The game between the Van-Far and Community R-6 boys Tuesday night still lasted 32 minutes, but everything came down to the final eight.

Van-Far went 7-for-10 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter after attempting two through the first three to win 41-37, overtaking the Trojans after trailing 25-22 going into the fourth. Conversely, Community (4-5) shot 4-for-13 at the line and made some costly turnovers down the stretch.

Nikos Connaway led the scoring and rebounding effort for the Indians (5-4), finishing with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds, but was crucial on the defensive end with his seven steals. Brayden Lay followed with seven points and seven rebounds and Cody Smith had six points, including a coast-to-coast layup to give Van-Far the 36-35 lead with 30 seconds left in the game.

Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said the Indians didn’t shoot well from the perimeter all night but made three key 3-pointers and the defense kept the game within reach. When the Indians finally surmounted the deficit hanging over them all game, Connaway and Pacey Reading stepped up to the line to clinch the victory.

“Once we got the lead, Pacey knocked down two big free throws, and Nikos knocked two big free throws down,” Connaway said. “When you defend well enough and you only give up 37 points, you’re going to have a shot to win.”

Connaway said the Indians wanted to play their quick up-and-down-the-floor style, but the bigger Trojans “dictated” the pace, especially Gavin Allen. Allen led Community with 13 points, 21 rebounds and three blocks and was followed by Tucker Robnett’s 10 points, six rebounds and a block.

Community head coach Tad Shotten said it is “very frustrating” to be on the losing end of a close game like Tuesday’s as he thought the Trojans outplayed the Indians until the final minutes of the game. There were some easy layups missed but mainly the performance at the line came back to hurt Community. The Trojans finished 4-for-13 from the line, including a 2-for-5 sample in the fourth quarter.

“Down the stretch, we didn’t make our free throws,” Shotten said. “That’s the story of the game. We shot 4-for-13 on free throws, so 4-for-13 and you lose by four. That’s what it comes down to.”

Van-Far stayed down around 3-4 points until Smith drained the Indians’ second 3-pointer after Gage Gibson lifted the lid off the rim with his make around the one-minute mark in the third quarter. Smith tied the game at 25 prior to Lay laying one in off the glass after Connaway found him for a 28-27 Van-Far lead with five minutes left.

Second after second ticked away with no clear winner yet Connaway pushed through with a 3-point play for a 31-29 lead, Robnett and Carroll dropped in buckets over the Indians for a 36-35 lead and Smith was off to the races, beating the Trojans to the finish line with his layup for the lead and force the Trojans to foul.

“Cody can do that,” Connaway said. “You just got to get him under control because he’s so fast. Sometimes I think his feet are faster than his mind. He also took two huge charges down low. That’s big as it not only puts fouls on them, the turnover gets us the ball.”

Connaway said the Indians took four charges, using Community’s power against them in plays that loom larger when the margin is so thin.

The Trojans weren’t shy with that power when working the ball inside as Allen had 10 rebounds at halftime and achieved a double-double after three quarters. He swatted away three shots through 16 minutes of play, and the other Trojans made it hard for Van-Far when driving to the rim.

“Our defense was tremendous,” Shotten said. “Our heart and effort were tremendous. Our length bothers some teams, and I just had that feeling our defense was going to bother them tonight, and it did. Gavin had several blocked shots, Mason (Carroll) had several blocked shots and so did Eli (Johnson).”

Connaway said Van-Far’s forced turnovers weren’t as numerous tonight as the Indians lost the bigger Trojans a few times on defense and just didn’t have anyone that could outmuscle Allen down low.

“He can step out, and our bigs aren’t really comfortable 30 feet away,” Connaway said. “They did a good job getting the ball to him. He kind of dictated the pace so credit to them for getting us out of going fast like we wanted to.”

After Reading and Connaway hit their free throws, Van-Far had a 40-37 lead with three seconds left as Community’s inbound pass was intercepted by the defensive back Connaway to prevent a last-second shot.

“It’s a very tough loss, but we’ll gain from it,” Shotten said. “They just ended up making the plays down the stretch and those free throws. It doesn’t get much more frustrating of a loss as this, but we’ll have highs and lows on the season.”

“A few weeks ago, we had a chance to finish with a lead against Hallsville and couldn’t do it,” Connaway said. “Tonight, at least, on the road we were able to finish.”

Van-Far faces Moberly (1-5) at 8 p.m. Dec. 30 in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout. Community plays Sweet Springs (2-6) at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 3 in the New Franklin Basketball Tournament as the No. 6 seed against the No. 3 seed.