Van-Far boys finish fourth in Palmyra tournament

Last week started well for the Van-Far boys but ended in losses in Palmyra.

The Indians beat Hannibal 72-58 in the first round of the Tony Lenzini tournament in Palmyra but then lost to Palmyra 65-35 and Canton 62-58 in the third-place game on Saturday morning.

Pacey Reading finished with a double-double of 33 points and 12 rebounds against Hannibal (2-11). Evan Utterback followed with 12 points and Gaven Gaston had 10 points. 

“At half, we talked about playing without fouling, remembering the opposition's player strengths and weaknesses and also discussed our matchup zone and rebounding out of it,” head coach Pat Connaway said. “We came out again and played a great opening quarter to start the half. We pushed the lead to 16 with a minute to go and didn't finish the quarter strong but still took a 12 point lead into the fourth.”

Reading led Van-Far (10-6) with 18 points against eventual champion Palmyra (11-5), but the Indians trailed 35-23 going into halftime. 

“In the locker room, we looked defeated,” Connaway said. “We let their physicality bother us and it really took us out of rhythm. We had been doing better not letting things fester, but tonight, for some reason, it kept bothering us and we fell apart.”

After encountering some bus trouble after a 6:30 a.m. departure that led to an 8:30 a.m. arrival, Van-Far played Canton (9-8) at 9 a.m. Saturday to miss the worst of the winter storm. Connaway said the Indians looked “lethargic” and struggled on defense. Van-Far also finished 7-for-18 from the free-throw line.

“Our defensive effort today wasn't good at all,” Connaway said. “We played in spurts. We had a four-point lead at the end of one and then built an eight-point lead before they stormed back to tie the game heading into the locker room. In the third, it was the same thing.We built a lead, and they came back and tied the game and eventually took the lead heading into the fourth.” 

Van-Far girls eliminated from Palmyra tournament

The Van-Far girls couldn’t make it to championship Saturday in Palmyra last week.

The Lady Indians lost 47-39 to Monroe City and then 48-39 to Macon to be eliminated from the Tony Lenzini tournament. 

Elliott Utterback led Van-Far (5-9) with 13 points against Monroe City (9-4), Chloe Zumwalt followed with eight points and 10 rebounds, and Aviana Early had six points.

“We played decent, but just didn't shoot the ball enough,” head coach Heather Minter said. “We are half up the hill and just can't seem to get up it.”

Utterback led the team again with 21 points against Macon (6-9), and Zumwalt finished with 15 points and six rebounds.

“We started off slow and were down by 14,” Minter said. “We tied it up and battled and then shots just didn't fall.”

The Lady Indians and Indians are scheduled to play in the Bowling Green tournament this week.