The Van-Far boys’ lead never disappeared on Saturday.

Van-Far vs Macon Photo Gallery

After shutting out Macon 16-0 in the first quarter, the Indians only let the Tigers cut the deficit to as low as six points before eventually winning 58-43 in the Moberly Holiday Shootout at Moberly Area Community College. Van-Far almost had three score in double figures and had 11 steals as a team.

Head coach Pat Connaway said the first quarter demonstrated the pressure Van-Far (11-1) wants to apply for four quarters. He said the being outscored in the second and third quarters showed the Indians aren’t there yet.

“In the second quarter, we hit a wall and defensively were not very good,” Connaway said. “Offensively, we stayed consistent. We didn’t shoot it really well but had good ball movement.”

Pacey Reading led Van-Far with 21 points, nine rebounds and three steals, Evan Utterback followed with 13 points and five rebounds, Carson Huff finished with 10 points, and Gaven Gaston had nine points and three steals. 

Macon (1-8) had one double-figure scorer in Evan Newland as he had 13 points and knocked down three 3-pointers. The Tigers still finished with eight 3-pointers despite having no points in the first quarter and had several more open looks from the perimeter.

“We finally told them to quit trying to hitch that screen so high and go under,” Connaway said. “They weren’t going to hurt us from 30 feet. We overhelped when we didn’t need to. Their kids, when their feet are set, can shoot it.”

Gaston said the Indians definitely were slower after the first quarter and needed to make sure Macon didn’t come back this time. Van-Far defeated the Tigers earlier in the season 57-43, but Gaston was impressed how much Macon fought back, trailing by as little as 23-17 in the second quarter before Van-Far free throws put the halftime score at 28-17.

“We realized that it wasn’t going to be a little blow-by like it was last time,” Gaston said. “We needed to focus and try harder because we started slowing up and started going down again. That’s not what we want.”

Macon cut its deficit to single digits again at the end of the third quarter, when it was 44-36 Van-Far. The Tigers hit three 3-pointers for the second straight quarter. 

While Macon was doing damage from the outside, Van-Far forced the ball inside and made sure the ball went in the bucket. After one 3-point play in the first half, the Indians had four instances of making a basket through contact. 

“Pacey, Gaven, Evan and Carson are big, strong kids that can play through contact,” Connaway said. “They did a good job finishing.”

Gaston, Reading and Christian each had multiple steals in the victory to continue a trend for Van-Far this season. The Indians’ pressure nets them quite a few takeaways and extra possessions.

In his first season as the starting point guard following the graduation of Nikos Connaway, Gaston went into Saturday’s game with 51 assists and 36 steals to lead the team in both categories. Gaston seems to pick up the steals in bunches — finishing with three Saturday but having a season-high of nine and four games of at least five steals — saying he takes advantage of his positioning and ball handlers’ need to look forward while dribbling.

“It started off a little slow during the summer,” Gaston said about adjusting to his bigger role. “As we’ve gotten into the season more and being able to handle pressure in practice, it’s helped a lot. I feel like I’ve fit into that role a lot better, but I’ve still got a lot to work on.”

“(Gaven) made a lot of great passes and dump downs for layups,” Connaway said.

Van-Far (3-0 EMO) enters a longer layoff than it had going into this Christmas break game before its next contest at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 13 at home against Eastern Missouri Conference foe Elsberry (3-4, 0-1 EMO). Connaway said assistant coach Brett Reading pointed out how the Indians’ first-quarter efficiency is “super-high” before the drop off, as was the case against Macon, so more work still needs to be done to transition the Indians from football season.

“We basically got a preseason break,” Connaway said. “We’re going to take a couple days off and then we’re going to hit the gym. We’re going to condition, condition, condition. We’re going to get everybody in shape where we can pressure the whole game.”