The Nansemond River High School boys’ basketball team seemed to be developing the habit of good starts to games at the recent McBee Holiday Tournament in South Carolina, but the Warriors found themselves in a hole once again on Tuesday night at Denbigh High School and never recovered.

The Patriots took advantage of Nansemond River’s 27 turnovers on their way to a 72-61 victory.

The Warriors had as many turnovers in the first quarter as points, with eight apiece. Meanwhile, Denbigh put up 17 points in the period, including 10 off of turnovers, and Patriots senior Eric Heard was on fire from three-point range, going 4-for-4.

“We knew going in that you had to put a body on Heard,” stated Warriors coach Ed Young, adding that senior Deshawn Johnson had to be kept off the glass. “We lost Heard in transition as he found the basket, and Johnson had five points on two put backs and six rebounds in the quarter.”

“We played them even from that point, but every time we got close, we managed to somehow turn it back over to them, and they converted a lot of our turnovers into points,” Young continued.

The Warriors were able to contain Heard for the most part during the remainder of the game, but Johnson was a consistent problem, finishing with 21 points, 15 rebounds and four blocked shots. Heard ended up with 18 points.

Towards the end of the game, Nansemond River had to resort to fouling to create more possessions for itself. The Patriots shot 32 free throws in the game, 23 of which came in the fourth quarter. They converted on 13 of those shots in the fourth and 19 total for the contest.

For the Warriors, junior Josh Covington came off the bench and contributed 25 points and four assists. Senior Matt Allmond added 12 points and eight rebounds.

Nansemond River (6-7, 0-3) travels to Heritage High School on Friday night and Kempsville High School on Saturday night.

The Warriors have played nine of their 13 games on the road this year.

“Tough for an inexperienced team,” Young stated, “but no excuse.”