EASTHAM — The Nauset Regional High School girls basketball team is working on rebounding, with Coach Jean Leyton advising from just under the backstop. While the players know it’s important to score, they also understand that defensive strategy is key.

This year, the sport itself has experienced a rebound at the school. In 2022, there were only six girls on the varsity team, and Leyton says she had to bring some players in from the junior varsity to fill out the roster. Last year, there were enough players to put together both varsity and JV teams but not enough for a freshman team. This year, however, 32 students tried out — enough, Leyton says, to support three teams.

“We haven’t had those numbers in a long time,” she says.

Leyton thinks basketball’s increased popularity this year reflects a slow recovery from the pandemic years. She says it has taken a while for kids to “get back in the groove” of going to school and participating in after-school activities.

Also key to students’ interest and skills, Leyton says, is offering plenty of opportunities for kids to play basketball long before they get to high school. “We always try to practice with the middle school toward the end of the season,” she says; she also runs a summer program for younger kids. “I hope that that kind of thing will keep their interest into high school.”

The bounceback hasn’t just been about students. This season marks the return of Jon “JC” Covelle to coaching Warriors basketball after a 16-year break. He coached the boys teams from 1984 to 2004 and the girls teams in 2007 and 2008. John Mattson, the current athletics director at Nauset, was one of his players.

Covelle, who is Leyton’s brother, says that his reason for returning was simple: his sister asked. Back on the court, he seems wholly in his element: he pauses the girls mid-practice to point out openings in their formation, then steps aside to take notes as they run their plays. He smiles all the while.

With three teams to coach, Leyton is glad to have the help. While nobody has signed a contract yet to coach the freshman team, this year’s junior varsity coach is Kiley Vitale, who played for the Warriors from 2014 to 2018.

Vitale hasn’t coached basketball before, but she says she’s loving the experience so far. “It’s been fantastic,” she says. “They’ve made huge progress every day. They’re a joy to be around.”

Several freshmen on the junior varsity roster will be swing players who participate on more than one team. Center Malia Washington has been chosen for the varsity. She usually begins practice with the JV, then joins the varsity players for their last half hour of practice.

“It’s a challenge,” Washington says, but she’s glad the coach decided to take a chance on her. “I’m grateful to be able to learn from the varsity players,” she says.

Besides Washington, three other freshmen will play with the varsity this year: guard Mysha Guerrier and forwards Jazmiley Rivas Valerio and Brynn Kew. Kew played with the NRHS junior varsity as an 8th-grader last season.

Leyton says the team’s chemistry is strong this year, especially among the freshmen. “They’re all aggressive, they’re all attentive, and they all bring some skill with them,” she says, though they need to fine-tune their decision-making and learn to think at the breakneck speed of a basketball game. “In middle school, they were able to get by on being good athletes,” she says. “Now they’ve got to learn the little things, the skills that make a difference in your playing.”

There are only two seniors on this year’s team: forward Darien Falk and guard Maya Alon. Last year, there were four, including Jordan Streitmatter, who was NRHS’s main scorer and currently plays basketball at Mitchell College in Connecticut.

“It’s definitely not as easy now that they’re gone,” Falk says. “They were a big help last year. But I think we’ll figure it out.”

Falk says her biggest goal this season is to beat Monomoy. She has close friends on that team, and it’s always a competitive matchup.

The varsity’s first game is scheduled for Thursday, Dec. 12 at 6:30 p.m. at Middleboro High School. Leyton says she’s never played against that team before — they aren’t in Nauset’s conference. But the girls are looking forward to testing themselves. The team’s first home game is Tuesday, Dec. 17 at 5:30 p.m. against Martha’s Vineyard.