The second game of the Gary Filbert Classic was not to the Van-Far boys’ liking Saturday morning.

Filbert Photos

The Indians outscored Paris 47-21 after ending the first quarter in a tie at 12, winning 59-33. Van-Far (4-4) collected 10 steals, forced 24 turnovers and hit seven 3-pointers — six of which were knocked down by Gage Gibson for his game-high 18 points that earned him Player of the Game.

Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway the Indians recognized they needed more pressure on the defensive end after struggling to keep up with Paris’ post players in the first quarter. Alex Williams, Colton Poddany and Mason Edwards also scored at the rim for 10 combined points for the Coyotes before being held to seven combined points in the final three quarters.

“Our rotations were better, we sped them up and it helped to make shots,” Connaway said. “The balance we’ve been getting — including last night at Silex where Nikos (Connaway) had 17, Gage 15, Brayden (Lay) had 10 and then 7, 6, 6 — that’s what we’ve got to do to be a good team.”

Along with Gibson’s hot shooting behind the 3-point line that saw him miss not quite a handful of 3-pointers, Nikos Connaway finished with 14 points and five steals, Cody Smith had 10 points, Brayden Lay followed with nine points, and Evan Utterback finished with seven points.

In the first quarter, Gibson drained two including one that gave Van-Far the lead prior to Evan Smothers tying the game for Paris (3-5) with a layup along the baseline. Smith and Connaway drove to the rim to force an early Paris timeout in the second quarter and then Gibson’s three 3-pointers and a 12-0 Indian run forced another Coyote timeout. Van-Far closed the third quarter with a 57-23 lead after Gibson’s sixth 3-pointer off a Connaway pass in transition.

“Gage had a great night shooting the ball,” Connaway said. “We found him, and he can do that every night. It’s just building his confidence up. He’s shooting with confidence and rhythm just like the end of the third quarter where Nikos penetrates and finds him because he knows he’s got the hot hand. Gage buries it basically at the horn.”

Paris head coach Jeremy Skinner said he liked how the team performed the previous night — a 44-42 victory at a 6-1 Schuyler County team — in what he described as the Coyotes’ “best game of the year” by far. The first quarter was also solid until Paris couldn’t handle the pressure.

“They ratcheted up a full-court man press, and we weren’t prepared well enough to break it,” Skinner said. “That just got us out of our game. Whenever we were able to go at our pace and pound it inside, it was 12-12 after the first quarter. Once they sped us up, they pushed us out farther, we couldn’t get the entry passes to our post players, and half the time, we couldn’t get it down the floor.”

Edwards gave Paris its first field goal of the second quarter at the 2:23 mark, following a 20-1 Van-Far run that turned into a 26-5 disadvantage for the Coyotes in the second quarter.

Skinner said the Indians did a better job of making it to all the loose balls on the floor and on the glass as Paris needed to box out more effectively.

A Coyote that did show much effort in making it to the loose balls was freshman Cayden Poddany, who finished with five points to follow Edwards’ and Williams’ team-high six points. Poddany made it to the free throw line twice to hit three of his four free throws while also grabbing four rebounds off the bench.

“He’s a good looking freshman,” Skinner said. “He hasn’t gotten much varsity time yet, but I think as the season goes on, he might start getting a little bit more loose. He’s long and athletic. He was a post player in junior high but he’s not quite big enough to be a post player as a freshman yet. As he goes through that transition, that’s going to be helpful and he’s got the capability of playing some good defense.”

Van-Far played at Community (4-4) on Tuesday before facing Moberly (1-4) at 8 p.m. Dec. 30 in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout.

Paris faces La Plata (4-3) at 11 a.m. Dec. 29 in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout.