After spending time in Florida for a holiday tournament, the Lady Saints basketball team is ready for conference play.

The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy girls’ basketball team recently came back from Florida, where they went 2-1 in some holiday hoops. After getting off to a slow start in their first game, they were able to get wins over Taft High School out of Ohio and Sullivan Central High School out of Tennessee.

“We probably had our worst game of the year in that first game,” Coach Kim Aston said. “We were able to bounce back and win the next couple of games. It was a good experience for us, and the girls showed they could bounce back. It was a really good bonding experience for us as a team as we continue to figure each other out.”

At 7-2, the Lady Saints will shift their focus towards conference play, which starts next week. Aston feels good about where the team is and how they have played to this point. With the team the Saints have this season, they are among the top teams capable of winning the conference.

“I feel like we are in good shape right now,” Aston said. “We have some good games coming up here and we have some big challenges coming up. But I feel like the girls are ready to go and have been playing well.”

Aston believes the team has been dealing well with the high expectations they had coming into the season. Last season, NSA fell a game short of reaching the state championship with a team that started four freshmen. So far, NSA has taken another step in their development, and they hope to be peaking from January to March.

“I think there are still things for us to get better at, but I believe the girls have taken another step in their development and in their skill sets. Hopefully when these conference games start, we will continue to keep getting better and hopefully work to being where we want to be.”

NSA will take on Peninsula Catholic High School at home Tuesday and will play three games next week as they continue to build on their solid start to the season.