The Van-Far boys just didn’t have enough for a comeback on Saturday.

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The Indians had the chance to face district opponent Harrisburg in the 13th annual Gary Filbert Classic in Mexico but ultimately couldn’t surmount a deficit as large as 16 points in a 55-51 loss. Harrisburg had Bryce Ott nail a 3-pointer and Hayven Samuels rattle in a floater in the final seconds to hold off Van-Far after it pulled within one point.

Gage Gibson hadn’t a 3-pointer through three quarters but was found an open shot twice in the fourth quarter, with the second shrinking Harrisburg’s lead to 45-44. Gibson finished with eight points — matching Carson Huff’s total — and fellow senior Nikos Connaway had 14 points, seven rebounds and six assists, with one happening on an open layup to Carter Jennings for a 50-48 deficit with 1:15 left in the fourth quarter. Head coach Pat Connaway said the Indians couldn’t find those shots most of the game, though.

“We let them shove us around and it kind of bothered us and got us off-balance,” Connaway said. “We weren’t really crisp. Once we locked in defensively, we relaxed and started moving the ball and got open looks.”

Harrisburg (5-3) had two towering post players in Trace Combs and Wyatt Lind, who combined for 31 points. They only combined for nine points in the second half, when Van-Far (6-2) outscored Harrisburg 30-23 but were a handful. Combs earned the game’s MVP award after finishing with 18 points, followed by Lind’s 13 points and Ott’s 12 points and four 3-pointers.

Connaway said the issue of not showing a district opponent everything comes into play, but he takes responsibility for not putting Nikos Connaway on Combs earlier. He said Ott’s shooting caught the Indians off guard after paying attention to Combs and Lind.

“We were slow on our rotations early,” Connaway said. “The second half, the halftime adjustments made it a lot better.”

Harrisburg wasn’t allowing leading scorer, rebounder and passer Nikos Connaway to be too comfortable as he was the one sustaining much of the Bulldogs’ contact. At various other times, the Indians would force their way to the rim and throw up difficult shots but only fell to the ground with a miss and the Bulldogs going the other way.

“We thought we should’ve been getting some calls after getting some bumps,” Connaway said. “We let that bother us. Instead of just going through and absorbing, we ended up off-balance with whirlybird, goofy stuff. Then we made good adjustments of attacking and getting their right and left shoulder in.”

Van-Far’s typical defensive full-court defensive pressure wasn’t even fazing Harrisburg as the Bulldogs broke the press time and time again. Connaway said there could be another meeting in the future.

“I’d rather lose in December than March,” Connaway said. “That’s for sure.”

Indians blow Silex away in first half to win 85-44 in front of Stallcup

Van-Far was remembering legendary coach Ronald Stallcup on Thursday, Dec. 14 and gave him and everybody else a first half to remember.

The Indians outscored Eastern Missouri Conference and district foe Silex 57-14 on their way to a 85-44 victory at home over the Owls (2-5). Legendary Van-Far coach Ronald Stallcup was honored between the girls and boys varsity games for winning the Distinguished Service Award from the Missouri Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. Former coach and Administrator Brian Meny shared Mr. Stallcup's bio and athletic director Dustin Elledge presented Stallcup with the award. 

“It was an honor to have him seated there and for him to come into the locker room with us and talk to the kids,” head coach Pat Connaway said.

Stallcup served as an honorary coach, making a one-night home on Van-Far’s bench, and witnessed Gage Gibson scoring a career-high 27 points and hitting 8-of-11 3-pointers. Carson Huff followed with 18 points, Nikos Connaway had 11 points and nine assists, and Pacey Reading scored 10 points.

“Tonight we shared the ball and really forced the issue,” Connaway said. “The ball movement was great, and we made the extra pass to find the open man. We almost had five kids in double figures and the starters were on the bench the entire 4th quarter with a 78-33 lead after three.”

The Lady Indians lost 61-27 to Silex (3-4) in the previous game.

Look for the Indians' Gary Filbert Classic story in the Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023, edition of the Mexico Ledger.