At the top of Tony Majors’ wishes for the new year was something that seemed so simple not so long ago.

Majors, the Culpeper girls basketball coach, just wants his team to be able to play.

Under the original schedule put together by Blue Devils athletic director Danny Nobbs, which followed the 14-game maximum mandated by the Virginia High School League in response to COVID-19, Majors’ squad would have played four contests already. But three of those—Northwestern District showdowns with James Wood, Handley and Sherando—were canceled after those teams’ respective school systems pressed the pause button on winter sports amid a recent spike in coronavirus cases.

Additionally, a nondistrict game scheduled for Wednesday against James Monroe and district contests with Kettle Run (Friday) and Fauquier (Monday) have all been shuttered for the same reason.

As a result, Culpeper has taken the floor just once so far this season, losing 66-32 in a nondistrict affair at Skyline on Dec. 28.

“It’s tougher than anything I’ve ever had to go through as a coach,” Majors said. “You want the kids to be out there doing what they love, and you want to be right there helping them get better. But the situation changes almost by the day. One day you’re at practice getting ready to play in a day or two, and the next you’re getting a call from [Nobbs] telling you the game is off.

“There’s just no way to cushion the blow when you have to call the girls and tell them they aren’t playing,” he continued. “The letdown is palpable.”

Whenever the Blue Devils do suit up again, they’ll be led by Amber and Autumn Fairfax. The sisters are the only returning starters from last year’s 7-16 team that lost to Sherando in the district quarterfinals.

“We’ll depend on them a lot,” Majors said of the Fairfax girls. “They both have high motors that will dictate the pace for us.”

A 5-foot-11 senior forward who scored a team-high 19 points against Skyline, Amber will be the anchor of Culpeper’s frontcourt.

“She’s got a D-I [college] body,” Majors said. “She has such great length, and she uses it around the basket to do everything—score, rebound and block shots.”

Autumn, a 5-foot-10 sophomore guard, will be the Blue Devils’ primary ballhandler.

“Autumn brings a lot to the guard spot,” Majors said. “She has long arms like her sister, so she can get in there and rebound and block shots as well. But we’re really going to look to her to set the tone for us with her ballhandling ability.”

The Fairfax sisters will be joined in Culpeper’s starting lineup by the only other returnee from last season’s squad, senior guard Kaylee Kramer.

“Kaylee was kind’ve thrown into some situations last year because of her shooting ability,” Majors recalled. “She’s going to be counted on to take the next step and play more minutes for us now.”

Majors noted that he’s very excited about a pair of freshmen who he expects to round out the starting five: forward Susan Ishmael and guard Juliana Groves.

“You don’t have freshmen in your starting lineup that often, but when you do, it’s because you believe they can handle the pressure of varsity basketball,” he said. “Both Susie and Juliana have a ton of potential, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they respond to the challenge of moving up to this level.”

Depth could be an issue for the Blue Devils. As of Tuesday, they had just eight players on the roster, with some potential contributors having decided to opt out due to concerns over COVID-19 mitigation.

“I may have to pull a player or two up [from the junior varsity team],” Majors said. “It’s just a tough situation, because you’re doing your best to coach the girls who are here, but you also can’t fault a player or their parents for pulling out because of this virus.”

If the current schedule holds, Culpeper will play back-to-back-to-back home games next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday against William Monroe, Liberty-Bealeton and Kettle Run, respectively.

Majors isn’t getting his hopes up though.

“Consistency has been elusive for everyone during this pandemic,” he said. “We will certainly prepare as we always would for those games, but again, everything can change in an instant.”