Indians step up in 63-40 victory over Macon in rematch

The second meeting between the Van-Far boys and Class 4 Macon was different on Saturday.

For one, the Indians were facing the team they defeated 65-43 at the Centralia Invitational in early December at a new venue provided by Moberly Area Community College Shootout. Star Nikos Connaway was also on the mend from a hurt ankle, but Van-Far won 63-40.

Van-Far (8-2) managed to defeat the Tigers (1-6) by at least 20 points again but had to rally after trailing 18-13 in the first quarter, despite jumping out to a 12-5 lead. Head coach Pat Connaway said he thought the Indians were too confident at first after defeating Macon already this season but bounced back by only allowing 11 points in the second half, including a scoreless stretch for five and a half minutes.

“We were really good defensively and turned them over several times,” Connaway said. “Our defense was the difference in the ballgame.”

Connaway was also worried about his son, Nikos, after the senior severely sprained his right ankle in practice Thursday that took him out of practice Friday. Connaway finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, but seniors Carter Jennings and Gage Gibson stepped up the way coach Connaway wanted. Jennings led with 16 points and had seven rebounds, and Gibson finished with 10 points and a team-high eight assists while Pacey Reading added 13 points and four steals and Carson Huff had eight points and three steals.

“I’m so proud of them for leading the team,” Connaway said. “They both had excellent all around ballgames. I can’t say enough about Nikos. He really gutted it out and gave us all he could. You could tell there were things he couldn’t do, but he still led us in rebounding and had six assists along with his 13 points on limited shot attempts.”

Van-Far (3-0 EMO) takes another break before playing at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Elsberry (3-8, 1-1 EMO) at 7:30 p.m. Monday.

Lady Indians overtaken by Harrisburg late in 43-40 loss

The Van-Far girls came the closest to victory in what is now an eight-game losing streak.

The Lady Indians led Harrisburg until around two minutes left in their Moberly Area Community College Shootout game late Saturday morning before losing 43-40. 

Van-Far (1-9) took an 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter after back-to-back 3-pointers, led 21-16 at halftime and stretched the advantage to 32-26 after three quarters. Harrisburg (4-6) started making a run in the fourth quarter to trail 36-34 with about three minutes left before taking a 38-37 lead a minute later.

Carmen Wilburn led the Lady Indians with 18 points.

Van-Far (0-3 EMO) plays at Eastern Missouri Conference foe Elsberry (5-4, 0-1 EMO) at 6 p.m. Tuesday.