PRAIRIE VILLAGE — Mike Lewis hadn’t yet turned the corner into the locker room after the game when the words left his mouth.

“We just didn’t make plays,” the Lawrence High boys basketball coach said before disappearing behind a closed door.

In a game LHS held a lead for a majority of, there was never a sense of things being over.

Unable to put their opponent away, the Lions watched as Shawnee Mission East went from down six with less than five seconds left in the third quarter to up five by the end of the fourth. The final score — Shawnee Mission East won, 48-43 — told the story of the defensive struggle, but it didn’t reflect the way the teams felt for much of the night.

“It’s just our problem finishing,” said Anthony Selden. “That’s just our downfall every single time. ‘Cause we start thinking we can just go.”

A reserved Lewis echoed that sentiment after the game.

As the Lions dropped their third straight game, Lewis said it wasn’t about pinpointing one thing in the fourth quarter. There were plays that stood out, like a defensive lapse that gave Shawnee Mission East’s Noah Kurlbaum a wide-open 3-pointer with little time remaining. But there really wasn’t any single issue that buried LHS.

“It’s frustrating but it’s also the reality of our schedule and who we play,” Lewis said. “In the Sunflower League, there’s very little room for error.”

Certainly there wasn’t much room on Tuesday.

The Lions (7-6) jumped out to a lead in the first quarter on the back of Brett Chapple. The junior big man scored seven of the team’s first nine points, though by the end of the period, things were knotted up at 10-10.

“I was just getting open shots and getting easy put-backs,” Chapple said of his early offense.

Some baskets were a little tougher.

Chapple, who scored a team-high 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting, picked up two and-ones in the paint. He was also fouled attempting a layup later in the game and hit two more free throws to finish 4 for 4 at the line.

“He is exactly who he is,” Lewis said of Chapple. “He fights and claws and gets banged up and finishes. Just exactly who he is.”

While he didn’t ring up as many points, Selden had his handprint all over the first half, too.

The Lions gave up an 8-0 run to start the second quarter but quickly rebounded thanks to Selden’s complete effort. He started a 10-0 LHS run with a layup, adding to it with a two-handed dunk and finishing it with a rebound and assist at the other end of the floor.

Selden also had four blocks in the first half, turning Shawnee Mission East’s Kelyn Bolton away at the rim twice. Those plays appeared to stick with Bolton, as in the third quarter he had an uncontested path to the hoop in transition but looked back, saw Selden and missed a wide open layup.

“I know when I get the first one, they go, ‘Oh, I’m not going to (try him). I’ll fake ’em next time,'” Selden said. “I’ve been doing a good job of staying on my feet, mostly.”

Still, because of the back-and-forth nature of the second quarter, the Lions were only ahead by two. It seemed like they might break the game open in the third quarter, but Bolton knocked down a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut a six-point deficit in half.

While Chapple was the only Lion in double-figures, Zeke Mayo added nine points while Selden and Van Dave Jacob added seven apiece. Yet it was the opponent, led by Kurlbaum (16 points) and Zane Meeks (14), that held on to get the win.

“I think we just weren’t playing together as a team in the fourth quarter,” Chapple said. “It just didn’t work out, and it showed.”

Lawrence (43)

Zeke Mayo 4-11 0-0 9, Brett Chapple 6-11 4-4 16, Trey Quartlebaum 0-4 0-1 0, Jake Rajewski 0-1 0-0 0, Savonni Shazor 0-4 0-0 0, Anthony Selden 3-7 1-2 7, Van Dave Jacob 2-4 3-4 7, Steven Strickland 0-0 0-0 0, Clarence King 2-8 0-1 4. Totals 17-50 8-12 43.

Shawnee Mission East (48)

Kelyn Bolton 4-10 0-2 9, Zane Meeks 4-13 6-8 14, Charlie Moreland 1-3 0-0 2, Noah Kurlbaum 5-10 5-5 16, Seamus Carroll 1-2 0-0 2, Jack Schoemann 2-6 1-3 3, Will Curran 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Dollar 0-1 0-0 0, Andy Maddox 0-1 0-0 0, Jack Workman 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-47 12-18 48.

Lawrence 10 10 13 10 — 43

SM East 10 8 12 18 — 48

Three-point goals: Lawrence 1-16 (Mayo 1); SM East 2-7 (Bolton, Kurlbaum 1). Fouled out: none. Turnovers: Lawrence 9, SM East 9.