In the first quarter of Veritas Christian’s boys basketball game Tuesday against Berean, the only person who could stop Eagles junior Mark Randtke was the 6-foot-5 forward himself.

Randtke racked up 12 points in the first frame and appeared poised to match or top Thursday’s 41-point performance, achieved in a thrilling 73-72 overtime victory against St. Mary’s.

But Tuesday, Randtke’s teammates proved they had plenty of firepower, as 11 of Veritas’ 12 players scored in a 71-53 victory.

“Our offense has kind of revolved around me, but we have a lot of scorers out there to help us,” said Randtke, who had a game-high 26 points and 12 rebounds.

With shooters such as Paul Kempf (14 points) and Noah Barclay (12 points) finding the net with regularity, the Eagles hit 53 percent of their shots (17-of-32) in the first half and 46 percent for the game (30-of 64).

“It’s great to see all the kids contribute,” said Veritas coach Doug Bennett, who recently installed a new zone offense.

Yet despite its solid shooting, Veritas (10-5) couldn’t put Berean away until midway through the fourth quarter.

Why?

Veritas Christian's Mark Randtke (44) shoots against Berean. The Eagles won Tuesday at the East Lawrence Center.

Veritas’ defense — or lack thereof.

“Our defense wasn’t good, but we pulled it out with our offense,” Randtke said.

Added Bennett: “I wasn’t really happy with our defensive effort. We allowed way too much penetration. When we broke down, our help defense was a step slow.”

The trio of Luke Stone, Jeff Renner and Josh Haskell, who combined for 43 points, kept the Braves within striking distance.

Also Tuesday, the Veritas girls JV upended Berean, 30-26, improving to 5-8. Senior Chantal Carlton had a team-high 11 points, followed closely by Adrienne Willems (nine) and Kristie Tiegreen (eight).

The Veritas boys team will play host to St. Mary’s at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Haskell Indian Nations University’s Tecumseh Gym.