The Portsmouth Lady Trojans captured the Division III Region 11 girls basketball championship on Saturday night, defeating North Adams by a score of 42-25 at Logan High School.

Paul Boggs | Daily Times

LOGAN — A tenacious defense fueled the Portsmouth Lady Trojans to a 42-25 win over North Adams on Saturday night at Logan High School — advancing the Lady Trojans to the Ohio High School Athletic Association girls basketball state tournament for the first time in school history.

The Lady Trojans (22-5) made 17 steals, and forced 12 Lady Green Devil turnovers en route to the win — and the trip to the Division III Final Four.

Portsmouth junior Daysha Reid (3) holds up the Division III Region 11 championship trophy.

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

“So excited for this team and so happy for the community,” Portsmouth head coach Amy Hughes said, after the win. “It’s been an amazing run and these girls have worked so hard to get to this point.”

Sienna Allen and KeKe Woods each had five thefts in the game — leading the defensive effort for PHS.

“They were everywhere, weren’t they?” Hughes added about her team’s defense. “They were everywhere. That’s how we play. They got after it and that opened up the fast break points.”

Allen — a six-foot sophomore — added a team-high 15 points (seven-for-seven at the free throw line) five rebounds, and three assists in the win.

Portsmouth sophomore Sienna Allen (1)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

The Ohio Prep Sports Writers Association Southeast District Division III Player of the Year started the fourth quarter with a steal, and a coast-to-coast layup, to give her Lady Trojans a 30-16 lead.

With 4:05 to go in the game, she drove to the hole for the bucket and the foul for a 38-20 advantage.

“We played well as a team tonight,” Allen said. “That drive was important because it really lifted us up and I wanted to give my team two more points to make sure we finished strong.”

North Adams (21-6) tried to get Portsmouth off its game midway through the third period when tensions flared, and PHS freshman Hayven Carter was whistled for a technical foul.

The Lady Devils hit on two of four free throws to close the gap to 25-14.

But on the next possession, Allen found Daysha Reid in the corner, who nailed a three-pointer for the 28-14 Portsmouth lead.

Portsmouth junior Daysha Reid (3)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

“I knew I had to hit that shot for my team,” Reid said. “We were struggling for a bit, so I just tried to bounce back. Once I make that shot and everyone gets going and our energy is going – we are back at it and on the way to the win.”

Reid, a 5-7 junior, had eight points and four rebounds on the night —making both of the Lady Trojans’ two threes.

Hughes agreed that moment was big for the Lady Trojans.

“I thought we really bounced back from a moment where it could have gone in another direction,” she said. “We didn’t give in and Daysha hits big shots when we need them. We kept it together.”

Carter, a 5-10 freshman who was involved in the brief chaos, finished the game with nine points and 10 rebounds for the Lady Trojans.

“I knew we had to come in and rebound and play good defense,” she said. “I had to get to work and go get the boards. No one was going to do my job for me, so I had to go get them. I knew I had to keep my head and my cool and I did that the best I could tonight.”

The Lady Green Devils opened the game with a three-pointer from Kenlie Jones, and took a 3-0 lead.

That was the only time North Adams had the lead in the game.

Woods banked in an inside shot, and Carter scored on a drive to the hoop followed by two free throws from Allen for the 6-3 lead.

“I just wanted to work hard for my team,” Woods said. “I’m the one who tries to bring us together, so I had to play good and play hard so we could get to the Final Four.”

A Harlee Brand trifecta for North Adams cut the PHS lead to 8-7, but that was as close as it would get — as the Lady Trojans closed out the quarter with a Woods steal and layup and an Allen drive to the hoop for the bucket.

“Our defense was everywhere and caused havoc for them,” Hughes added. “That’s how we like to play.”

PHS kept the foot on the gas in the second quarter, when Reid bombed a step-back three-pointer followed by a Carter swish from six feet — and a KK Mays shot inside to close out the half with a 21-11 lead.

“This win is so big for us – the first team in the history of the school to go to state — wow,” Hughes added.

Portsmouth High School girls basketball head coach Amy Hughes

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Per Portsmouth High School basketball historian and the highly-respected “trojandave”, of the website www.southeasternohiopreps.com, a PHS basketball team —either boys or girls —has now made the state tournament in nine of the last 11 decades.

Portsmouth sole senior Emily Cheatham (0)

Courtesy of Randy and Joann Waugh

Portsmouth is now one of only two schools in the entire Southeast District to have made the state tournament in both boys and girls basketball —AND has at least one state championship in at least one of the two.

Meigs Eastern earned a Division IV boys trip in 2001, then the Lady Eagles won the Division IV state title in 2014.

The Lady Trojans will face off against Ottawa-Glandorf (25-2) —for a Division III state semifinal game on Thursday night.

Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. at University of Dayton Arena.

* * *

Portsmouth 12 9 7 14 — 42

North Adams 7 4 5 9 — 25

PORTSMOUTH 42 (22-5)

Emily Cheatham 0 0-0 0, Sienna Allen 4 7-7 15, Daysha Reid 3 0-0 8, KeKe Woods 3 1-4 7, Hayven Carter 4 1-2 9, Bry Shannon 0 0-0 0, KK Mays 1 1-2 3, Katie Ankrom 0 0-0 0, Savannah Cantrell 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 15 10-15 42; Three-point goals: 2 (Daysha Reid 2)

NORTH ADAMS 25 (21-6)

McKenna Shelton 0 0-0 0, Tatum Grooms 1 0-0 2, Karlie Kennedy 0 0-0 0, Katelynn Boerger 2 6-12 10; Aly McCann 0 0-0 0, Harlee Brand 1 4-5 7; Kenlie Jones 2 0-0 6; Taylor Shelton 0 0-0 0; TOTALS 6 10-18 25; Three-point goals: 3 (Harlee Brand 1, Kenlie Jones 2)