Topeka — If Lawrence High keeps it up, the Lions might get to celebrate another championship in a couple of months.
The tournament-tested Lions used a surge late in the third quarter and smothering defense down the stretch to thwart Kansas City Washington, 53-50, in the Topeka Invitational boys basketball final on Saturday night at Topeka West. It marked Lawrence's first Topeka Invitational title in a decade and was the Lions' third tourney crown in the past two seasons.
"It's very fun to play in tournaments," said LHS senior guard Stephen Vinson, who scored eight of his 13 points in the fourth quarter to help LHS (10-2) win its ninth straight. "I haven't been lucky enough in my career to go to a state tournament, but this is the next best thing. I like the way we play in tournaments."
Tied at 25 with three minutes left in the third quarter, Lawrence reeled off eight unanswered points to take the lead for good. Bryan Cargill's three-pointer sparked the surge, and D.J. Watkins followed with another trey before Jamie Peterson ended the run with a driving layin.
"Defense won the game, but in the third quarter we had a couple of guys step up and that changed things," Vinson said of the third period in which LHS outscored Washington 16-9 after trailing by one at halftime.
The Wildcats, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A and also 10-2, pulled within two points twice in the final minute. The Lions, though, forced a jump ball and McAnderson deflected a three-point attempt by Hassan Johnson in the closing seconds.
Watkins, who scored a team-high 15 points, all in the second half, rebounded Johnson's deflected shot and was fouled with 11.8 seconds left. Watkins missed both free throws and Washington's Travis Richard launched a potential game-tying three-pointer from the top of the key that glanced off the rim and went out of bounds as the buzzer sounded. The Wildcats had won eight in a row since losing to Independence (Mo.) Truman at the Olathe South tournament in early December.
"It was quite nerve-wracking," LHS coach Chris Davis said. "It was nice not to have a cushion and stand strong. I wish we would have made a few free throws down the stretch. That would have made a big difference, but we stood up defensively and that was the key."
The Lions made 13 of 23 free throws and just four of 11 in the final 1:24.
A key defensively was limiting Washington's Ronald Robinson, a 6-foot-5 load inside, to just 10 points. Robinson had 25 points in Washington's semifinal win over Topeka on Friday.
"We work (in practice) on trying to defend post players that are very talented," said Davis, who unleashed his customary barrage of various defenses against opponents. "David Parkinson did a heck of a job on defense. Brandon McAnderson had some huge rebounds late in the game and made a huge difference."
Parkinson relished the defensive challenge posed by Robinson.
"Basically my role on the team is to shut down their biggest player," said Parkinson, who helped shut down Keith Wooden, Free State's top post player, last month. "He (Robinson) is massive. I think he's 275 pounds and I'm 185. He's really strong."
Peterson also was effective inside and just missed a double-double, scoring nine points and snaring nine rebounds.
With the victory, LHS is on its longest winning streak since a 13-game streak that covered two seasons. The 1994-95 state championship team won its final 10 games and the 1995-96 team opened with three wins in a row.
Through 12 games, LHS has its best record since the 1991-92 team started 11-1.
The Topeka Invitational traveling trophy hasn't settled in Lawrence's trophy case since '92.
"It means an awful lot," Davis said of the tourney title. "Our goals have been to try and be able to finish big in tournaments for three days in a row. I was so proud of the way we played defense."
Next for the Lions is a home game against Olathe North on Friday. Tipoff for the showdown between the Sunflower League contenders is 7 p.m.
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