Veritas boys 51, Topeka Cornerstone 37

Box score

Veritas 18 11 15 7–51

Topeka Cornerstone 12 15 3 7–37

Veritas (51)

Elijah Penny 6-12 2-2 17, Thomas Bachert 6-11 0-1 12, Andrew Currier 4-7 0-1 8, Caleb Holland 3-5 0-0 6, Nick Bennett 2-5 0-0 4, Brody Robinson 1-3 0-0 3, Micah Edmondson 0-0 1-2 1; Veritas – 25-53 1-6 51.

Topeka Cornerstone (37)

Dawsyn Birtell 7-17 1-1 17, Jonathan Dehn 3-5 1-2 7, Josh Davenport 3-4 0-0 7, Andrew Swickard 2-3 0-0 6, Brendan Reed; Topeka Cornerstone 15-29 2-3 37.

Three points: Veritas – Penny 3, Robinson. Cornerstone – Britell 2, Swickard 2, Davenport. Turnovers: Veritas -13. Cornerstone 19. Shooting Percentage: Veritas: 47 Cornerstone: 52.

The Veritas boys had a habit of starting games off slow and making up for it with explosive second halves.

Senior Elijah Penny decided to correct that problem in practice.

“When we’re doing drills,” he said, “I give it my all to get it 100 percent perfect, basically.”

Penny, a third-year starter who has led the team in scoring for each of those years, showed that his effort has paid off by leading Veritas to a 51-37 victory against Topeka Cornerstone Tuesday night. He was out of town during the team’s last game, but his presence was felt this time around, as he finished with 17 points.

Veritas (5-3) and Cornerstone (1-6) started the game with a back-and-forth scoring duel, and each team missed only a few shots in the first quarter. The Eagles led by two at half, but each team was looking good enough to win.

“I kind of thought it would be close the whole game,” Veritas coach Gary Hammer said.

Then the Eagles outscored the Saints 15-3 in the third quarter, with plays on each end of the floor.

Cornerstone’s Dawsyn Birtell was the most aggressive player on the court to start the game, but by the end of the game, Veritas freshman Caleb Holland’s defense had gotten to him. Birtell finished the game with 17 points.

There was a lot of firepower to contend with in the first half, but Veritas stuck to the fundamentals.

“I was worried about it at first,” Penny said of Cornerstone’s ability to score, “but I know my team plays good defense.”

Veritas will play host to Topeka Heritage at 7:45 p.m. on Friday.