Lawrence boys open with victory

Lawrence High's Chance Riley, right, shoots over K.C. Wyandotte's Christian Woods. The Lions won, 54-47, Friday night at LHS.

Lawrence High opened its boys basketball season with a bang Friday night, routing Kansas City Wyandotte, 54-47, at the LHS gym.

The Lions shot just 19-of-51 from the field and surrendered 21 points to Wyandotte senior forward James Bush, but a tenacious 2-3 zone defense contained the rest of Wyandotte’s roster. Just six Bulldogs scored, and only Bush scored in double digits.

The Lions changed from man-to-man to the zone defense early in the second quarter after the Bulldogs pounded the ball inside to their post players for most of the first quarter.

LHS coach Chris Davis said the Lions had not spent much practice time working on the zone, however he thought it was the best way to stop the physical Bulldogs.

Lawrence High's Nathan Padia puts up a shot against Kansas City Wyandotte in the Lions' 54-47 victory. LHS opened its season Friday at Lawrence High.

“We had spent about a total of 10 minutes in practice working on the zone,” Davis said. “But we spent that 10 minutes working on it because we knew that they were a really physical team, and we might have to use it.”

Despite their inexperience, the Lions executed well on defense and outscored the Bulldogs 16-9 in the second quarter. LHS led 26-20 at halftime.

Lawrence High’s senior point guard Kristian Pope said the zone forced Wyandotte to take perimeter shots.

“The zone was the best thing that we did all night,” Pope said. “We made them take outside shots, and we were lucky that they missed tonight.”

Lawrence 54, K.C. Wyandotte 47

Lawrence – 10 – 16 – 12 – 16 – – – 54

K.C. Wyandotte – 11 – 9 – 11 – 16 – – – 47