Portsmouth senior Donnovan Breech (3) goes up for a basket between two Paint Valley defenders during Monday night’s Division III boys basketball sectional semifinal game at Portsmouth High School’s Trojan Arena.

Courtesy of Joann Waugh

PORTSMOUTH —Simply put, the Portsmouth Trojans turned up the second-half heat on Monday night —and stayed the steady offensive course, of course.

As a result, Portsmouth —one of the most storied and tradition-rich boys basketball programs in all the entire state —plays for its 65th all-time sectional championship on Friday night.

That’s because, thanks largely to a third-quarter blitzkrieg in which the Trojans ticked up their lead to 20 points, Portsmouth put away the Paint Valley Bearcats —by a count of 66-53 inside Portsmouth High School’s Trojan Arena.

The contest was a Division III sectional semifinal —as the fifth-seeded in the Southeast District Division III Trojans took their record to 16-6.

For first-year PHS head coach and Trojan legend Jeff Lisath, and his current Trojans, they will play for a sectional title —on Friday evening at Waverly’s Downtown Arena.

The 16 victories ties the Trojan teams of 2016 and 2018 —for the most wins in a single season in almost an entire decade.

The 2015 PHS unit, which advanced all the way to the Division III regional championship tilt, finished 20-7.

Against 28th-seeded Paint Valley, the consistent Trojans scored 33 points in each half —21 in the first and third cantos, and 12 apiece in the second and last.

But the second-half difference was Portsmouth getting defensive, as the Trojans only allowed nine third-period Paint Valley points —a Braylon Robertson field goal and seven made Bearcat free throws.

The Trojans turned a 33-29 halftime advantage, after surrendering 18 second-period points, into a 54-38 lead following three.

While Paint Valley did outscore Portsmouth 18-12 in the second stanza, and 15-12 in the last, the Bearcats couldn’t quite overcome a 21-11 first-quarter deficit —nor the dozen-point difference in the third.

The Trojans did defend the Bearcats’ three-point attack, allowing only a Gavin Kingery connection in the opening quarter —and a Carson Free three-ball in the fourth.

The Bearcats, despite a 23-19 disadvantage in total field goals, hung around with the Trojans — due to largely to their trepidatious free-throw performance (11-of-24).

But, Portsmouth pumped in nine three-pointers —including three by Malachi Loper, two of which were in the third-period barrage.

DeAndre Berry, the Trojans’ senior scoring machine, led the way with a team-high 19 points —on two twos, three threes including a first-quarter pair, and six made foul shots.

All six of his converted charity tosses occurred over the final three quarters, as Loper (15 points) tossed in three deuces — to complement his three treys.

Portsmouth junior Malachi Loper (11) lofts up a shot over Paint Valley’s Jase Rinehart (2) during Monday night’s Division III boys basketball sectional semifinal game at Portsmouth High School’s Trojan Arena.

Courtesy of Joann Waugh

Another senior, Donnovan Breech, bucketed 13 points on five field goals and 2-of-2 fourth-frame foul shots —as Berry with two, and Loper, Breech and senior Levaughn Cobb canning one apiece, made up for five first-quarter three-pointers.

The other Trojan trifectas were by senior Isaiah Lewis in the second, Loper’s tandem in the third, and Berry’s bagger in the fourth.

For the six-foot and two-inch Berry, he now has 1,212 career points.

Another Portsmouth senior, Noah Livingston, netted nine points —on four field goals and a split of fourth-frame freebies.

Lewis also sank two third-quarter free throws, and big man Luke Stine scored a basket in the third as well.

Kingery poured in a game-high 22 points to pace the Bearcats, which wrapped up their season at 4-19.

He had six twos in addition to his three, including a second-stanza old-fashioned three-point play, as part of 14 first-half points.

But the Trojans targeted him better in the second 16 minutes, as Kingery only had one field goal —and 6-of-8 foul shots.

Free finished with a dozen —on four total field goals and 3-of-6 free throws.

Logan Lang with nine points (nine FG and 1-of-2 FT), Robertson with three baskets for six counters, and Jace Rinehart (one FG and 2-of-4 FT) for four markers made up the remainder of the Bearcats’ scoring.

Portsmouth, which hasn’t won a sectional title since 2017, plays Piketon on Friday evening at 6:15 p.m.

The 21st-seeded Redstreaks, at 12th-seeded and Scioto Valley Conference rival Westfall on Monday night, rallied from an 11-point deficit —emerging with a 39-38 sectional semifinal win.

Paint Valley is also a member of the SVC.

Lisath, prior to taking over at Dayton Northridge and subsequently coaching his alma mater of Portsmouth, was Piketon’s head coach —as his final game there was in the 2013 Division III regional semifinals.

© 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved