The Suffolk Christian Academy boys’ basketball team defeated visiting Veritas Christian Academy 52-30 earlier this week to improve to 2-2 at the start of a season that features key changes for the Knights.

Their two leaders from last season are no longer on the roster, as guard/forward Nathan Leiter graduated and senior forward/guard Steven Effler transferred to another school.

“We definitely miss both those guys, but we’ve got quite a few guys that are coming back from last year,” Suffolk Christian coach Terry Leiter said, noting the returners have developed as players since the 2014-15 campaign. “Barton Metzgar and Michael Cornette both have put in a lot of work during the offseason.”

Metzgar and Cornette were contributors to the breakthrough season the Knights experienced in 2014-2015, when Suffolk Christian achieved a win tally in the double digits after producing only four wins the season prior.

“I think we’re going to do pretty well this year,” Leiter said. “I expect to do about as well as we did last season.”

Though he noted that a team cannot lose players like Effler and Leiter without it being impacted significantly, the coach said, “I think we’re going to be a little more evenly balanced this year,” with five or six players regularly providing the offense.

Coach Leiter said he expects senior point guard Michael Cornette “to help handle the ball, help set the tempo on offense, and he’s always been one of our best defenders.”

Much will also be expected of senior center Barton Metzgar.

Suffolk Christian lost 77-53 at home to a strong Alliance Christian Academy team on Nov. 19, but Leiter said, “Barton, in particular, had a pretty strong game given the competition we were going against.”

Cornette will alternate between shooting guard and point guard with junior Joel Pope, who transferred from Portsmouth Christian School.

“I’m expecting good things from him ball handling- and scoring-wise,” Leiter said of Pope.

Junior forward/center Joel Blasiole is expected to provide a strong rebounding and scoring presence in the low post. He met those expectations nicely on Monday against Veritas, when he produced 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Junior small forward Matthew Shaffer led the Knights in that game with 19 points to go with 13 rebounds.

“His shooting has gotten a lot better since last year, and he’s just got good aggressive tendencies,” Leiter said, noting the aggressiveness fuels Shaffer to go after and recover loose balls.

In the Suffolk Christian Academy Tip-Off Classic, the Knights opened their season with a 68-52 win against Victory Christian School, then fell 54-49 to StoneBridge School the next day.

Leiter liked his team’s performance in the loss against Alliance on Nov. 19, despite the Knights’ slow start.

“It was a good early check for us to see what we’ve got and how we’re going to play when we’re faced with some pretty tough competition,” Leiter said. “I was happy with how the guys played when we got behind and had to battle back a little bit.”

Suffolk Christian (2-2, 1-0) hosts Chesapeake Bay Academy on Tuesday.