Any way you draw it up -- on paper, on screen or on an old fashioned chalkboard, the Van-Far boys were faced with a difficult problem: three days, three games, no practice time.

“This isn’t a good recipe for success especially when your first day back is against an 18-4 Clopton team at their place,” observed Indians head coach Pat Connaway.

Yet Van-Far didn’t fare badly in the improvised final three days. They lost at Clopton 69-35, rebounded to knock off Wright City 59-50 and battled back to within striking distance of Louisiana before falling 57-49.

“It was a very tough and grueling three days, but I like the way we are starting to compete,” the coach added.

His reference point was the make up game against Louisiana, a conference foe, shoehorned into a Saturday morning time slot -- 9 a.m. tip off -- coming off a Friday night contest.

The Indians were in the hole early, but chipped away steadily. They were down by 6 at the break, just 2 heading into the fourth.

But Louisiana put Van-Far away from the foul line.

LaTrell Wright and Nikos Connaway led the comeback attempt, with 15 and 13 points, respectively. Hunter Scrogin tacked on 9.

A few hours earlier against Wright City, Scrogin also ended the night with 9. Three Indians -- Damon Long (19), Wright (16) and Connaway (11) -- banked double digits in the win.

“This was a big win for us and hopefully a confidence boost heading into next week,” the coach said.

On Thursday Clopton stifled the Indians offense. Only Long escaped their wrath, scoring 17. Connaway rated Clopton the best defensive side the Indians faced all year -- big and physical.

Van-Far was scheduled to host Sturgeon in the opening round of the Class 2 District 5 Tournament on Monday.