Portsmouth dominates Pointers

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PORTSMOUTH – It was a perfect night for Trojans fans Tuesday night at Portsmouth High School, as the Trojans hosted their Ohio Valley Conference foes, the South Point Pointers. Portsmouth was in a state of perpetual celebration Tuesday night, as they celebrated basketball homecoming, and two wins by the junior varsity and varsity Trojan teams.

Portsmouth came out in full force right from tipoff. The Trojans took advantage of a near capacity crowd that was just as electric as the team they were cheering on to a, 62-37 victory over the South Point Pointers.

“I thought we came out aggressive, and you know, the pressure really got to them,” Portsmouth coach Gene Collins said. “I thought defensively, first half, we were as good as we’ve been all year.”

Portsmouth applied pressure to South Point right from the beginning, which worked nearly perfect, as the Trojans held the Pointers to only six first quarter points.

While the Trojan defense dominated the Pointers, their offense looked unstoppable. Portsmouth got started with an Ethan Leonard three-pointer early in the first quarter. Shortly after, Kendal Reynolds scored off a layup to give Portsmouth a 5-2 lead.

South Point could never come up with an answer for either the Portsmouth defense or offense for the rest of the game.

As the second quarter began, Portsmouth held on to a 14-point lead, 20-6. As the quarter rolled on, the Pointers were unable to chip away at the Portsmouth lead. By halftime, the Trojans held on to a 32-15 lead.

The third quarter brought one of the most memorable moments in Portsmouth boys basketball history. Portsmouth’s Ky’re Allison came into the game with 1,467 career varsity points, 18 points shy of Craig Tubbs record holding 1,485 points.

Allison was halfway to tying the record at the beginning of the third quarter. His nine first half points had many fans wondering when, or if, Allison would potentially break Tubbs’ record.

The crowd wouldn’t wait long, as Allison had his best quarter of the night in the third. With 2:11 seconds left in the quarter, Allison put up a three-pointer that found the bottom of the net and made Allison the all-time leading scorer in the history of Portsmouth boys basketball.

Allison didn’t play like someone out to break a record. He was constantly looking for an open man to pass the ball to, and picked up several assists in the first quarter.

“That’s typical Ky’re,” Collins said. “Ky’re is a guy that is always thinking about his teammates. He would be fun to play with because he’s always looking for an open guy. He puts his teammates first and him second. To have a guy break a record like this, and to be a pass first guy is almost unheard of.”

Allison led the Trojans with 27 points on Tuesday night. He hit two threes in the game, including the record breaker late in the third. He also went five for six from the free throw line.

The Trojans had another 20-point scorer in Kendal Reynolds. Reynolds who has been one half of a nearly unstoppable duo, alongside Allison, scored 20 points against the Pointers.

Collins is happy with the way his team is currently playing, but noted they have to continue to play their best ball with so little time left in the regular season.

“We have a big game Friday at Chesapeake,” Collins said. “Right now we’re two games behind everybody in the league. It’s critical that we get that one on the road. We have a tall task Friday to go in to Chesapeake and get them for a second time.”

Portsmouth will have four games next week, which will include some makeup games from recent postponed games due to inclement weather.

Tipoff for Portsmouth and Chesapeake Friday night is scheduled for about 7:30 p.m.

Box Score

1 2 3 4 Final
Portsmouth 20 12 15 15 62
South Point 6 9 12 10 37

Individual Statistics

Portsmouth – 10-5-27, Reynolds 9-1-20, Leonard 2-0-6, Malone 2-0-6, Eley 1-0-3

South Point – Fox 3-2-8, Adams 2-0-6, Eplion 2-2-6, Woodard 2-0-4, Wade 2-0-4, Shaffer 1-0-3, Pennington 1-0-2, Hall 1-0-2, Runyon 1-0-2

Three-point field goals – Portsmouth 8 (Leonard 2, Allison 2, Malone 2, Eley, Reynolds) South Point 3 (Adams 2, Shaffer)

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By Michael Hamilton [email protected]

Reach Michael Hamilton at 740-353-3101, ext 1931, or on Twitter @MikeHamilton82.

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