Seniors Miles Dressler and Chad Stieben stepped up when Veritas Christian School’s boys basketball team needed them most to fuel the Eagles to a 78-69 overtime victory over St. Mary’s on Friday at Corpus Christi Catholic School.

The Eagles trailed, 62-57, with a minute remaining but went on a 7-2 run to end regulation — capped by a floater from Stieben with 2.7 seconds left in the fourth.

“I’m thinking, ‘Attack the basket. We got to get this two. I don’t want to let my family down,'” Stieben said.

Stieben was effective getting to the basket — making six of nine shots from inside the arc and dishing three assists, but could not get dialed in from long distance. He missed his first seven three-point attempts, but his lone three-ball cut St. Mary’s lead to 62-60 with 58 seconds left in the regulation.

“That was a rhythm three, and the shots before that hadn’t been in rhythm,” Stieben, who scored 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting, said. “They were kind of bad shots, but that one was a good shot. I felt it, buried it, and I was happy about that.”

The momentum carried over into overtime for the Eagles, with Dressler dominating the extra period before fouling out. Dressler scored eight of his team-high 28 points in overtime and collected 17 rebounds for a double-double.

“Late in the fourth quarter, we really came together, and in overtime,” Dressler said. “We were listening to the coaches, and that’s what we need to do the whole game because they’re smart men, and they know how to get us to do what we need to do.”

The Eagles (5-2) built a 10-point lead early in the third quarter, thanks to seven straight points from Dressler to start the second half. Foul trouble forced Dressler to the bench, though, and that allowed the Crusaders to creep back in it and take the lead with a 13-2 run to end the third. Mike Margeli did most of the damage during St. Mary’s run and led the Crusaders with 28 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and six steals.

The Eagles were able to contain Margeli late in the fourth quarter and in overtime, though.

Huslig said his team learned from its overtime loss to Cornerstone earlier this season.

“We were down 16 in the fourth quarter (against Cornerstone), and we actually took a one-point lead with a minute to go, and we didn’t play smart,” Huslig said. “I knew that if we got in that situation again, we were going to execute.”

VERITAS CHRISTIAN (78)

Weston Flory 0-3 0-0 0, Trey Huslig 2-10 3-4 9, Chad Stieben 6-17 7-9 20, Miles Dressler 10-18 6-8 28, Michael Rask 0-9 0-0 0, Kalim Dowdell 6-9 1-2 13, Peyton Donohoe 0-1 0-0 0, Mark Weinhold 4-7 0-0 8. Totals 28-75 17-23 78.

ST. MARY’S (69)

Alex Whitehead 3-13 1-4 7, Mike Margeli 12-27 4-6 28, John Hohman 3-9 0-0 6, Tony Harpe 5-12 2-3 12, Dominick Delallo 1-6 0-2 2, Matt Whitehead 2-9 0-0 5, Joe Young 2-7 4-8 8. Totals 0-0 0-0 69.

Veritas 8 21 17 18 14– 78

St. Mary’s 8 19 22 15 5 — 69

Three-point goals: Veritas 5-23 (Dressler 2, Huslig 2, Steiben); St. Mary’s 1-12 (M. Whitehead). Turnovers: Veritas 12, St. Mary’s 13. Fouled out: Miles Dressler, Veritas; Tony Harpe, St. Mary’s.

Huslig paces girls

Veritas junior Tori Huslig was a handful offensively and defensively in the Eagles’ 53-23 victory over Chanute Christian — leading Veritas with 27 points and eight steals.

Huslig scored Veritas’ first 13 points to help the Eagles to a 20-4 advantage in the first quarter.

The Eagles’ leading scorer said Friday’s performance was crucial for her from a confidence standpoint after struggling to find her shot in recent games.

“I had trouble starting off the season, so it was good to get back into the rhythm,” Huslig said.

Veritas (4-2) also received a balanced outing from Alyssa Krestan. Krestan could not find her shot — hitting 2-of-10 from the field — but recorded four rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“We tell them that they don’t have to necessarily score to be productive for our team,” Veritas coach Kevin Shelton said. “If you can get some steals and get some rebounds for us, that does help us.”

Veritas’ boys and girls squads will play next on Jan. 5 at Heritage Christian.

VERITAS CHRISTIAN (53)

Holly Scott 2-8 0-0 6, Alyssa Krestan 2-11 0-2 4, Merav Edmondson 2-4 0-0 4, Allie Swisher 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Wilson 0-1 1-2 1, Delaney Shelton 2-10 0-0 4, Katie Hammer 0-1 0-0 0, Ashley Stieben 0-2 0-0 0, Alex Avila 0-3 0-0 0, Chloe Holland 3-7 0-2 7, Allison Tichenor 0-1 0-0 0, Tori Huslig 11-20 4-5 27. Totals 22-68 5-11 53.

CHANUTE CHRISTIAN (23)

Anna Harmon 1-6 1-7 3, Kim Yarnell 3-5 0-0 6, Hannah Schoonover 3-6 3-4 9, Tarah Stockebrand 0-1 0-0 0, Kendle Stockebrand 0-1 0-0 0, Emile Varner 0-2 0-0 0, Mary Claire Stockebrand 0-0 0-0 0, Danielle Sharp 1-4 0-0 2, Rayanne McKinsey 0-3 0-0 0, Emily Lawrence 1-5 1-2 4. Totals 9-33 5-13 23.

Veritas Christian 20 10 13 10 — 53

Chanute Christian 4 9 7 3 — 23

Three-point goals: Veritas 4-9 (Huslig, Holland, Scott); Chanute Christian 0-0. Turnovers: Veritas 16, Chanute Christian 18.