Reading scores career-high in Van-Far’s 62-48 win over Boonville, earn fifth in Centralia

It’s not a secret that Nikos Connaway can score in bunches for the Van-Far boys.

Van-Far vs Boonville (Centralia Invitational) Photo Gallery

The rest of the Indians were dropping the points in bunches on Saturday during the fifth-place game of the Centralia Invitational as the Indians defeated Class 4 Boonville 62-48. Pacey Reading had a career-best night that included a career-high 27 points, five 3-pointers and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double after scoring a total of 16 points in his previous two games.

“I just put the ball in the hole tonight,” Reading said. “I struggled in the two games of the Centralia tournament in the days before. We just put the ball in tonight, and it feels good.”

Boonville (3-2) knew Connaway was the most dangerous weapon for the Indians (4-1), but he didn’t need to score that much. Connaway finished with seven points but had 12 assists to still complete an all-tournament week for the senior due to three-game averages of around 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 8 assists. Gage Gibson added 10 points and three 3-pointers and Evan Utterback also had nine points. 

Head coach Pat Connaway knew what to expect from Boonville as well and made sure Van-Far had as much preparation time as possible.

"We knew we were going to see 1-3-1 (zone defense)," Connaway said. "Most of the time, it gives us problems so we worked on it before we got on the bus today and talked about spreading out and working the gaps."

Reading and Gibson each hit a 3-pointer in the first and second quarter to build a 27-18 halftime lead before pouring it on in the third quarter. The Indians led by as much as 20 points as five different players scored, including Reading with two more 3-pointers. 

Boonville tried to swarm around Connaway or whoever was handling the ball in the middle of the zone. The Pirates found some success when they added more pressure in the fourth quarter because they cut Van-Far’s lead to around 10 points but could not draw any closer. While Connaway said Boonville had “eight of 10 eyes” on Nikos, it only had two on Reading and others.

“That’s the thing with a 1-3-1, if you don’t let them get tips on passes, they’re really in scramble mode,” Pat Connaway said. “We wanted to really swing the ball, dip Nikos in the middle to give him an advantage to attack and create for everybody else.”

"In a zone defense, you're going to get more open shots not in the paint," Reading said. "Nikos found me, Gage found me and they got the ball to me and I hit shots.”

Connaway said Reading, like the rest of the Indians, seemed to be focused due to their activity on the boards. There was one play where Van-Far picked up two offensive rebounds on a possession, with Reading putting it back. After finishing Thursday’s 65-43 victory against Macon with no rebounds, Connaway was pleased to see Reading collect so many misses.

Reading said Connaway made it clear how difficult yet important the fight for rebounds would be since Boonville has five players at 6-foot-4 and above while Van-Far doesn’t have one at that height.

“Coach preached that all week,” Reading said. “When we’re outside on the wing, we’re in there rebounding and we’re going to get four guys in there rebounding. We focused on that at practice, and we did it well again today.”

Dakota Troost was effective in transition for Boonville and finished with 16 points, and all-tournament team member Evan Bishop led Boonville with 19 points but only had five points in the first half. 

Connaway said Van-Far was “fundamentally sound” defensively as he usually likes to see with good execution and communication. That helped the Indians get over the hump that has existed in the Centralia tournament the past couple years that included some close losses to bigger schools, such as Boonville two years ago 51-43.

“This is why we come here, to be able to play the competition,” Connaway said. “Boonville is going to win 18 games this year, so that’s a great win for us.”

Van-Far boys hold off North Callaway comeback in 64-53 win

Van-Far had its fair share of takeaways on Tuesday night against the North Callaway boys.

The Thunderbirds cut Eastern Missouri Conference foe Van-Far's lead to as low as six points in the third quarter but ultimately lost 64-53. The Indians had a 32-22 halftime lead on their way to their first win against North Callaway in five tries, spanning three years.

"This group hasn't beaten North Callaway since junior high," Van-Far head coach Pat Connaway said. "It was a nice way to kick off the home opener and move to 2-0 in the EMO for the first time in a long time."

Van-Far finished with 21 points off 23 North Callaway turnovers. The Indians also outrebounded North Callaway on the offensive glass 13-4.

Nikos Connaway led Van-Far (5-1, 2-0 EMO) with 27 points and seven steals, and Pacey Reading followed with 16 points and six assists. For North Callaway (1-4, 1-1 EMO), Isiah Craighead had 20 points, 12 rebounds and three steals, and Sam Pezold had 16 points and three steals.

Van-Far hosts conference foe Silex (2-4, 0-2 EMO) at 8 p.m. Thursday while North Callaway has an away conference game at 7 p.m. Thursday against Louisiana (1-3, 0-1 EMO).

North Callaway girls defense seals 48-27 loss for Van-Far

The North Callaway girls were able to count on defense again while playing Van-Far.

After defeating the Lady Indians 47-36 during the Centralia Invitational last week, North Callaway won the rematch 48-27 in Vandalia, outscoring Eastern Missouri Conference foe Van-Far 18-5 in the third quarter. Van-Far didn’t score double digits in a quarter until its 13 points in the fourth.

“Defense led to the offensive side and that was the difference in the ballgame,” North Callaway head coach Andrew Klein said. 

Klein said the steals that turned into offense gave the Ladybirds (4-2, 2-0 EMO) some separation after leading 15-9 at halftime. Neither team hit too many outside shots as North Callaway had four 3-pointers and Van-Far (1-5, 0-2 EMO) knocked down two 3-pointers — compared to the seven 3-pointers hit in the first meeting.

Riley Blevins led North Callaway with 15 points and three 3-pointers, Abrielle Burgher followed with 13 points and five rebounds, and Lakyn Hartley had seven steals, five rebounds and four assists on a night all 10 Ladybirds scored. Carmen Wilburn led Van-Far with 10 points and Mylee Keller followed with eight points. 

North Callaway goes for its fourth consecutive win when it plays at conference foe Louisiana (2-3, 1-0 EMO) at 6 p.m. Thursday. Van-Far looks to break a four-game losing streak at 6 p.m. Thursday at home against conference foe Silex (2-4, 0-2 EMO).