The Van-Far boys wanted to be in the tense moments they experienced Monday night at home.

The Indians were unable to seize those moments as they fell short 50-49 to Eastern Missouri Conference foe Elsberry, snapping Van-Far’s winning streak at four and extending Elsberry’s to six. Bryce Irving barreled through the defense for the game-winning layup with 0.7 seconds left on the clock.

Head coach Pat Connaway said Van-Far (6-5, 2-2 EMO) played a good game but not good enough, especially when plays in the fourth quarter are factored. He said his team came through in some spots, like when Nikos Connaway and Gage Gibson each grabbed rebounds off Elsberry (11-4, 2-1 EMO) free-throw misses, but the Irving layup shouldn’t have happened.

“They totally got away from the scouting report,” Connaway said. “We’re not supposed to close out on him. We’re supposed to make him a shooter. I bet he didn’t shoot a 3-pointer all night. Like I told them in the locker room, if he hits that shot and beats us, that’s on me and I can live with that. But us closing out, getting blown by and letting him get to the rim, it’s just bad basketball.”

Irving was Elsberry’s third-leading scorer with nine points along with seven rebounds, Kyle Turnbull led with 22 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, Kaden Kinsler finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, and Evan Wilson led with nine rebounds.

Nikos Connaway had a game-high 23 points for Van-Far along with 13 rebounds, Carter Jennings followed with 13 points and three 3-pointers, Gage Gibson had nine points, and senior Cody Smith on Senior Night had five assists and two steals.

Pat Connaway said his defense did a nice job limiting Kinsler, who he regards as one of the best scorers in the conference, to two first-half points, but the towering Turnbull was “too much inside” as he scored eight of his points in the fourth quarter. Connaway said he and the other big and strong Elsberry players took its toll on his team.

“The physicality took its toll on us,” Connaway said. “We are every bit as athletic if not more athletic, but when it comes down to the fourth quarter in grind time, that’s where Turnbull really beat us. I can’t complain about the last minute plus as we boarded well when we needed to. We just didn’t finish.”

Turnbull had five points early as Elsberry had an 8-2 lead in the first quarter that became a 10-8 deficit at the end of one quarter for Van-Far after Gibson found Connaway and Jennings for a pair of nice assists.

Van-Far took a lead in the second quarter after a 7-0 run that was promptly answered with an 8-0 Elsberry run. The Indians still were in close proximity to Elsberry, trailing 23-22 at halftime.

Kinsler found his points in the third quarter as he had eight points in the eight minutes, including six that came in quick succession after Connaway muscled in a 3-point play and Jennings knocked down a 3-pointer.

“Carter can shoot it as we’ll run plays specifically for Carter,” Connaway said. “Most bigs won’t step out. They’re not comfortable. If they do step out, that just opens up the floor. He’s having a solid season and has really stepped up, and it’s just now being consistent. Let’s keep that even flow the whole time.”

Elsberry had a 31-28 lead that turned into a 36-35 lead going into the fourth quarter after Jennings hit his third 3-pointer and Smith left his fifth assist for Connaway.

Connaway said his team moved the ball so well, it forced Elsberry to switch from man-to-man defense to zone. Sometimes, he said the movement in the offense came to a halt so the Indians need to move better and not just stand when players like Nikos Connaway are shooting the ball.

“We stood, and our ball movement got stagnant,” Pat Connaway said. “We didn’t attack middle enough against it. But against man, we did a lot of good things because we’ve got kids that can shoot the ball and we all can handle it. It’s just getting comfortable making the right reads.”

The seesaw battle culminated in the fourth quarter as Connaway tallied his third 3-point play of the game to tie it at 38 a minute deep until Turnbull and Wilson kept on the boards to help Elsberry take a 46-45 lead with 1:13 remaining.

Connaway and Gibson then grabbed the rebounds when they mattered most as Elsberry finished 0-5 from the line in the fourth quarter, missing the front end of two one-and-one situations, after going 7-for-9 in the first three quarters.

Van-Far had a perfect 7-for-7 from the line going after Connaway and Gibson knocked down both free throws of one-and-ones, but Connaway couldn’t add to a 49-48 Van-Far lead with 5.5 seconds left after missing the front of a one-and-one, leaving the door open for Irving’s mad dash for the rim at the other end.

Pat Connaway said his team has its sights set on teams such as Clopton and Cairo, who the Indians defeated 55-44 to start this season, as those teams are in Van-Far’s district. He said seeing his team go down to the wire against one the conference’s better teams in Elsberry is encouraging to see.

“I’m disappointed with the loss but not disappointed with the way we played, especially against a high-caliber team in Elsberry,” Connaway said.

Van-Far played at South Shelby (4-9) on Tuesday prior to going to conference foe Bowling Green (4-6, 1-1 EMO) at 7 p.m. Friday.