The Van-Far girls lost their 15th straight game on Friday night but love their group.

Van-Far Senior Night Photo Gallery

The Lady Indians lost to Eastern Missouri Conference rival Mark Twain 38-30 despite leading 18-14 at halftime but focused on the positive before the game during Senior Night ceremonies, when Carmen Wilburn, McKenna Engh-Hoffman and Katelyn Sutton were some of the kids recognized. 

Wilburn had a mostly positive night by finishing with a game-high 15 points — eight in the second quarter — and six rebounds. On top of that, she was named the Courtwarming queen and spirit queen after the game, following up on her coronation as Homecoming queen in the fall. She, like Engh-Hoffman and Sutton, have been with the Van-Far program all four years.

“Playing in this program has meant the world to me,” Wilburn said. “(Head) coach Minter and (assistant coach) Sam (Utterback) are like my second parents. Our program is really based on family. I feel like all the girls, even from my freshman year to now, have always been there for me on and off the court. It’s not about the wins and losses. It’s about the family and connections that have been made.”

Wilburn said no matter how high the highs have been or no matter how low the lows have been, the Lady Indians (1-16, 0-6 EMO) have always had fun. 

Minter said she has definitely seen growth from Wilburn but also from others over four years. Engh-Hoffman finished with seven rebounds to match Chloe Zumwalt’s total, in one game of a season that was partially taken away due to ACL recovery. Sutton pulled down some boards and made some assists in the loss to help out the offense at times.

“Mara (Jensen) last year was the first person I’ve coached for four years so they will be the second group I’ve had for four years,” Minter said. “Carmen has been a starter from freshman up until now. McKenna has grown a lot and has played through injury. I honestly think she came back sooner than she should’ve come back. Sutton has been that role player that doesn’t get a lot of love, but she still shows up to practice, she’s positive and she pushes the kids.”

There was a huge crowd on Friday that enjoyed a variety of things like the Senior Night ceremony, halftime performances from the cheerleaders, Courtwarming coronation and good efforts by both varsity squads. It meant a lot to Wilburn to have her night in front of that passionate crowd.

“We had a lot of people come out tonight, and that meant the world to us,” Wilburn said. “Playing a strong four years and having the community behind us means a lot.”

Minter thought there was plenty of good, including Van-Far’s 15-point second quarter, but the team “just laid an egg.” She said she entrusted Wilburn to defend and nullify Adalynne Means and that was accomplished with Means’ three points, but Jenna Ross finished with 14 points for Mark Twain (3-15, 1-5 EMO), including nine in the fourth quarter.

The Lady Tigers finished with 19 steals, and Van-Far had many turnovers that stalled its offense and sometimes led to buckets on the other end. After a solid first half that saw Wilburn, Elliott Utterback — who had eight points, four rebounds and four steals — and Khloe Wallace all hit 3-pointers, the Lady Indians had more turnovers in the third quarter than the first half.

"I felt like we were playing scared to lose instead of just playing to win," head coach Heather Minter said. "We had that six-point lead and then literally, within seconds, they got steals and layups and ballgame's tied. We lost all confidence."

Going forward, Minter would like to see the Lady Indians settle down like they did in the second quarter so there will be more positive moments the rest of the season.

“We can score, but it’s like we decide when and when we don’t want to play defense,” Minter said. “That is the frustrating part.”