Big men carry Veritas to victory

? The performance of ailing Andrew Bartlow in Veritas Christian’s 71-60 boys basketball victory over Saint Mary’s Academy had the Crusaders feeling a little sick themselves.

Bartlow had a team-high 21 points and a game-high 18 rebounds.

“The ball seemed to be bouncing a lot our way tonight,” said Bartlow, who had a double-double by halftime. “I was kind of sick, so I wasn’t able to play quite as physical as normal. But (the rebounds) just seemed to keep coming to me, and rather than try to play super-physical, I was just trying to get good position.

“And I guess Mark (Randtke) was doing the same, because they just kept coming to us.”

Veritas coach Doug Bennett said he was impressed with the way Bartlow “sucked it up.”

“Andrew is the smaller of the two but is actually outrebounding Mark,” Bennett said. “He’s just got a great nose for the ball. : But I guess we should just have him get sick every night.”

Randtke also finished with a double-double: 15 points and 12 rebounds.

The 30 rebounds by the Eagles’ two big men were two more than the Crusader team.

“I think we had to step up for this game,” Randtke said. “Their post players aren’t as athletic, but they’re just physical, and so we had to step that up.”

Bennett said Randtke still played below par.

“He can play better,” the Veritas coach said. “He had a solid game, but he can play better – that’s all I’ll say.”

Bartlow’s first-half performance was almost wasted. St. Mary’s chipped away at Veritas’ 16-point halftime lead to get within five.

“We fought hard not to lose our composure and totally blow it,” Bennett said. “But it was free throws again. Our team is shooting free throws real well, and that’s helping us finish out these games.”

The Eagles shot 16-of-18 from the charity stripe, while the Crusaders only converted on two of their nine free-throw attempts.

Bennett credited the play of Marcus Holman in the second half for keeping the Crusaders at bay.

“He had some key baskets in some of their runs,” Bennett said of Holman, who finished with 18 points. “He just cushioned their runs, got us a couple of baskets that were real important. He’s a real competitor – he doesn’t like to see that lead slip away.”

Kansas University men’s basketball player Stephen Vinson was in attendance. The Jayhawk guard led the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and said a prayer prior to the game.

Veritas boys 71, St. Mary’s Academy 60

St. Mary’s (60)

William Palmer 9 0-1 21, Kelly O’Neill 7 1-5 16, Jack Piemonte 6 0-1 12, Justin Engholm 4 1-2 9, Andrew Harpe 1 0-0 2, Stephen Varnado 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 2-9 60.

Veritas (71)

Andrew Bartlow 8 5-5 21, Marcus Holman 6 6-8 18, Mark Randtke 6 3-3 15, Casey Woods 2 2-2 7, Josh Masrud 2 0-0 4, Michael Kay 1 0-0 2, Nathan Hammer 1 0-0 2, Brandon Jackson 1 0-0 2, Shawn Rebman 0 0-0 0, Micah Barclay 0 0-0 0. Totals 27 16-18 71.

St. Mary’s 10 19 18 13 – 60

Veritas 21 24 10 16 – 71

Three-point goals – St. Mary’s 4 (Palmer 3, O’Neill), Veritas 1 (Woods). Turnovers – St. Mary’s 23, Veritas 24. Total fouls – St. Mary’s 18, Veritas 14. Fouled out – Piemonte.