The Portsmouth Trojans have been a dominant force so far, but they're in the middle of a mini-slump at the moment. They took a 57-51 hit to the loss column at the hands of North Adams. The result was an unpleasant reminder to Portsmouth of the 72-70 defeat they experienced in the two teams' previous head-to-head fixture back in January of 2023.
When it comes to explaining why Portsmouth lost on Saturday, one person who can't be blamed is Deandre Berry. Despite the final result, he scored 17 points along with three steals. Berry has been hot recently, having posted 17 or more points the last six times he's played. Noah Livingston was another key contributor, scoring six points along with nine rebounds.
Portsmouth's defeat dropped their record down to 9-5. As for North Adams, the victory (which was their tenth in a row) raised their record to 12-3.
Both squads will have to hit the road in their upcoming games. Portsmouth and the Hornets will face off at 7:30 p.m. on January 30th without much rest after finishing up games yesterday. Dawson-Bryant will have to bring their A-game into this one, as they are staring down a pretty big deficit in the MaxPreps Ohio Rankings (they are ranked 600th, while the Trojans are ranked 205th). As for North Adams, they will head out on the road to face off against the Blue Jays at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Ripley-Union-Lewis-Huntington is coming into the match on a five-game losing streak.
