The girls’ basketball teams from Nansemond River and Lakeland high schools returned to the hardwood on Monday for their first games since Feb. 9; one team’s season will continue, while the other team’s season ended.

The No. 3 Lady Warriors defeated No. 6 Denbigh High School 61-29, and the No. 5 Lady Cavaliers lost 72-45 to No. 4 Heritage High School during the first round of the Ironclad Conference tournament at King’s Fork High School.

“Coming off of the time off, I thought we did a pretty good job of playing defense,” Nansemond River coach R. Calvin Mason Sr. said. “That was the main thing.”

The snow and ice forced teams in the area into a surprise layoff last week, with the start of the tournament being delayed repeatedly.

While Nansemond River’s defense was strong on Monday, its offense suffered from the break.

“We’ve only had one practice all week and that was Saturday, and we just didn’t look in sync offensively,” Mason said.

In spite of it all, junior forward Aneka Yelverton produced a team-high 16 points for the Lady Warriors, and sophomore shooting guard Cassidy Simmons added 14 points.

Sophomore guard/forward Daijah Norris registered eight points and 16 rebounds.

“She’s a really good athlete, but she doesn’t always play with intensity,” Mason said. “She played with a lot of intensity tonight.”

The coach acknowledged the benefits that come with being one of the top two seeds, including a first round bye, but given the layoff, “playing tonight benefited us because we got some court time, which we sorely needed.”

Lakeland found itself struggling to compensate for Heritage’s height advantage.

“I was hoping our quickness would kind of get us at least to be a little more competitive than what we were, but it didn’t,” said Lady Cavs coach Brandey Blunt.

She also praised the Lady Hurricanes for playing well, while acknowledging her team did not.

“I didn’t see the cohesiveness that we have sometimes as a team,” she said. “It just seemed like everybody was on a different page.”

As they have been known for, they picked up their play in the second half, but it was too little, too late.

Lakeland freshman Brianna Copeland led her team with 15 points, freshman Makayla Dickens scored 14 points, despite sitting for a stretch in foul trouble, freshman Kayla Barnes had eight points and junior D’Jannay Patterson added six points.

The Lady Cavaliers improved significantly on last season and finished their 2014-15 campaign with an 8-15 overall record.

Blunt hopes to see continued growth in her freshman stars but also hopes Lakeland learns from this season that it can compete.

No. 3 Nansemond River (17-6) faces No. 2 King’s Fork (16-6) on Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the conference tournament semifinals at King’s Fork High School. The winner not only advances to Wednesday’s final but also secures a berth in the regional playoffs.