LJWorld.com

While Kansas City Schlagle's traveling band rocked during pregame, timeouts, halftime and postgame, Lawrence High's girls rolled every second in between on Thursday in a stunning 49-46 victory over the No. 4-ranked Stallions in the first round of the Firebird Winter Classic at Free State High.

The Lions took the lead for good late in the first half and held off a frantic rally by Schlagle, a Class 5A program that depended heavily on its two guards, to snap a five-game losing skid.

Lawrence High's Jenna Wilcox, center, struggles for possession of the ball against KC Schlagle's Tamra Cobbins, left, and Celisha Towers. The Lions defeated Schlagle, 49-46, in the Firebird Winter Classic on Thursday night at Free State.

"Our girls showed a lot of poise tonight," first-year LHS coach Kristin Mallory said. "For not having been in the winning column very much, they showed like they knew what they were doing."

LHS (4-8) will play Kansas City Sumner (7-2) at 7 tonight in the Firebird semifinals. Sumner advanced with a 63-33 romp of Kansas City Wyandotte.

Against Schlagle (8-3), LHS trailed 16-12 midway through the second quarter before taking the lead for good with a 9-0 run. A stickback by Jenna Wilcox ignited the Lions' surge and Leigh DeBiasse popped a three-pointer with 3:01 left in the first half for a 17-16 advantage.

The Lions, ahead 21-18 at halftime, opened the second half with an 11-2 run to take a 32-20 lead their widest margin with 4:18 left in the third quarter.

On Lawrence's first possession of the fourth quarter, Hallie Fitzgerald's 15-foot jumper gave the Lions a 38-28 advantage. The Stallions countered with an 10-2 run to pull within two 40-38. Mallory called time with 3:51 left and LHS responded, making seven of 12 free throws and a 15-foot shot by sophomore Josie Polk in the final 3:25.

"We stepped it up and we pulled together and hopefully we can do that tomorrow and get another win," said Polk, who finished with nine points.

LHS sophomore forward Cherrale Ricks scored a team-high 11 points.

"We were trying to keep our intensity up," Ricks said. "We finally played four quarters instead of three or two."

Lawrence High's Leigh DeBiasse, center, tries to keep a possession from KC Schlagle's Tamra Cobbins. The Lions beat the Stallions, 49-46, on Thursday at Free State High.

Schlagle, the defending Firebird tournament champion, was led by its two NCAA Div. I signees Marchelle Campbell (Syracuse) and Tamra Cobbins (Texas). The 5-foot-5 Campbell scored a game-high 22 points on 9-for-28 shooting from the field and the 5-5 Cobbins scored 16 points on 8-for-22 shooting. The two guards combined for 50 field-goal attempts while their six teammates attempted just 18 shots.

Schlagle shot 29.4 percent from the field (20-for-68) and made just four of its 14 three-point attempts.

Campbell's three-pointer with 1:34 left in the fourth quarter pulled the Stallions within two, 45-43. Polk hit two free throws and Ricks one to pad the lead to 48-43.

"They are a two-man show and they are small," Mallory said of Schlagle. "We talked about how we were much bigger than they were. The girls really keyed on that and did an excellent job getting the ball to the post, especially in the first half.

"We talked to the team about how important those two girls are, how we have to shut them down and at the same time not let their other girls step up and they executed that perfectly. Schlagle kind of panicked down the stretch and our girls didn't and I'm so proud of them for that."

Sophomore Rachael Klingler led LHS in rebounding with 12 boards.

"We were expecting them to throw up their shots," Ricks said. "We just had to stay on them hard. They were either going to drive or throw up a shot and we had to have rebounders underneath and block everybody."

Of Lawrence's four wins this season, three are against Kansas City Kansas League schools. With the victory over the Stallions, LHS has eclipsed last season's win total when the Lions finished 3-18.

Copyright 2012 The Lawrence Journal-World. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. We strive to uphold our values for every story published.