Van-Far boys close gaps, win Palmyra tournament

Two weeks ago, the Van-Far boys were involved in three close games, only to lose them all.

Last week, the Indians were again involved in close games but came out of the week with a championship. Van-Far won its first Tony Lenzini tournament title in Palmyra since 2005 and first regular-season tournament title since 2018 — Bowling Green tournament — after defeating Palmyra 35-34.

Head coach Pat Connaway said the whole week was meant for the Indians to prove something after losing 50-49 to Elsberry, 61-53 at South Shelby and 60-58 at Bowling Green.

“We came into this week looking to build something,” Connaway said. “We just came off a week where we felt we should have won all three games, but instead lost all three. We talked about being able to finish off games. Heading into the week we were 6-7 and felt like we very easily could be 9-4 or evening 10-3 if we could just play a complete game.”

Nikos Connaway led Van-Far with 20 points and six rebounds, scoring all the Indians’ points in the second half. He used a screen set by Carter Jennings — five rebounds — to move to the middle of the lane and hit a floater with 8.2 seconds left for the 35-34 lead. Cody Smith followed him with seven points.

Pat Connaway said the offense didn’t play its best, but the defense definitely was there all week. Van-Far defeated Clark County 49-43 in the first round and Monroe City 40-38 in the semifinals prior to holding Palmyra to its fewest points since scoring 22 points against out-of-state Burlington High School.

“We only gave up 115 points (38.3 points per game average),” Connaway said. “You hold teams under 40 points a night and you will win a lot of ballgames.
“Defensively (against Palmyra), we got three huge stops and three huge rebounds to set up a chance to win the game. Palmyra had a one-point lead with 30 seconds left and we called the set we wanted and we got the ball in Nikos' hands.”

Van-Far had a 23-15 lead going into halftime after enduring one half of a packed gym with a loud Palmyra (13-4) crowd. Connaway said communication and composure was key, and despite struggling from the floor in the second half, he thought the Indians still had both to hang on to the victory.

In the first-round, Nikos Connaway scored 30 points and had seven rebounds on Jan. 17 to defeat Clark County, having himself a great birthday night. Gage Gibson followed with 10 points, and Jennings finished with eight rebounds.

Pat Connaway said the Indians playing at 9 p.m. that night made it difficult, but they were able to get enough stops and have Nikos Connaway score 20 of his points in the first half for the important victory — their first Tony Lenzini opening-round win since 2020 when they defeated Clark County 70-68 then.

“We told the kids this tournament was wide open and our goal was to play on Saturday night for some hardware, whether it was for first or third,” Connaway said. “But, in order to do that, we needed to do something we hadn't been able to do there in a long time and that is win the opening-round game.”

Van-Far’s close victory against Monroe City two days later as Nikos Connaway led with 14 points and six rebounds, Cody Smith followed with 11 points, and Pacey Reading had six points.

“We knew it would be a grind,” Pat Connaway said. “We had to match their intensity. They play extremely hard and are very physical. Cody Smith had a very solid offensive game, scoring nine of his 11 in the first half. He was also really good defensively, getting tips and steals.”

Smith even had the games-winning coast-to-coast layup with four seconds left after Monroe City tied the game with 11 seconds remaining and decided to double team Nikos Connaway. Gibson found Smith with the inbounds pass to take to the rim.

Van-Far went right into the next tournament in Bowling Green at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday against Louisiana (11-5).

“We can't be more proud of our kids and their will to win,” Connaway said. “Now, we have to get ready for a tough match-up in the first round of the Bowling Green Tournament on Tuesday.”

Van-Far girls finish 1-2 in Palmyra tournament

The Van-Far girls finished its run in the Tony Lenzini tournament last week with one victory.

After losing in the first round on Monday to Canton 57-25, the Lady Indians defeated Clark County 51-41 on Thursday to avoid elimination prior to losing 58-24 to Highland on Friday for fifth place.

Against Canton (12-6), Mara Jensen led Van-Far (3-13) with 12 points and five rebounds, McKenna Engh-Hoffman followed with eight points and 13 rebounds.

It was Carmen Wilburn’s game on Thursday in a do-or-die night against Clark County. Wilburn scored a career-high 22 points and had five assists to earn a third day in the tournament for the Lady Indians, as there was no seventh-place game. Jensen followed with 16 points and 14 rebounds, McKenna Engh-Hoffman had eight points and eight rebounds, and Madelynn Caldwell had five points.

Despite Jensen’s massive double-double of 14 points and 20 rebounds, Van-Far lost the consolation final on Friday to Highland. Engh-Hoffman had seven rebounds.

Van-Far went into the Bowling Green tournament Monday as the No. 8 seed against top seed Elsberry, losing 47-29. Mara Jensen scored 23 points, including her 1,000th career point in the loss. The Lady Indians play Clopton at 5:30 p.m. today after North Callaway defeated the Lady Hawks 45-41 on Monday.