The Nansemond River High School boys’ basketball team is looking forward to building on their 2018-2019 season.

The Warriors’ basketball season last year was filled with both ups and downs. After getting off to a rocky start, the Warriors went on a run in December that carried them all the way almost through the end of February. They won 13 of their last 16 games and earned a regional bid. From there, the Warriors upset a tough Kecoughtan High School team and would have advanced to the regional championship, were it not for a half-court buzzer beater from Green Run High School in the semifinals.

Longtime Coach Ed Young is looking forward to the team he has this season, which returns only four guys who played varsity last year.

“We are going to have a different team this year,” Young said. “It’s a young team, and we’ll go through some growing pains, but I like what we were able to do over the summer and the fall. The key is going to be consistency for us.”

Returning for the Warriors this year will be Justin Fatherly, who as a junior was an All-District and All-Region selection. Fatherly will look once again to be among the premier players in the Southeastern District as he will be looked upon to take his game to another level. Jakari Joy returns for the Warriors as he filled a backup role at point guard last season.

“These guys will probably be asked to carry a big part of the load,” Young said. “Those guys have a lot of experience and once we get the rest of the team some experience as well, I feel like those guys have the potential to be really good.”

With some of the conference being realigned in Class 5A, the top 10 teams will get bids for the playoffs. Young and his group have their eyes on returning there once again.

Nansemond River opens the season up at home against Mathews High School at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.