The Nansemond River High School boys’ basketball team defeated visiting Gloucester High School 73-53 on Saturday, successful rebounding from a tough loss to visiting Lakeland High School the night before.

The Warriors raced to a 21-14 first-quarter lead that saw eight Warriors get in the scoring column.

“We actually played all twelve of our players in that quarter because of very quick foul trouble, as four of our guys picked up two fouls each,” stated NR coach Ed Young.

Nansemond River was whistled for nine fouls in the quarter and picked up its 10th in the first minute of the second.

Despite the fouls, the Warriors went into halftime with a 32-23 lead behind seven points from junior Josh Covington and six from senior Matt Allmond.

Junior Colby Williams came off the bench to drop 11 points in the third quarter to spark the Warriors’ offense and help give his team a 51-39 lead entering the fourth.

“He carried us on offense and got a couple key stops on defense,” Young stated.

The fourth quarter was pretty much back and forth early on as the Warriors and Dukes traded baskets. Then, Nansemond River took charge in the final three minutes.

“We did what was necessary to secure this win, which we haven’t done in our last few losses where we let leads slip away or (let) turnovers stifle a nice comeback,” stated Young. “Now, as we finish the season with five conference games, we need to continue to keep our composure and execute our game plans so that we can be a factor during the tournament in February.”

“We have been close in all of our five conference losses, but have no wins to show for it,” Young continued.

Allmond led the Warriors with 17 points and eight rebounds, Covington added 14 and Williams had 11, his career high.

Joe Berry was the game’s leading scorer with 23 points for Gloucester, a Group 5A team that will be a new conference opponent next year for the Warriors as Nansemond River moves up to 5A.

Tonight, the Warriors (8-9, 0-5) host Heritage High School, which is undefeated in the Ironclad Conference. The Hurricanes defeated visiting Nansemond River 73-66 on Jan. 16.