Any normal night, Lawrence High coach Kristin Mallory wouldn’t be pumped after a 59-52 season-opening loss.

But consider the circumstances: LHS hung with perennial state powerhouse Overland Park Aquinas Thursday at the LHS gym despite two of the Lions’ top returning scorers, Josie Polk and Rachael Klingler, sitting out for disciplinary reasons, and a third, junior Megan Klingler, handcuffed with foul trouble.

Lawrence even had a chance to tie the game with 13 seconds to play. With all of those setbacks hanging over the Lions bench, it can mean only one thing.

When these Lions are at full strength, they’re going to be good. Really good.

“I was real proud of them,” Mallory said. “Especially those kids that stepped up. We had some kids who played a quarter tonight who had little to no reps in practice.”

With the LHS bench as deep as a kiddie pool, a quartet of 10th graders provided little, yet crucial, help. If it wasn’t Kayla Nolte hitting two clutch buckets or Lindsey Lawrence taking a charge, it was Sydney Wilson scoring a pair of points and playing sticky defense, swatting an Aquinas shot as the Saints tried to pull away in the third quarter.

But the sharpest sophomore was starting point guard Drew Huff, who poured in 11 points, including a game-tying three-pointer with 4:50 to play.

“They kept us in the game,” Mallory said. “They helped us get close enough to where we could strike in the end.”

After Huff’s trey tied the game at 48, Aquinas (1-0) and Lawrence High (0-1) exchanged buckets, the Lions’ from LHS senior Jodie Cochrane on a pull-up jumper. Aquinas then pulled ahead 52-50, then 55-52, and Lawrence High couldn’t convert on a valuable possession with 13 seconds to play.

Lawrence High guard Drew Huff (3) drives past Overland Park Aquinas' Sara Rogers during the second half. The Lions lost, 59-52, in their season opener Thursday at LHS.

The Saints sank a pair of free throws and a breakaway layup to earn the uncomfortable victory.

“We did well for the players we had,” said Cochrane, who finished with nine points. “But as a team, we did make some fundamental mistakes.”

Fouling was indeed an annoyance. LHS committed 16, compared to Aquinas’ seven. Even worse, the Lady Saints hit 18 of 21 free throws. Senior Carolyn McCullough, a Kansas State signee, sank eight of nine on her way to a game-high 22 points.

Of them, 16 were in the first half, and behind a 26-point second quarter, Aquinas took a 36-25 lead and most of the momentum into halftime.

But a 7-0 LHS run to start the third quarter, with baskets from Cochrane, Huff and Cherrale Ricks, put the Lions right back into the contest, making the second half a true shootout.

6Sports video: Lawrence High girls faces St. Thomas Aquinas

“Things didn’t go our way at the end,” Mallory said. “That’s going to happen. It was a fun game, but I wasn’t pleased in the outcome.”

Huff and senior Erin Knight led the Lions with 11 points each.

The Lions now take the weekend off before playing Kansas City Washington at 7 p.m. Monday at LHS.