WESTERVILLE — If a team goes into a contest and has a difficult time scoring the basketball, one’s chances to win become pretty high.In a nonconference matchup against the Reynoldsburg Raiders’ girls basketball program, the Portsmouth Trojans’ girls basketball program certainly put together a championship level performance on the defensive end of the floor.Down by a 13-7 count midway through the opening quarter, Amy Hughes’ unit proceeded to make life vastly difficult for Reynoldsburg the rest of the way.Over the contest’s final 26 minutes, Portsmouth outscored the Lady Raiders by a 41-19 margin the rest of the way, leading to a high-quality win for the Lady Trojans as Portsmouth put three players — Keke Woods (17), Sienna Allen (13) and KK Mays (11) — in double-figures in a 48-32 win for Portsmouth over an OHSAA Division I opponent.”It’s a big win for us,” Hughes, the eighth-year veteran leader of the program, said. “The big thing for us was the fact that our defense got better. In every quarter, our defense got a little bit better and a little better and a little better. I’m impressed with that. Reynoldsburg is a team that’s scrappy, savvy and plays hard the entire game, so between that and the fact that you’re pushing for 32 minutes, you’d think you’d see some wear, but our girls really did a great job. They played on a string defensively. I’m very proud of their efforts.”Initially, Reynoldsburg came out firing — particularly from long distance.Running efficient four-out sets where the Lady Raiders moved well both with and without the basketball, Reynoldsburg’s ball movement and player movement in open spacing allowed the Lady Raiders to knock down each of its first three three-point attempts, with Jaylin Bonta and Alexis Murillo combining for 11 points and three treys in the opening quarter.The Lady Raiders continued their hot shooting into the second frame as well, and with under six minutes to go in the opening half, Reynoldsburg had gone 5-of-6 from three-point range en route to taking a 19-13 lead.The cushion wouldn’t last.Portsmouth, who forced a total of 26 turnovers in the contest, turned up the dial in the defensive backcourt, with Sienna Allen and Salem Allen applying pressure alongside Keke Woods up top while the Mays sisters — KK and Sky — locked matters down with the help of Bry Shannon on the wings and in the short corner to low post areas.Offensively, Mays’ physicality, along with Allen’s and Woods’ ability to set the table, allowed Portsmouth to go on a 16-3 run between the second and third quarters of action, not only giving Portsmouth a 22-19 halftime advantage but allowing the Lady Trojans to take a 29-22 third-quarter lead. Portsmouth held this two-possession cushion to the end of the third frame of play.During the run, Allen scored eight of her 13 points, while Mays chipped in six of her 11 tallies during that same stretch. The duo, along with Woods, were equally unselfish, as Allen tallied four assists in the opening three quarters of play while Woods chipped in a duo of dimes in the third canto.”We work on getting each other involved,” Hughes said. “It’s just one big family. They like to pass to each other. They encourage each other and they’re excited for other people to score. I think that’s a sign of a championship basketball team.”Defensively, Portsmouth’s play was certainly at that level. After Reynoldsburg went 5-of-6 from distance in the opening 11 minutes of the game, the Lady Raiders were held to just 2-of-11 from deep afterward and only made five field goals in all over the last 21 minutes of the contest.Between that, and Portsmouth forcing a total of 26 turnovers in the game, the Lady Trojans were able to wear down Reynoldsburg.The Lady Raiders scored the opening bucket of the fourth quarter to cut Portsmouth’s lead to a 33-29 count, but the Lady Trojans answered with its most spirited run of the contest, a 15-0 push, to push the four-point lead to 18, 48-30, with just over two minutes to go.During that run, Woods, who also scored six points in the first quarter, posted six in the backbreaking spurt while KK Mays collected assists on back-to-back plays. Sky Mays finished off the display with a personal 5-0 run to conclude matters in Portsmouth’s favor.”By the fourth quarter, Reynoldsburg couldn’t even get a shot off. We were smothering them so much, they couldn’t even get a clean look. As teams work your defense for open shots and open spacing on the floor, that should go the other way, but it didn’t. I was extremely pleased with that. The toughness and conditioning is showing in this group, and they’re coming along nicely.”With the win, Portsmouth improved to 3-1 ahead of a Ohio Valley Conference showdown against Coal Grove. Both teams entered Tuesday evening’s contest 2-0 in OVC play.