The Nansemond River High School boys’ basketball team did not play its best during its home opener on Tuesday, but it came through in the fourth quarter to defeat Indian River High School 54-48.

The Warriors are 3-0 now, but their coach, Ed Young, said Tuesday’s contest “was the worst of our three games,” featuring poor shooting, rebounding and turnover-prone play.

Young said he thought his team was a little apprehensive in its first home game, and it showed in the first quarter when the Warriors only scored nine points, on three three-pointers, and committed four turnovers.

“But we only gave up 10 points, so we’re still in the game,” he said.

NR scored 16 in the second quarter, 14 of which came from senior captains Paul Hall and Aaron Parker, to give the Warriors a 25-21 halftime lead.

The Braves tied things up, 37-37, at the end of the third. Young called this period his team’s worst quarter of the year, defensively, as Indian River went 7-for-13.

But then Nansemond River turned the tide.

“Fourth quarter was our quarter,” Young said. “We wore them down.”

He cited conditioning first as the deciding factor of the game.

The Warriors led by as many as nine points in the period and held off Indian River with good free throw shooting.

Also key was NR’s strategy of switching defenses to keep the Braves off balance.

Parker and junior Josh Covington each had five points in the quarter.

In terms of standouts, “We have a host of them, which is really nice,” Young said.

Senior Matt Allmond had 12 points, two blocks and led the team with seven rebounds, despite not playing at all in the second quarter due to foul trouble.

Parker finished with 12 points, three assists and two steals.

Coming off the bench, Hall had 12 points, going 3-for-6 from three-point range, and Covington recorded 10 points, four assists and three steals.

“He played really steady defense,” Young said of Covington, noting he and Parker “really spearheaded our defensive effort in the fourth quarter.”

Nansemond River (3-0) hosts Hickory High School on Thursday and visits Lakeland High School (2-1) on Friday.