Story byThe Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioKevin Colley, The Portsmouth Daily Times, OhioSat, January 17, 2026 at 2:20 AM UTC·3 min readCHESAPEAKE — A conference loss on the road to a traditionally well-respected basketball program is not something to be ashamed of. After all, as the old adage says, ‘What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger.’AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThrough the first half and the opening four minutes of the third quarter, the Portsmouth Trojans’ boys basketball program battled the Chesapeake Panthers’ boys basketball program to within single digits, and outscored Chesapeake 12-7 to begin the third quarter to cut Chesapeake’s 35-27 halftime lead down to a 42-39 count. However, Maddox Kazee’s 30-point outburst and an additional 24-point showing from Kaden Perkins allowed the Panthers to pull away over the final 12 minutes, as Portsmouth fell to 8-5 overall and 4-3 in the OVC with a 81-57 defeat Thursday evening at Chesapeake High School in Chesapeake. For Aaron Smith, it’s simply about moving forward from a loss to a Chesapeake squad that has eight upperclassmen (four seniors, four juniors) among its main rotation of players.“They went to a zone, and we got a little bit rushed and didn’t get in the right spots,” Smith said. “A couple of those turnovers killed us. Foul trouble hurt us as well.
