Nansemond-Suffolk Academy’s girls’ basketball team is not used to going up against 3,500-student public high schools and walking away with 26-point wins, but that is exactly what it did on Friday.

A scheduling change in KSA Events’ 2013 Holiday Girls’ Basketball tournament pitted the Lady Saints against Freedom High School from the tourney’s host city, Orlando, Fla.

“At the beginning of the game, we caught them off guard with our half court trap, and we kind of set the tone early with the fast break and the trap,” NSA head coach Kim Aston said.

The Lady Saints enjoyed a significant height advantage as the Lady Patriots’ tallest player was about 5 feet 9 inches tall. NSA translated it into a 27-14 rebounding advantage and a 60-34 win.

“I think we scored 20 points in transition with layups and good plays where we were pushing it ahead,” Aston said.

Nansemond-Suffolk sophomore point guard Harper Birdsong led all scorers with 17 points and also had eight assists.

Senior guard/forward Kaylor Nash had 10 points and 10 rebounds, senior guard/forward Jessica Pieroni had 11 points, senior guard Macy Mears had nine points and junior forward Caylin Harris had seven points and seven boards.

NSA was originally going to play a Texas team from Liberty Christian School, but Aston said, “They switched themselves to a different bracket.”

The Lady Saints (5-1) play this morning at 9:45 a.m. against Hamden Hall Country Day School from Connecticut, “which looks to be a very good team,” Aston said, as it includes at least two 6-foot-5-inch players.