Woods' triple-double headlines Portsmouth's 3rd-straight district title
- Staff
- 12 hours ago
- 3 min read
WAVERLY — The Portsmouth Lady Trojans play give and take.
They give their opponents a lot of points and they take the ball with their aggressive defense.
Portsmouth had 19 steals as a team, forced 23 turnovers and gave up only 9 field goals as they routed the North Adams Lady Green Devils 55-32 in the Division 6 district semifinals on Saturday at the Waverly Downtown Arena.
Keke Woods pulled off the rare triple-double to pace the Lady Trojans, finishing the game with 24 points, 10 rebounds and was the main thief with 10 steals.
Sienna Allen had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals with Hayven Carter adding 11 points in the win.
Portsmouth coach Amy Hughes had nothing but praise for Woods' heroic performance.
"Keke looked like superman tonight. You have to watch from a coaches point of view. Just watching her sprint down the floor, rebound, box out, and that's just the little things. Keke is phenomenal. I think she's the best defender in the state, but that's my opinion."
The first quarter was more of a “feeling out” period as each team tried to work the ball inside leading to a low-scoring quarter. Portsmouth ended the quarter leading 9-7 with the biggest lead 4 points.
Emma Pistole sank two free throws North Adams cut the deficit to 6 points with 2:47 left in the half.
Sienna Allen drained a long 3-pointer, and after a defensive stop, Salem Allen knocked down her own 3-pointer and Portsmouth led 25-13 with 1:57 on the clock.
The Lady Trojans scored again to cap the 9-0 run and it was 28-13 at the half.
North Adams went on a 5-0 run to begin the second half and it was 28-18 with 6:38 on the clock. But Woods took over and got a putback basket and then on Portsmouth’s next possession hit a 3-pointer from the win for a 33-18 lead.
Woods then got back-to-back steals at half court and scored on each play as the lead ballooned 45-23 with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter.
In the third quarter alone, Woods had 4 steals and 5 rebounds to go with 11 points.
Woods kept the pace going in the fourth quarter as she scored 6 of Portsmouth’s first 8 points and her putback and final basket of the game the lead was 55-27.
The win marked the third-straight district title for Portsmouth's program. Which is something that Hughes was extremely proud of when considering where things began.
"This is just a reflection of the program. It's well ran from all aspects that just does the little things right. When you get in a big game, it's the defense that wins it for us. Add the rebounding, the shooting, the passing and the unselfishness. Right from the beginning 7 years ago, it's just been done the right way with the type of kids and fans we have. We just have a lot of fun."
NORTH ADAMS 19-5): Emma Pistole 2 0 5-6 9, Jacee Davis 0 0 0-0 0, Sophia Barlow 1 0 0-0 2Tenzlee Burns 1 1 2-3 7, Bella Gray 0 0 0-2 0, Ava Pistole 1 0 0-0 2, Jaida Harrison 0 0 0-0 0, Elizabeth Raines 1 1 0-1 5, Sydney McCann 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 3 7-12 32. Rebounds: (O-10, D-23) 33 (E. Pistole 10, A. Pistole 5, Harison 5). Assists: 2. Steals: 6 (E. Pistole 2). Blocks: 2 (E. Pistole, Raines). Fouls: 8. Fouled out: None.
PORTSMOUTH (19-4): Sienna Allen 2 2 3-4 13, Salem Allen 0 1 0-0 3, Keke Woods 8 1 5-6 24, Hayven Carter 5 0 1-1 11 Bry Shannon 0 0 0-0 0, K.K. Mays 0 0 0-0 0, Sky Mays 0 0 0-0 0, Abi Whitt 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 4 9-11 55. Rebounds: (O-12, D-15) 27 (Woods 10, Si. Allen 5, Shannon 3). Assists: 5 (Si. Allen 2, Woods 2). Steals: 19 (Woods 10, Si. Allen 3). Blocks: 2 (Si. Allen, Carter). Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.