Basketball Game Preview: Van-Far Indians vs. Clopton Hawks

Van-Far and Clopton are an even 5-5 against one another since February of 2020, but not for long. The Van-Far Indians will challenge the Clopton Hawks at 6:00 p.m. on Friday. Both squads will be entering this one on the heels of a big victory.

Clopton will be up against a hot Van-Far team: the squad just extended their winning streak to three. Van-Far was the clear victors by a 73-51 margin over Veritas Christian Academy on Wednesday.

Evan Utterback

Points (Career)

02/26/25 vs Veritas Christian Academy	22
11/26/24 vs La Salette Academy	19
12/12/24 vs Macon	15
11/25/24 @ Community	15
11/23/24 vs Calvary Lutheran	15

Evan Utterback and Pacey Reading were among the main playmakers for Van-Far as the former went 7-for-13 on his way to 22 points and the latter dropped a double-double with 20 points and 12 boards. Those 22 points gave Utterback a new career-high. Another player making a difference was Gaven Gaston, who almost dropped a double-double with ten points and nine assists.

Van-Far was working as a unit and finished the game with 22 assists. They are 16-2 when they've passed the ball that well.

Meanwhile, with a playoff win on the line, Clopton rose to the challenge on Tuesday. They took their match with ease, bagging a 74-39 victory over Paris/Faith Walk Academy.

Clopton has been performing well recently as they've won 14 of their last 17 games. That's provided a nice bump to their 18-7 record this season. The wins came thanks in part to their offensive performance across that stretch, as they averaged 70.0 points over those games. Van-Far's record is now 19-9.

Van-Far came up short against Clopton in their previous matchup two weeks ago, falling 63-52. Can Van-Far avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We'll find out soon enough.