Lawrence High fans were sweet on their boys basketball team on Valentine’s Day.

The Lions never trailed on Thursday during a 64-44 romp over Olathe South ranked No. 1 in Class 6A and the Sunflower League leader prompting the LHS student section to storm the court.

Lawrence High's Stephen Vinson, left, puts up a shot up as Olathe South's Nick Holmes defends. The Lions beat No. 1-ranked Olathe South, 64-44, on Thursday at LHS.

“We just wanted to come out and have fun,” said LHS senior forward Jamie Peterson, who scored 17 points and had nine rebounds. “I think this is the funnest game we’ve had all year. Smiles were going around the whole time.”

LHS, still in the hunt for a share of the league championship with O-South, improved to 14-3 overall and 7-1 in the league. The Falcons, who had won 14 in a row, dipped to 16-2 and 9-1 in their final league game of the season. The Lions have league games left with Olathe East and Leavenworth.

“Olathe South has a great team,” said Peterson, who scored 10 points in the third quarter. “They’re a state-caliber team, and we knew we had to come out and play hard.”

Tied at 32 with 4:30 left, the Lions took control with a 7-0 run, ignited by a Stephen Vinson drive. The Lions entered the fourth quarter with a 44-37 advantage following sophomore Taylor Parker’s three-pointer from the top of the key with 35 seconds left in the third period.

“That was a very, very big play,” said O-South coach John McFall, whose squad hadn’t lost since Dec. 7. “We had the ball and the arrow. We talk about winning the end of the quarter. The reason we’re successful is we don’t dwell on one play. We look at each play during the course of the game. There were big plays all night, and Lawrence made more of them.”

Parker’s three was his lone bucket against O-South, which allowed more than 60 points for just the second time this season.

“It was really big,” LHS coach Chris Davis said of Parker’s basket. “He had just made a mistake on the defensive end of the floor and he stepped up in a big moment and dropped that three.”

LHS dominated the fourth quarter, outscoring the Falcons 20-7 and limiting O-South to one field goal. The Lions closed the period with an 11-2 run.

“I think we’re surprised by the margin,” said Vinson, who scored a game-high 18 points and had five assists. “I don’t think we’re surprised we won. We knew coming in we could win.

“We kind have been playing mediocre ball, but this was a game we wanted to turn the corner and this is the time of the season we needed to turn the corner.”

LHS committed no turnovers in the fourth quarter. Olathe South committed two turnovers, resulting in two easy Lion baskets. Lawrence junior Brandon McAnderson scored on a drive with 5:26 left, then LHS senior D.J. Watkins stole the inbounds pass for an easy layin and his lone field goal for a 53-40 lead. McAnderson also had a steal and layin with 4:34 left to give the Lions a commanding 57-42 lead.

“It started with our defense, and our defense led to a lot of offense,” Vinson said. “That was big difference for us.

“We’re real excited about this one. Obviously, this is going to be a statement game for us by the margin of victory against a good team. If we want to set ourselves up in sub-state and try to win the Sunflower League, we have to finish the season strong.”

Junior Ryan Rundberg scored 17 points to pace the Falcons, who shot 34.2 percent from the field (13-for-38) while being held to their second-lowest point total of the season.

“We didn’t have any breaks or anything go our way tonight,” McFall said. “We battled back in the third quarter, got the thing even and were right there but we didn’t get over the hump.”

Next for LHS is a makeup game Saturday at Olathe East. Tipoff is 1:30 p.m. The Lions will close the regular season next week with a road game Tuesday at Free State and a home game Friday against Leavenworth.

“We still have three really tough games in front of us,” Davis said. “Olathe East is as good as any in the state. I think we’re ready for what’s in front of us.”