The Nansemond River High School girls’ basketball team saw its season come to a close in disappointing fashion on Monday during the Region 5A South tournament quarterfinals in Virginia Beach.

“I probably called the quickest timeout I’ve ever called,” Lady Warriors coach R. Calvin Mason Sr. said, referring to his request for time around 30 seconds into the game. “I could just see where we were heading even then.”

Nansemond River was headed to a blowout against elite Princess Anne High School.

By the end of the first quarter, the Lady Warriors trailed 20-5, they were down 44-8 at halftime and 79-21 after the third quarter before recovering somewhat for a 93-43 loss.

“I just thought that mentally we weren’t there,” Mason said on Tuesday as to why he called the early timeout. “We weren’t mentally prepared to play a game last night,” and that manifested itself in how his players performed physically.

Mason said he was surprised by the result of the game.

“I thought we were as prepared as we could be,” he said. “I thought we were ready to go, I thought we were ready to go during warmups, but when the game started, we just weren’t there.”

He had worked to prepare his team for the talented Lady Cavaliers, but noted that “we never got a chance to actually practice.”

Nansemond River had a quick turnaround from its conference tournament championship game, which it played Saturday afternoon. And it was just the latest in a string of quick turnarounds that the Lady Warriors have been a part of.

Over a 13-day period from Feb. 9 to 22, Nansemond River played in seven games, with the last four coming on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Monday.

Against Princess Anne, “I thought we played tired throughout the game,” Mason said.

The Lady Warriors were also a bit shorthanded.

“Rotationally, we’re a little limited because Tashira Burch has been out for about two weeks,” Mason said, noting the junior backup to his guards was suffering from pneumonia.

But he noted he did not like giving excuses and gave the Lady Cavaliers some credit for the game’s outcome.

“Overall, as a team, we just didn’t play well, and they had a lot to do with that,” Mason said. “They’re a very good team. But a lot of that was self-inflicted also.”

Nansemond River did not make a single jump shot in the first half, getting all of its points on layups or free throws.

But for the game, NR sophomore point guard Briana Autrey ended up with 17 points, junior shooting guard Cassidy Simmons had eight points and junior forward/guard Daijah Norris registered seven points and seven rebounds.

The Lady Warriors’ leading scorer, senior guard/forward Aneka Yelverton, struggled to generate any offense and was notably in tears at the conclusion of her final high school game.

“She really cared about the program,” Mason said. “She was really committed to what we were doing, and I thought she gave a great speech in the locker room, just talking about her journey.”

Senior center Sabre Clegg was also playing in her final high school game, and Mason noted he was very proud of the steps the two four-year lettermen have taken.

Nansemond River finished the 2015-16 season with a record of 18-8.

“I thought we got better,” Mason said of his team this season. “I thought we grew as a team. Some hiccups here and there, and we still talk about closing games out, but this is probably one of the hardest working groups.”

He said that when there were offseason conditioning sessions, “They showed up. They worked, and they were committed to it.”

“I think that we’ve laid a great foundation,” he added, noting nine players will be returning next year, and they will joined with some key players from the junior varsity team that went 15-3 this season.