Lecompton ? Perry-Lecompton senior Drew Robbins said he didn’t completely understand why the Kaws decided to ignore the physical aspect of basketball this week, and instead focused solely on their mental approach to the game.

But after the Kaws escaped with a 61-58 double-overtime win Friday night against Santa Fe Trail, Robbins said somebody’s premonition paid off.

“We’re not telepathic or anything,” joked Robbins, of his 3-3 team’s week-long focus of staying mentally strong. “But after our last loss to Silver Lake, we knew our heads just weren’t in it, and that we really needed to spend some time with our mental approach.”

That strategy came to fruition Friday when both Perry-Lecompton and Santa Fe Trail endured nearly 15 minutes of second-half delays because of a blood on the court and two official scoring issues.

Yet those stalled segments were nothing compared to the challenge of two thrilling extra periods that waited ahead.

“It was unbelievable,” said Perry coach Pat Hupfauf. “In 20 years of coaching I don’t know if I’ve seen a more exciting game in my life. It was nip and tuck the whole second half. There were so many big plays I can’t mention them.”

But then again staying focused on one final result was Hupfauf’s plan all along.

“Mental toughness,” Hupfauf reiterated. “We talked all week about having it, and our kids were as tough as nails tonight.”

That’s not to take anything away from the Chargers either.

Santa fe trail's lance Boss, left, fights for a rebound with Perry-Lecompton's Ryan Guffey (11). The Kaws won Friday in double overtime at Lecompton.

Jake Carter’s 24 points helped the Chargers keep pace.

If Lance Boss’ three-pointer at the end of the second overtime had fallen — like his trey did during the first four-minute extension — the two teams might still be going.

“That was just an unbelievable high school game,” said SFT coach Jason Schaffer, whose team dropped to 1-5. “We’ve been in three of these kind of squeaker games, and it’s just tough to always come out on the other end.”

With 40 seconds left in regulation, it looked as if it would be the Chargers that would walk away with an OT victory.

Cody Reser hit his second of two free throws to give SFT a 43-42 lead. But Perry answered with a free throw by Willie Treaster — who scored 13 points for the Kaws, while Spencer Kennedy had a team-high 14 points — to force OT.

The Kaws kept the lead for nearly all four minutes of the extra frame.

But Boss tied it again.

Finally after the second overtime seemed to look headed to yet a third, the Kaws connected on four of eight free throws in the final 40 seconds.

“None of us had ever been in that position before,” said Robbins. “We tried to keep calm and work on what we focused for all week. That, and we knew that we didn’t have enough bodies to go much longer.”

Santa Fe Trail girls 44, Perry-Lecompton 26

The girls game couldn’t offer as much drama.

After a quick five-all tie, the Chargers broke out a 14-0 first half scoring run to clearly take control.

Alexis Pryor scored 14 points and Lindsay Boss 13 as Santa Fe Trail improved to 6-1.

Santa Fe Trail girls 44,

Perry-Lecompton 26

Santa Fe Trail 7 14 8 14 — 44

Perry-Lecompton 5 4 9 8 — 26

SFT — Alexis Pryor 14, Lindsay Boss 13, Brooke Pryor 8, Whitney Headlee 3, Micala Stallbaumer 2, Hannah Hicks 2, Brea Rutter 1, Tori Rutter 1.

PL: Pruitt 7, Tonya Gimzo 5, Higgins 5, Casey Amerine 4, Megan Blosser 3, Williams 2.

Perry boys 61, SFT 58

SFT 16 6 12 9 6 9 — 58

PL 9 13 9 12 6 12 — 61

SFT — Curtis Musgrave 3, Jake Marquart 2, Cody Reser 5, Lance Boss 10, Jay Shively 4, Shawn Conklin 3, Rob Musgrave 7, Jake Carter 24.

PL: Drew Robbins 8, Drew Tucker 9, Ryan Guffey 11, Luke Tyner 6, Willie Treaster 13, Spencer Kennedy 14.