After a conference win at home, the Van-Far boys couldn’t pick up another win away from Vandalia.
The Indians lost 66-34 at South Shelby on Tuesday of last week and then 51-36 at Bowling …
This item is available in full to subscribers.
We have recently launched a new and improved website. To continue reading, you will need to either log into your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active subscription, or you are a print subscriber who had access to our previous website, then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you have not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
If you are a current print subscriber and did not have a user account on our previous website, you can set up a free website account by clicking here.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
After a conference win at home, the Van-Far boys couldn’t pick up another win away from Vandalia.
The Indians lost 66-34 at South Shelby on Tuesday of last week and then 51-36 at Bowling Green on Friday for the Class 2 No. 10 Indians’ first Eastern Missouri Conference loss of the season.
Head coach Pat Connaway said Van-Far (12-3, 4-1 EMO) did well to only be down 14 points at halftime at South Shelby after allowing 22 points in the first quarter.
“It was not a good night for us,” Connaway said. “We were a step slow and South beat us up and down the floor and scored at the rim all night long. They hit us with several punches in the first quarter and we didn't respond very well.”
Pacey Reading had 15 points to follow a career-high 37 points in the previous night’s 79-68 home victory against conference foe Elsberry. Evan Utterback followed with eight points, and Gaven Gaston had six points.
Connaway said Van-Far trailed by 16 points going into the fourth quarter, and pressure defense didn’t stop South Shelby (7-8) from briskly moving up and down the floor.
“South scored 36 of their 66 points in the paint and really made us take tough shots on the defensive end,” Connaway said. “It was a night where they were better than us in every aspect of the game.”
Connaway said Van-Far played “the hardest we played all year” at Bowling Green (9-2, 4-0 EMO) and believes “tired legs” led to late scoring issues.
“Their size really bothered us and kept us from scoring at the rim,” Connaway said. “We dominated the boards. We had 21 offensive rebounds to Bowling Green’s four but could only muster up eight second chance points. We out rebounded them 42-28, had less turnovers but just couldn't score. We only made 9-of-55 field goal attempts and were 13-of-25 from the free-throw line.”
Bowling Green’s first-team all-conference player Jace Eskew didn’t have as big of a night, Connaway said, since Eskew took nine shots. Eskew finished with 19 points, four 3-pointers and was 5-for-7 at the free-throw line.
Gaston led Van-Far with 13 points and Reading followed with 11 points.
Van-Far plays in the Palmyra tournament this week.
