Olathe ? Ten minutes after their hearts were broken by a running three-pointer at the buzzer, Lawrence High’s boys basketball players sat, silent, on their bench.

All game long, the Lions were brilliant at stopping Olathe East super shooter Joey Mundweiler, who had averaged 25 points a game coming in. But he had one last gasp in the final seconds — a coast-to-coast drive and a running three-point shot from the top of the key.

Nothing but net.

Final score: Olathe East 62, Lawrence High 61.

Whether Mundweiler got the shot off before the buzzer was too close to call. Some thought the clock — which had 3.5 seconds left when O-East inbounded — didn’t start immediately when Mundweiler touched the ball on the other end.

It doesn’t really matter now, though. With the loss Friday, Lawrence High dropped to 4-12 overall and 1-6 in Sunflower League play. O-East improved to 8-8 and 5-2.

“I can’t fault the kids,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “Our defense was pretty good. He just hit a great shot.”

Going in, Mundweiler was just 13 points from becoming Olathe East’s all-time leading scorer. There even was a countdown banner behind the east goal, where the cheerleaders crossed off numbers as he scored points.

It didn’t get filled out. Lawrence’s defense handcuffed the senior, and he finished with just eight points.

Regardless, the last three were pretty devastating.

“They come out and throw up a controversial three, and it goes in,” LHS junior Ian Handshy said. “It really hurts because we played together as a team. We thought we deserved to win.”

For the first time this year, Lawrence High didn’t hit as many threes as its counterpart; Lawrence was 8-of-24 from beyond the arc, and Olathe East was 11-of-23. But the Lions stayed ahead for most of the game because of sound defense, solid free-throw shooting from Joe Crane and David Freeman, and the inside play of Handshy, who finished with 10 points.

After trailing for the whole second half, Olathe East came from behind and took a 57-56 lead late in the fourth quarter on two free throws by Anthony Parks. Lawrence countered with a Taylor Parker three-pointer with 1:36 to play for a 59-57 edge.

The Hawks tied it again with 1:07 to play, and the Lions decided to stall and try for the last shot.

Crane, who finished with a team-high 16 points, slashed through the open lane and hit a guarded layup with 3.5 seconds to play. Olathe East called a timeout immediately, setting up one final, game-changing drive.

“I don’t know what you can do,” Davis said. “We can’t foul him. The only thing you can do is play good defense and try to keep him from scoring.

“I don’t fault our guys. The kid hit a great shot at the end to beat us.”

Olathe East 59, LHS girls 38

Playing the Sunflower League’s top team is no time to bring anything but your best game. Lawrence High didn’t, and Olathe East made the Lions pay.

Lawrence had a chance to grab a share of the Sunflower League lead, but instead faltered against a talented Olathe East squad, 59-38.

The Lions stayed in third place in the standings with a 9-7 overall record and 5-2 league mark. Olathe East stayed in first at 12-4 and 7-0.

“Defensive pressure really got to us,” LHS coach Kristin Mallory said. “We didn’t make good decisions. We were struggling to just stay afloat at times.”

The big blow came in the second quarter, when both Cherrale Ricks and Megan Klingler were forced to sit with early foul trouble. The Hawks concluded a 16-0 run in that frame, and LHS never threatened again.

Klingler finished with 13 points, and Ricks finished with 10.

As a team, LHS committed 22 turnovers, and had trouble stopping O-East’s duo of Danielle McCray and Karrah Clay. The two combined for 36 points, almost as much as the entire LHS team.

“They were on fire. All of them were,” Mallory said. “They were jacked up to play us. They played that way, and we played a little nervous.”

Both Lawrence High teams will return home Tuesday to play Olathe South.