Manhattan ? St. Mary’s Academy slipped from the grasp of Veritas Christian’s boys basketball team late in a 68-57 victory Saturday, but Eagles coach Doug Bennett sees nothing for Veritas to hang its head about.

A fourth-place finish at the KCAA 2A state tournament is quite a feat for a program that didn’t field a varsity team just two years ago.

“It was a great season,” Bennett said of the Eagles’ 15-10 year. “There was a lot of competition. For a second-year program to do as well as they did is great.”

Mark Randtke had another solid game Saturday, scoring 31 points and grabbing nine rebounds despite sitting out most of the second quarter because of foul trouble. Paul Kempf added nine points and four assists.

Veritas and St. Mary’s stayed close throughout, but a fourth quarter spurt — and a few miscues by the Eagles — allowed St. Mary’s to pull away.

Randtke and Kempf were named to the all-tournament team.