The Van-Far boys couldn’t avoid making mistakes in their final game of the week on Saturday.

The Indians closed their Centralia tournament with a 51-44 loss to Salisbury in the third-place game. They trailed Salisbury by one point at halftime and at the end of the third quarter but were outscored 17-11 in the fourth quarter.

Head coach Pat Connaway said there were simply “too many turnovers.” Van-Far (2-2) led 33-27 in the third quarter before Salisbury (3-1) went on a 7-0 run fueled by turnovers to close the quarter.

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“We got a little tired, and there was not enough ball handling out there,” Connaway said. “Our bench was pretty small not having (starting point guard) Gaven (Gaston). That’s not an excuse, but it was still a winnable ballgame.”

Gaston is recovering from a hamstring injury from the final game of football season so he didn’t play on Saturday after playing “limited” in the first two games of the tournament. Connaway said he hoped to sit Gaston this one game so he could be ready for Tuesday’s conference game at home against North Callaway. 

Connaway called timeouts before Van-Far ran its offense on a couple of occasions to prevent turnovers. He said the Indians couldn’t always take advantage of what Salisbury was giving them and trust themselves enough to handle the ball.

“The looks they were giving us — the high-low, the short corner and the corners — were open,” Connaway said. “We didn’t have confidence to catch. When we did, we didn’t catch it clean and we fumbled it.

Connaway said having a smaller roster meant Van-Far’s bench played more minutes. He said they will need them as the season progresses.

Pacey Reading had a strong shooting night with 25 points and four 3-pointers and made the all-tournament team after averaging 23.3 points in three games this week. Granted, it wasn’t as strong as his 34 points and nine 3-pointers in Van-Far’s 55-47 win against Centralia in the first round, but he stepped up to lead the Indians like Connaway expects he can. Now, Connaway said he needs some help.

“For us to be good, we can’t rely on that,” Connaway said. “I don’t know if Pacey got any open shots. Everything was contested, he worked hard and he kept us in the game. Someone else has to step up and take some of that pressure off.”

Connaway said Gibson Condie did take some pressure off of Reading with his 10 points and six rebounds. Condie “made a big step forward” as he established himself inside against Salisbury. 

While Condie has a “pretty shot” and can hit 3-pointers, Connaway said his frame opens him for success in the paint and around the rim. 

“He’s a big and strong kid,” Connaway said. “He’s a good athlete. He’s always been used to being a guard and being on the perimeter. We’re wanting more of that work from the inside out, and he’s starting to do that.”

Van-Far faced some tough competition from Hallsville and Salisbury to close the tournament with two losses before hosting Community R-6 (3-3) at 7:30 p.m. today. Jake Peiffer led Salisbury with 17 points and made the all-tournament team along with Patrick White, and Austin Cravens finished with 17 points.

Connaway said the Indians have learned some things heading into this week and will continue to work on their basketball conditioning after recently finishing football season. Eventually, he said he hopes they don’t have the defensive “blunders” they did against Salisbury as they become better conditioned.

“It’s a learning experience,” Connaway said. “The biggest thing for us right now is we need minutes. We’re still very methodical, very choppy and not in shape. For two straight weeks, it’s going to be like preseason. We’ve got to get in shape.”