmouth Trojan senior Matthew Fraulini is now the 7th leading scorer (tied) in PHS history. He scored 8 points vs. Eastern Brown in the Waverly sectional tournament and now has 1,096 points. The 6-2 Fraulini has already established a new single game scoring record with his 46 point performance vs. Rock Hill last season. Despite being double teamed at times last season, Fraulini still averaged a very respectable 17 PPG, with a number of games well over 20.
Portsmouth HS graduate Mike Haley, who started on the 1961 Class AA State Champion Trojans, will be inducted into the Ohio Basketball Hall of Fame on June 6, 2020. Haley's 1981 and 1982 Dayton Roth teams which won back to back state titles will also be recognized. Haley, who averaged 22.0 PPG on the 61 Trojans, went on to an outstanding career at Ohio University. He later coached Dayton Roth HS and Dunbar HS to 4 state titles. His teams at Dayton were known for full court pressing and creating havoc for opponents.
The Trojans loss to Adena on 2/22/2019 ended the 2010-2019 decade for PHS basketball. Here is how the Trojans fared for the decade:
2010-2019: Overall record: 163-80...........Coach Eugene Collins record: 163-80 (became head coach in 2009-2010)
Year by Year Record:
Here is a game by game summary of the 2018-2019 season for the Portsmouth Trojans, highlights and scoring included when possible. Note: Scoring totals may not be totally accurate.
Regular Season:
Here is the 2018-2019 Ohio Valley Conference schedule for the Portsmouth Trojans:
The 1925 Portsmouth Trojans has the distinction of being the first PHS squad to advance to the state tournament, which was started by the OHSAA in 1923. The first of Portsmouth's 15 state appearances had a regular season record of 11-2. PHS opened the season with a win over Piketon, and then followed that with wins over Portsmouth West and Portsmouth East. PHS swept Ironton, and Ashland KY suffered the same fate, with one of the games being a 36-11 blowout. Portsmouth nipped Chillicothe, then split with Huntington WV by the same scores in both games of 28-21.
The 1926 Portsmouth Trojans were the second team in school history to advance to the OHSAA state tournament, which began in 1923. PHS posted a mark of 13-4, and along the way racked up an SEOAL mark of 6-1, with the only loss being to Nelsonville by a score of 24-18. The Trojans beat Athens 22-2 and Wellston 36-5. PHS swept Chillicothe twice and Ironton twice, but lost to Proctorville twice. The Trojans held 4 opponents under 10 points. The highest point total allowed by the Red and Blue in any game was 43 against Jackson in the opening game of the season.
The 1927 Portsmouth Trojans became the school's first team to reach the Final 4, and posted a mark of 14-4. PHS was a member of the original SEOAL, and went undefeated in league play as Jackson, Wellston, Logan, Gallipolis, Pomeroy, Nelsonville, and Athens all fell short on the scoreboard. The Trojans were swept two games by Ashland KY, while Lima Central accounted for the other regular season setback.
The 1929 Portsmouth Trojans made it to the Final 4 for the second time in school history since the OHSAA started a state wide tournament in 1923. It was Portsmouth's 4th state appearance overall. PHS posted a very good mark of 18-5, which at that time was topped in wins by the 1919 team which went 21-1. The Trojans swept Ironton, Chillicothe, New Boston, and Ashland KY, while Athens, Dayton Steele, Georgetown KY, Manchester, and Lima Central all fell to the Men Of Troy. The regular season losses were to Zanesville, Columbus South, Columbus East, and Huntington WV.