Boys basketball

Van-Far boys’ confidence grows, falls short 71-65 vs Montgomery County

The Van-Far boys have grown accustomed to the nailbiter.

Van-Far vs Montgomery County Photo Gallery

The Indians erased a 21-point deficit in the second half Tuesday at home against Eastern Missouri Conference leader Montgomery County but lost 71-65, making the contest their 12th decided by six points or fewer. Eight of those games have occurred in their previous 10 games, starting with a 50-49 home loss to another top conference team Elsberry on Jan. 9.

The Wildcats sank 7-of-9 free throws in the fourth quarter to stave off Van-Far’s frenetic comeback that saw them tie the game at 58 with 3:48 left in the game, following a pair of free throws by Pacey Reading. 

Head coach Pat Connaway said he liked how his players didn’t give up even after trailing 35-20 at halftime and 52-40 after the third quarter. Once the shots started falling for Van-Far (10-10, 2-4 EMO), he said the confidence grew in each of them.

“When shots fell, we started picking up our defense,” Connaway said. “Unfortunately, we’ve got to play better defense when we can’t score. We were shooting with confidence.”

Nikos Connaway scored most of his team-high 23 points in the second half — as he finished the first half with four points — and had eight rebounds and six assists. Reading followed with 11 points and three 3-pointers, Cody Smith, who has been in the starting lineup while Brayden Lay has dealt with a knee injury, finished with nine points, seven rebounds and five assists, and Carter Jennings had seven points.

Clayton Parker led the Montgomery (14-6, 6-0 EMO) with 28 points, 11 rebounds, two 3-pointers and a block. Tyler Erwin was the first of their other three double-digit scorers as Isaiah Thomas finished with 12 points, six rebounds and three steals, and Jay Rodgers had 11 points.

Van-Far plays another conference game at 7 p.m. Thursday at Mark Twain (12-8, 3-2 EMO) prior to facing Class 1 No. 5 Higbee (18-2) at 8 p.m. Friday in the Ramey Basketball Mid-Missouri Invitational in Harrisburg. The Indians then will travel to Mexico at 7:30 p.m. to face Missouri Military Academy (7-8).

Macon 69 Mexico 58 in Macon

Cairo 65 Community R-6 33 in Cairo

Centralia 66 Brookfield 43 in Centralia

Girls basketball

Macon 47 Mexico 30 in Macon. Karlee Sefrit 10 points and three charges taken.

Cairo 50 Community R-6 24 in Cairo

Centralia 57 Brookfield 30 in Centralia

Boys wrestling

Centralia 60 Chillicothe in Chillicothe

Centralia 40 Marceline 37 in Chillicothe

Look for the full stories in the Saturday, February 4, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.