Lawrence High seems to thrive on three games in three days.
On Saturday, the Lions won the Topeka Invitational over No. 2-ranked (Class 5A) Kansas City Washington, 53-50, for their third tournament title in two seasons and first Topeka crown in 10 years.
"We're a tournament team," said LHS senior D.J. Watkins, who scored a team-high 15 points against Washington and 52 points in three tournament games.
"We love tournaments. We look at this as preparation for the next tournament we'll play in. We came through, held off some late rallies and came home with the championship."
The Lions, 10-2 for the second consecutive season, have won nine games in a row since losing to Kansas City Sumner in the semifinals of the Blue Valley Shootout.
It's Lawrence's longest winning streak since the Lions' 1994-95 state championship season.
In their past four regular-season tournaments, LHS has placed first, first, third and first while compiling an 11-1 record. Before last season's Blue Valley title, the Lions hadn't won a three-day tournament since their run at the 1995 Class 6A state tournament.
"There's nothing like this," said LHS junior forward Brandon McAnderson, who celebrated the Topeka title with teammates and classmates on the Topeka West court. "You take small steps during the season, but this is a huge step."
McAnderson scored five points and had a key deflection in the closing seconds during the Lions' victory over Washington.
Defense has been steady for LHS all season. The Lions haven't allowed an opponent more than 55 points during their winning streak.
"I think we definitely can play better," said LHS senior guard Stephen Vinson, who scored 13 points and had a team-high seven assists against Washington. "We got three wins at this tournament and really didn't play our best basketball."
Against Washington, the Lions limited 6-foot-5 center Ronald Robinson to 10 points just two in the first half. Senior David Parkinson handled most of the defensive duties on Robinson.
"We wanted to help out a lot," Vinson said. "We knew we couldn't put one man on him because we didn't have a big enough body for that. We won as a team and that's special."
LHS will return to Sunflower League play on Friday, when it plays host to Olathe North in a battle of league contenders. LHS, O-North, Olathe South and Olathe East are all 4-0 in the league.
"I believe we can play much better," McAnderson said. "We have some kinks we can work out."
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