It didn’t take long for Lawrence High senior Van Dave Jacob to stand out in his first game of the season Friday against Gardner Edgerton.

Listed at 5-foot-6, Jacob doesn’t strike fear into his defenders at first glance. At least not until the ball is in hands.

With a lightning-quick first step, Jacob couldn’t be stopped from driving into the paint. He scored seven straight points in the first quarter, setting the tone for the Lions in an eventual 77-43 rout at LHS in the team’s home opener. There was a running clock for the final four minutes.

Each time Jacob held the ball around the 3-point line, it always looked like the defense was in regular speed while he was in fast forward. Even as the shortest player on the floor, it didn’t stop him from using crafty angles to shoot over taller players or scoring on a put-back layup.

“I can beat anyone with my first step,” said Jacob, who had a game-high 14 points and three assists. “I had to take advantage of that.”

Jacob wasn’t just a one-hit wonder. Back on the court in the third quarter, he immediately jolted past a defender for another layup. The student section responded with a “You can’t guard him” chant.

Back from winter break and playing at home, the Lions (4-3, 2-1 in Sunflower League) fed off all of the energy. Senior guard Jake Rajewski scored seven points in a three-minute stretch in the first quarter. Senior Anthony Selden had six points to open the third quarter, including two highlight dunks that shook the rim and caused an eruption on the bench.

Jacob, who missed the first six games because of non-injury reasons, made his season debut alongside junior Clarence King, who suffered a broken kneecap last spring and was medically cleared during winter break. Last year’s leading scorer, King had 11 points and two steals.

“We told each other we have to keep the energy up,” King said. “We have to go out and play the way we usually play in practice. It turns out we did.”

Despite the injury, King was back to playing his same style of slashing to the paint and drawing contact. He admitted he was “pretty nervous” afterward, but it was easy to see his excitement of playing again.

“I thought he did pretty well,” Lawrence coach Mike Lewis said of King. “He came out and maybe tried to do too much on a couple of plays. But you can’t really blame him. He had steam rolling out of his ears, ready to play ball.”

Starting fast with 23 points in the first quarter, the Lions took turns creating offense and highlights against the Trailblazers (4-3, 1-2). They made four of their five attempts from the 3-point line, including a pair from junior point guard Trey Quartlebaum (12 points, six rebounds) on passes from Savonni Shazor.

In the second half, they turned to junior forward Brett Chapple (10 points, 12 rebounds) and freshman Zeke Mayo (eight points, two assists). Lawrence shot 62 percent from the floor.

“Our guys were just excited and you could see it,” Lewis said. “Not only on their really good moments, but in some of their bad moments, you could just see the excitement.”

Gardner Edgerton (43)

Tydus Webb 0-3 1-2 1, Cam Trammell 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Rollwagen 3-16 4-8 12, Brody Marshall 2-5 1-2 5, Luke Jennings 5-7 0-0 10, Reid Frase 2-3 4-6 9, Brandon Darnell 0-1 2-4 2, Preston Rohr 0-1 0-0 0, Jack McMillen 1-1 0-0 3, Corbin Schrack 0-3 0-0 0, Trevor Layng 0-1 1-2 1. Totals 13-41 13-24 43.

Lawrence (77)

Anthony Selden 4-5 0-2 8, Brett Chapple 4-4 2-2 10, Trey Quartlebaum 4-7 2-2 12, Jake Rajewski 3-6 0-0 7, Savonni Shazor 2-3 0-0 5, Van Dave Jacob 6-7 2-3 14, Clarence King 1-7 9-10 11, Zeke Mayo 3-3 1-1 8, Bryant Graham 0-0 0-0 0, Valdez White 0-1 0-0 0, Bryce Johnson 1-1 0-0 2, Garrett Hart 0-0 0-0 0, Willie Dotson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-45 16-20 77.

Gardner Edgerton 12 14 9 8 — 43

Lawrence 23 18 16 20 — 77

Three-point goals: Gardner Edgerton 4-12 (Rollwagen 2, Frase, McMillen); Lawrence 5-15 (Quartlebaum 2, Rajewski, Shazor, Mayo). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Gardner Edgerton 12, Lawrence 10.