File photos – Brooklyn Carter is one of two team captains for the Warriors this year.

By Ray Hamill — The Del Norte Warriors will hope to keep an impressive start to the new season going when they travel for the Mt. Shasta Holiday Tournament in girls basketball this weekend.

New head coach Dylan Nelson and his players have been clutch early in the season with a pair of close wins in their first four games.

After edging a 55-53 win in their season opener at Hoopa, the Del Norte girls finished 2-1 at the Yreka tournament last weekend, closing out with a hard-fought 53-50 win over Shasta, one day after falling 75-48 to Henley.

“I was really happy with that bounce back win,” Nelson said. “To be able to come through and win those (close) games, I’m really happy with that.”

The Warriors are playing without the 2022/23 Humboldt Sports Player of the Year Lili Nunez — who feels this year’s team is not a good fit for her — and Nelson will look to a couple of other returning players to help lead the way.

Senior forward Jacalyn Gorbet and junior guard Brooklyn Carter are the two team captains, while junior power forward Lauren Stutes is also expected to play a key role after a breakout varsity campaign a year ago.

Senior guard Anyessa Bettega is also back and appears ready to play a big role.

And overall, the first-year head coach, who takes over from Justin Clifton, is excited about the roster and the team’s prospects.

“(What I like is) mainly just the attitude,” he said. “They’re really a positive group, they really want to learn and they’re hard working.”

Lauren Stutes, center, enjoyed a breakout season at the varsity level last winter.

Many of the players enjoyed a very successful season playing together on the volleyball court and that’s paying dividends in basketball.

“We have a lot of players coming from that volleyball run and they’ve stepped in and give us a lot of experience,” Nelson said. 

“I think they’ll continue to get better this year and we think we have a chance to do well.”

The Warriors will open the Mt. Shasta tournament on Thursday against Weed at 12:30 p.m. and will also play Etna on Friday and St. Bernard’s on Saturday.

“We’re just hoping we come out and play well,” the coach said. “We travel (on Thursday) and we’re hoping we have good energy.”