VIRGINIA BEACH — Nansemond River coaches, players and fans breathed a collective sigh of relief Thursday night as Catholic’s desperation 3-pointer at the end of the game came up short to help the Warriors escape with a 62-60 boys basketball win on the road.
Catholic misses final 3-pointer.
Nansemond River 62, Catholic 60 pic.twitter.com/RDd9Mpzt5J
— Larry Rubama (@LHRubama) January 9, 2026
It was yet another close game for the No. 11 Warriors, who have had five games decided by six points or fewer this season.
“I’m proud of these guys because we’ve been doing it all year like this,” Warriors coach Joe Hassell said about the close games. “We’ve been resilient all year.”
The Warriors (8-3) got behind early as No. 10 Catholic took a 12-8 lead after the first quarter, led by Carter Bullock, who scored all of his 12 points in the first half.
The Crusaders pushed their lead to 16-10 in the second quarter before the Warriors went on a 6-0 run to tie the game.
It wouldn’t stop there as the Warriors outscored Catholic 13-3 in the final 3:15 to take a 29-22 halftime lead.
The Crusaders (10-3) refused to go away.
Leading scorer Dean Williams, who was held scoreless in the first half, got going in the second half as he scored a team-high 19 points. Jon Lee and Tabren Hawkins also contributed with 10 and nine points, respectively.
But the Warriors, who had a 10-point lead with 1:47 left in the third quarter, kept fighting. They were led by Taron Atwater, who finished with a game-high 23 points, and Quinton Cruse, who finished with 13.
Taron Atwater of Nansemond River drives to the basket against Joshua Samuals of Catholic during the second half at Catholic High School in Virginia Beach, Virginia, on Jan. 8, 2026. (Peter Casey/The Virginian-Pilot)
Nansemond River held a five-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, but the Warriors couldn’t put the Crusaders away because they couldn’t make free throws.
They missed 12 of 28 for the game, and 8 of 17 in the fourth quarter.
Each miss allowed Catholic to stay close and gave the Crusaders life, including four misses in the final 44.6 seconds.
After two misses with 5.2 seconds, Catholic had a chance to win the game, but a desperation 3-pointer fell short to help the Warriors pull off the upset.
“I really felt like this was a big win for us,” Hassell said. “But we have to keep it going.”
It was a second consecutive heartbreaking loss for the Crusaders, who lost to now-No. 9 Oscar Smith 68-67 on Saturday.
Larry Rubama, 757-575-6449, larry.rubama@pilotonline.com
