The Van-Far girls ended its “hell week” with a victory on Senior Night.
After losing at Montgomery County and to Paris at home earlier in the week, the Lady Indians defeated Eastern Missouri …
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The Van-Far girls ended its “hell week” with a victory on Senior Night.
After losing at Montgomery County and to Paris at home earlier in the week, the Lady Indians defeated Eastern Missouri Conference foe Mark Twain 40-32. Mark Twain cut Van-Far’s lead to 31-29 in the fourth quarter, but the Lady Indians made 8-for-13 free throws in the fourth quarter to seal the game.
Head coach Heather Minter said she was glad Van-Far (8-12, 3-4 EMO) was able to “play hard for Trin,” or the team’s lone senior Trinity Skwirtz, and show more mental toughness.
“Our big thing has been mental toughness,” Minter said. “Sometimes, I feel like we get wrapped up if it’s a tough game. I said, ‘Just go out and respect them, but don’t fear them.’”
Minter said she questioned Van-Far’s effort in the loss to Paris but wasn’t doing that after the victory against Mark Twain (15-7, 4-2 EMO). She said she was so into the game that she didn’t even realize Mark Twain had cut Van-Far’s lead to two points in the fourth quarter.
The Lady Indians played to their capabilities, Minter said, despite going through a “hell week” with the three games against tough opponents during the week.
“It just shows growth for our kids,” Minter said. “Out of all the games all year we’ve played, the other night (against Paris) was the first night I questioned their effort.”
Chloe Zumwalt led Van-Far with 13 points and seven rebounds, and Elliott Utterback finished with 12 points. Utterback shot 4-for-7 from the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, and Zumwalt swished two free throws after Minter said the Lady Indians “went through everything” of their offensive game plans.
“Free throws are one thing we’ve been working on a lot in practice,” Minter said. “We did try different looks (on offense) like trying to put Kenya (Jones) at 1 because we didn’t know if (Jenna) Ross would guard Mylee (Keller) or Elliott and cause problems. Then we went normal and tried to put Mylee at a shooting guard and make Elliott bring the ball up.”
The energy was high in the gym with a big crowd to cheer on Van-Far during Senior Night against a conference rival. Skwirtz said she hopes the Lady Indians can carry over that energy into this week.
“We realized we do better slowing down and running out the time,” Skwirtz said. “It is to our advantage with slowing down and just running our plays.”
Minter said Van-Far had “solid” defense all night and held one Mark Twain player to double figures scoring. Adalynne Means led Mark Twain with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Jenna Ross followed with six points and 12 rebounds.
After looking at film of Mark Twain for a few days, Minter said it was apparent Means and Ross were their best players who would be tough to deal with on the boards. The Lady Indians stayed persistent even when the Lady Tigers had second-chance opportunities.
“We started in a 1-3-1 zone,” Minter said. “It didn’t go the way we liked so went to man, and we already knew with man that we were going to put our best two on Means and Ross and help down low on Means.”
Skwirtz as the only senior hasn’t felt too much pressure in that natural leadership position. She said that is because of how the team interacts with each other.
“We realized that we don’t just rely on one person, and everyone steps up to support,” Skwirtz said.
Skwirtz has been with the Lady Indians program all four years and has been there as it has improved. Van-Far won six games her freshman year and four games her sophomore year but now has its best winning percentage since five years ago.
“Throughout the seasons, it has been to go out there and try your hardest,” Skwirtz said. “This season, you can feel that we want to win and can win with determination."
