The already loud gym erupted to a deafening roar.

Van-Far vs Clopton District Title Photo Gallery

The Van-Far boys allowed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to host Clopton on Friday night to lose the Class 2 District 5 championship game 55-52 in Clarksville. Adam Lindsay nailed the corner 3-pointer to only leave 0.5 seconds left on the clock and gave the Hawks their third win over Van-Far this season and third district title in four years.

Head coach Pat Connaway said Van-Far (19-10) showed more maturity when the fourth quarter started to spiral out of control. The Indians led Clopton 42-37 heading into the fourth quarter and owned a lead as big as seven points, but a 3-pointer here and some layups there turned the game over into a Clopton two-point lead.

“Things before would have spiraled and got away from us, and tonight, they didn’t allow it,” Connaway said “We went through a stretch there where maybe we got a little tired. We just didn’t get stops, and we hadn’t allowed dribble penetration all night and then three trips in a row. Not only did we get beat, but our help side didn’t even see the helper.”

Connaway said Clopton (18-9) took repeated trips to the rim, and sometimes the line when the Indians fouled them on the way up. Fouls made a difference when it came to Van-Far’s leading scorer Pacey Reading, who picked up his fourth foul near the end of the third quarter.

Reading led the Indians with 18 points and 10 rebounds and knocked down a game-tying 3-pointer for a game knotted at 52 in the final seconds to answer freshman Robert Spoonster’s 3-pointer. Connaway said that indeed was a big shot through being contested, but the foul trouble hurt Van-Far.

“The turning point in the game is Pacey getting his fourth foul,” Connaway said. “If he didn’t pick up his fourth foul, we’re the ones celebrating tonight. He had to go to the bench the last two minutes and the first two minutes. A six-point lead turned into a two-point deficit before he came back.”

Reading scored 11 of his points in the second half as he took over as much as possible following a 12-point first half from senior Carson Huff, who finished with 15 points and three steals. Evan Utterback had nine points, five rebounds and three steals. 

“There’s not the offensive flow and that go-to guy when he is there,” Connaway said. “He draws so much and makes the other guys better and gives them better looks. He’s got to stay on the ground whether he thinks it’s a foul or not. He can’t try to block the shot. Just wall up. I’d rather have them score two points than Pacey get his fourth foul.”

Connaway said it was tough not having Reading out there on defense more since he was one of the team’s best defenders who communicates well on the floor. Lindsay had 16 points to lead Clopton, Tucker Salmons followed with 15 points and Kain Eivins had 12 points and six rebounds.

Spoonster’s go-ahead 3-pointer was the “easiest three in the game” from the top of the key, according to Connaway, because of a late rotation. Connaway said Lindsay has been hurting Van-Far all season, including a game-tying 3-pointer in a 63-51 overtime conference loss, after not drawing much defensive attention in previous years.

“We’ve had trouble finishing quarters in games all year against good times,” Connaway said. “Tonight, we showed a lot more maturity. Things before would have spiraled and got away from us, and tonight, they didn’t allow it.”

Gaven Gaston had four points after scoring 25 combined points in the previous two meetings with Clopton. Connaway said Clopton head coach Tony Francis was using a defense that focuses on limiting two scorers and picked Reading and Gaston in the first half but switched it in the second half to focus more on Huff.

Connaway said he liked how Huff was able to take advantage of the weaker defense in the first half before Clopton started denying him the ball in the second half. In the first-round 62-24 win over Silex, Huff scored 13 points including his 1,000th career point to make him the second Indian to do this season along with Reading. Huff, however, played his first two years with Wellsville-Middletown and then gave a loaded Van-Far team last year another scoring option and then attracted attention away from Reading on this year’s team.

“Last year, he came into a pretty talented team and found his role and fit in really well,” Connaway said. “He’s been a great kid to coach. He doesn’t backtalk and is a ‘yes, sir’ kind of guy. This year, he became that second scoring option. To be able to come in and do what he did and fit in like that, it’s a testament to his character.”