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For many people, March is the optimal month of the year.
That’s because basketball tournaments are hitting their fever pitch at this point.
And while most high school state tournaments are beginning to wind down, the best of the best are still left in those tournaments — while many college programs are just beginning what they hope are lengthy journeys toward deep national tournament, if not national championship, runs.
Two of those programs reside right in Portsmouth — as the Shawnee State men and women, for just the third time in the 37-season history of Shawnee State Athletics, both qualified for NAIA National Tournament bids in the same year, joining both the 2019-20 men’s and women’s teams as well as the 2020-21 men’s and women’s as the only additional times that feat occurred.
Shawnee State men (24-6), No. 7 seed — NAIA Opening Round Site, Marion, Ind.
The Shawnee State men’s basketball program, who is coached by first year head coach Fred Lymas, earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament after winning the River States Conference’s Regular Season crown with a 15-1 overall record in league play.
Shawnee State was 24-6 as of Friday’s press time, and, as a No. 7 seed in the NAIA National Tournament, played No. 10 Dalton State at 7:30 p.m.
The winner faces either No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan or No. 15 St. Francis (Ill.) on Saturday, March 14 at 4 p.m. for the right to advance to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament’s final site — Municipal Arena in Kansas City, Mo., where the remaining four rounds from the Round of 16 onward will be played out.
“Anytime you get the opportunity to compete in the national tournament, it’s a big thing for your program, your team, your school, your whole community,” Lymas said. “It’s big. We didn’t get to the national tournament (in 2025), so just being able to return back is a big deal.”
Balanced scoring has been a big key to Shawnee State’s success all season long.
In all, a total of four guys presently playing right now — 6-6 junior forward Jason Steele (11.4), 6-4 senior guard Jareon Mayo (11.2), 6-2 senior El Sieger (11.1), and 6-2 senior Tyreon Payne (10.7) — are averaging in double-figures.
Two additional players, including 6-10 junior Kiante Williams (9.1) and 6-7 sophomore Ahmadou Aw (7.7) are averaging better than 7.5 points a contest.
Defensively, Shawnee State is holding teams to 70.9 points per game and a 43.1 percent shooting percentage from the floor. The Bears, as a result, have outscored their opposition by nearly 10.3 points per contest.
“We’re talented — talented enough to do some good things when we get there,” Lymas said. “The guys have put in so much work in this whole season, trusting in the process and being detailed on their scout. We received a lot of accolades this year. We had seven guys named as all-conference honorees, I got coach of the year, our offensive efficiency is top-40 in the country and our defensive efficiency is top-10 in the country, so we’ve put together some really neat stats along the way.”
Lymas, who was an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Florida A&M during the 2024-25 season, was ultimately named as the River States Conference’s Coach of the Year, while six players, including Steele (first team), Payne, Williams and Sieger (second team) and Mayo and Aw (third team), were named as All-RSC honorees.
Portsmouth’s Donnovan Breech, as well as Ashland (Ky.) graduates Rheyce DeBoard and Tyson LaLonde, are among the local kids who are on the roster.
“We wanted to leave the NAIA on a good note, and we wanted to just max out and go as far as we can and play as hard as we can,” Lymas said. “We’re trying to win a national championship and we’re going to do things the right way to win a national championship. Now, it’s time to try to get it done.”
Shawnee State women (22-8), No. 12 seed — NAIA Opening Round Site, Springfield, Mo.
Having made their initial NAIA Tournament berth under head coach DeWayne Burroughs a season ago, the Shawnee State women’s basketball program makes a return appearance in the 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament, as the Bears, a No. 12 seed in this year’s bracket, looked to knock off No. 5-seeded William Carey (Miss.) on Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
The Bears were 22-8 as of press time. They play either No. 4 Evangel (Mo.) or No. 13 Science and Arts (Okla.) on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT with a win on Friday.
“We’ve got a couple of returners (from the 2025 NAIA Second Round group) who are excited about this opportunity, and the new kids are excited as well,” Burroughs said. “The chip that we have on our shoulder, particularly with those kids coming back, is to go further than we did last year. We don’t just want to make it to the second round — we want to go further and try to win the region and move on from here.”
A key cog as a First-Team All-RSC honoree in 2025 and starting point guard on Shawnee State’s roster that went 28-5 overall and went to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament, Miyoshi Ellis repeated her First-Team All-RSC accolades in 2026.
Ellis is presently averaging 14.5 points, 4.6 assists, four rebounds and 2.2 steals per game for the Bears and sports a 1.89-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“Everybody knows, and it’s no secret — we’ll go as far as Miyoshi takes us,” Burroughs said. “If she stays locked in for this weekend, that can help produce some good things for us. If she plays well, everyone follows her. That can hopefully get us going and help push us to a couple of wins.”
Along with Ellis, Shawnee State junior forward Jariah Steele, a three-year starter for the Bears, is another key cog. Steele is considered to be one of the River States Conference’s best defensive talents.
“She’s our Draymond Green,” Burroughs said of Steele. “Jariah goes hard on the offensive end of the floor and she goes hard on the defensive end of the floor. She’s going to rebound. She does all the dirty work. She’s going to clean up around the glass. She’s just going to go hard the entire time that she’s on the floor.”
Locals on the squad include three-year key rotation player in Emily Maynard, a graduate of nearby Greenup County High School in Lloyd, as well as true freshmen in Portsmouth’s Savannah Cantrell, South Point’s Saratina Jackson and Gallia Academy’s Kenya Peck.
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That’s because basketball tournaments are hitting their fever pitch at this point.
And while most high school state tournaments are beginning to wind down, the best of the best are still left in those tournaments — while many college programs are just beginning what they hope are lengthy journeys toward deep national tournament, if not national championship, runs.
Two of those programs reside right in Portsmouth — as the Shawnee State men and women, for just the third time in the 37-season history of Shawnee State Athletics, both qualified for NAIA National Tournament bids in the same year, joining both the 2019-20 men’s and women’s teams as well as the 2020-21 men’s and women’s as the only additional times that feat occurred.
Shawnee State men (24-6), No. 7 seed — NAIA Opening Round Site, Marion, Ind.
The Shawnee State men’s basketball program, who is coached by first year head coach Fred Lymas, earned an automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament after winning the River States Conference’s Regular Season crown with a 15-1 overall record in league play.
Shawnee State was 24-6 as of Friday’s press time, and, as a No. 7 seed in the NAIA National Tournament, played No. 10 Dalton State at 7:30 p.m.
The winner faces either No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan or No. 15 St. Francis (Ill.) on Saturday, March 14 at 4 p.m. for the right to advance to the NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Tournament’s final site — Municipal Arena in Kansas City, Mo., where the remaining four rounds from the Round of 16 onward will be played out.
“Anytime you get the opportunity to compete in the national tournament, it’s a big thing for your program, your team, your school, your whole community,” Lymas said. “It’s big. We didn’t get to the national tournament (in 2025), so just being able to return back is a big deal.”
Balanced scoring has been a big key to Shawnee State’s success all season long.
In all, a total of four guys presently playing right now — 6-6 junior forward Jason Steele (11.4), 6-4 senior guard Jareon Mayo (11.2), 6-2 senior El Sieger (11.1), and 6-2 senior Tyreon Payne (10.7) — are averaging in double-figures.
Two additional players, including 6-10 junior Kiante Williams (9.1) and 6-7 sophomore Ahmadou Aw (7.7) are averaging better than 7.5 points a contest.
Defensively, Shawnee State is holding teams to 70.9 points per game and a 43.1 percent shooting percentage from the floor. The Bears, as a result, have outscored their opposition by nearly 10.3 points per contest.
“We’re talented — talented enough to do some good things when we get there,” Lymas said. “The guys have put in so much work in this whole season, trusting in the process and being detailed on their scout. We received a lot of accolades this year. We had seven guys named as all-conference honorees, I got coach of the year, our offensive efficiency is top-40 in the country and our defensive efficiency is top-10 in the country, so we’ve put together some really neat stats along the way.”
Lymas, who was an assistant coach at NCAA Division I Florida A&M during the 2024-25 season, was ultimately named as the River States Conference’s Coach of the Year, while six players, including Steele (first team), Payne, Williams and Sieger (second team) and Mayo and Aw (third team), were named as All-RSC honorees.
Portsmouth’s Donnovan Breech, as well as Ashland (Ky.) graduates Rheyce DeBoard and Tyson LaLonde, are among the local kids who are on the roster.
“We wanted to leave the NAIA on a good note, and we wanted to just max out and go as far as we can and play as hard as we can,” Lymas said. “We’re trying to win a national championship and we’re going to do things the right way to win a national championship. Now, it’s time to try to get it done.”
Shawnee State women (22-8), No. 12 seed — NAIA Opening Round Site, Springfield, Mo.
Having made their initial NAIA Tournament berth under head coach DeWayne Burroughs a season ago, the Shawnee State women’s basketball program makes a return appearance in the 2026 NAIA Women’s Basketball National Tournament, as the Bears, a No. 12 seed in this year’s bracket, looked to knock off No. 5-seeded William Carey (Miss.) on Friday evening at 8 p.m. ET/7 p.m. CT.
The Bears were 22-8 as of press time. They play either No. 4 Evangel (Mo.) or No. 13 Science and Arts (Okla.) on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET/4 p.m. CT with a win on Friday.
“We’ve got a couple of returners (from the 2025 NAIA Second Round group) who are excited about this opportunity, and the new kids are excited as well,” Burroughs said. “The chip that we have on our shoulder, particularly with those kids coming back, is to go further than we did last year. We don’t just want to make it to the second round — we want to go further and try to win the region and move on from here.”
A key cog as a First-Team All-RSC honoree in 2025 and starting point guard on Shawnee State’s roster that went 28-5 overall and went to the second round of the NAIA National Tournament, Miyoshi Ellis repeated her First-Team All-RSC accolades in 2026.
Ellis is presently averaging 14.5 points, 4.6 assists, four rebounds and 2.2 steals per game for the Bears and sports a 1.89-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“Everybody knows, and it’s no secret — we’ll go as far as Miyoshi takes us,” Burroughs said. “If she stays locked in for this weekend, that can help produce some good things for us. If she plays well, everyone follows her. That can hopefully get us going and help push us to a couple of wins.”
Along with Ellis, Shawnee State junior forward Jariah Steele, a three-year starter for the Bears, is another key cog. Steele is considered to be one of the River States Conference’s best defensive talents.
“She’s our Draymond Green,” Burroughs said of Steele. “Jariah goes hard on the offensive end of the floor and she goes hard on the defensive end of the floor. She’s going to rebound. She does all the dirty work. She’s going to clean up around the glass. She’s just going to go hard the entire time that she’s on the floor.”
Locals on the squad include three-year key rotation player in Emily Maynard, a graduate of nearby Greenup County High School in Lloyd, as well as true freshmen in Portsmouth’s Savannah Cantrell, South Point’s Saratina Jackson and Gallia Academy’s Kenya Peck.
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