Through all 32 minutes on Tuesday, the Van-Far boys looked formidable against Community R-6.

The Indians defeated the Trojans 86-27, shooting 50 percent from the floor and forcing 31 turnovers. Van-Far (7-2) also won the rebounding battle 42-16 — half coming on the offensive boards — and outscored Community 54-14 in the paint.

Those Community turnovers resulted in 44 Van-Far points so Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway was pleased with the start his team had in front of the home crowd before Christmas break.

“We came out hungry and ready to go tonight,” Connaway said. “I was hoping we would respond well after losing to Harrisburg on Saturday in a game that we weren't very good offensively.  We used our speed and pressure to create a lot of turnovers, and we were able to jump out to an early lead and continued to turn them over and create easy baskets the entire first half.”

Nikos Connaway led Van-Far with 23 points, seven assists and seven steals, Pacey Reading followed with 16 points and three steals, Gaven Gaston had 13 points and three steals, Carter Jennings finished with nine points and a team-high seven rebounds, and Kasen Christian had nine points.

Mason Carroll led Community (3-7) with 11 points and the next highest scorers were Caden Thomas and Mason Rohan with five points each. Community head coach Kody Asquith said this game would be a “good reset” for the Trojans heading into Christmas break. 

“They are well’coached and are able to execute both offensively and defensively and are able to run the floor well,” Asquith said. “We had some good drives to the basket, but we also couldn't seem to get some of our shots to fall.”

Despite the 41-13 Van-Far lead at halftime, Connaway said it was important to see the Indians close a game well, and he believes they did that. He said he is impressed with the third-quarter defense because Van-Far didn’t press but rather played half-court man-to-man and still created turnovers to increase the lead 71-20 going into the fourth quarter.

“At half, we talked about finishing off a game,” Connaway said. “We had a similar lead a week ago against Silex at half and didn't play well defensively in the second half, and we didn't want a repeat of that effort. We did a lot of good things tonight, shared the ball well, moved the ball well against their zone and applied a lot of ball pressure, but I think I am most proud of the third quarter.”

Van-Far faces Class 4 Macon (1-6) on Dec. 30 in the Moberly Area Community College Shootout in Moberly in a rematch from a 65-43 Van-Far win this season at the Centralia Invitational. Community plays Prairie Home/Bunceton (7-3) at 7 p.m. Jan. 2 in the first round of the 95th annual  New Franklin Basketball Tournament, which is after the Lady Trojans play in the New Franklin girls bracket first round at 2 p.m. Dec. 30 against host New Franklin (6-4).