CHESAPEAKE – The Portsmouth Trojans picked up a big win at the Beasts of the Southeast basketball showcase Saturday afternoon, at Chesapeake High School. Facing a tough Eastern Brown Warriors team, the Trojans came from behind to defeat the Warriors, who continually contested Portsmouth throughout the game.
Led by Kyre Allison’s 30 point performance, the Portsmouth Trojans rallied from a six-point deficit at the end of the third quarter, to defeat the Eastern Brown Warriors, 64-56.
Eastern led a good portion of the game, and caused several problems for the Trojan offense in the second and third quarters of the game.
Allison helped lead his team in their rally over the Warriors in the fourth quarter. He scored 13 points in the fourth quarter, hitting two three-pointers, and making seven of his eight free throw attempts in the game’s final quarter.
“He is, of all the kids I’ve coached, he is the most unselfish kid that I’ve ever had,” Portsmouth coach Gene Collins said about Allison’s style of play. “He has really worked on his shooting, and it has gotten better, and sometimes he relies a little too much on his shooting, because there’s nobody who can stay in front of him, if he can get to the basket, he will.”
The Trojans had two other players reach double figures in scoring against the Warriors Saturday afternoon.
Kendall Reynolds scored 12 points for the Trojans. He also had a superb fourth quarter, scoring six of his 12 points, while also playing some great defense. Reynolds had four free throw attempts in the game, all in the fourth quarter, and sank every single one of them.
Senior guard Ethan Leonard finished the afternoon with 10 points. Like Allison and Reynolds, Leonard had his best offensive production in the fourth quarter, scoring five points in the period. He also was perfect from the free throw line, hitting all three of his attempts.
The fourth quarter told the Portsmouth Trojans story, a story of refusing to quit, and doing whatever their skills, will, and bodies would allow to win the game.
“A nod to our guys, we could have folded up, but we didn’t,” Collins said. “Hats off to our kids for not doing that.”
Coming off a loss to Fairland the night before, the Trojans trailed by double figures on three different occasions. Despite the deficit, the Trojans continued to fight for the game, ultimately coming up short against Fairland.
“We could have just packed it in, but we didn’t, and we hung around,” Collins said. “Just like today, we could have packed it in, but we didn’t, and was able to make a run, and was able to get our pressure to get to them.”
The foundation for the Trojan fourth quarter was laid in the closing moments of the third, according to Collins.
“Towards the end of the third quarter we got things turned around defensively, and was able to get some steals and turn them into baskets,” Collins said. “Then we were able to get multiple stops.”
Once Portsmouth gained the lead in the fourth, they were able to maintain and then extend the lead through great team play.
“The thing that concerned me was they’re (Eastern) a deliberate team, and they like to run their stuff,” Collins said. “So, what had me concerned, was when they got a lead, I was really worried about them just being able to take the air out of the ball, and make us chase them.”
Portsmouth not falling into that trap by Eastern allowed them to make the comeback and hold on to their newly earned lead to win the game.
Collins and his Trojans will start a five game road trip, which begins Tuesday evening at Rock Hill. Tipoff is scheduled for about 7:30 p.m.
Box Score
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Eastern | 11 | 17 | 16 | 12 | 56 |
| Portsmouth | 13 | 10 | 15 | 26 | 64 |
Individual Statistics
Eastern – Day 4-4-13, Hundley 4-2-13, Doss 4-2-10, Kelch 4-0-9, Bellemy 2-0-5, Rigdon 0-2-2
Portsmouth – Allison 6-15-30, Reynolds 2-4-12, Leonard 2-5-10, Rodbell 2-0-4, Johnson 2-0-4, Malone 1-0-3, Lucas 0-1-1
Three-point field goals – Eastern 6 (Hundley 3, Day, Kelch, Bellemy) Portsmouth 7 (Allison 3, Reynolds 2, Leonard, Malone)
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