Overland Park — ? The first quarter of Saturday’s boys basketball game between Lawrence High and Shawnee Mission North was an old-fashioned shootout between LHS guard David Freeman and SM North guard Eric Nitsche.

Both players started hot, with Freeman going 4-of-6 from the floor and Nitsche going 4-4.

The only problem for LHS (11-7) was that while Freeman totaled eight points in the opening frame, all four of Nitsche’s connections were beyond the three-point arc.

In fact, SM North hit six treys in the first eight minutes, building a lead it never would relinquish as the Indians handed the Lions their second loss in two days, 72-68.

“It always seems that we play teams that hit (shots) against us, but we don’t put a lot of pressure on the ball, and we’ve got to get better at that,” Freeman said. “You know, when they hit six threes, you’ve got to put a hand up or something. It’s not just that they’re on fire.”

Nitsche finished with a game-high 24 points and was complemented by forward Dominique Grayson and guard Mack Brown, who also had unusually hot nights from the floor, each finishing with 17 points.

Lawrence’s leading scorer was senior guard Brennan Bechard, who tallied 14 of his 16 points in the second half. Tony Anderson scored 14, all in the second half.

Just like Shawnee Mission East did Friday night at Lawrence High, the Indians sprinted out early and snatched the lead while displaying tremendous athleticism.

The only thing missing in Saturday, however, was the scene where the Lions came back with an emotional spurt of energy to tie the game.

Lawrence High's Tyler Knight tries to save a ball from going out of bounds against Shawnee Mission North's Mack Brown. The Lions lost, 72-68, to the Indians on Saturday night at SM North.

“We came out kind of flat, and I don’t think we were ready to go,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “I think last night’s loss was still in our heads.”

The Lions did make a push, but as the saying goes, it was too little, too late.

Behind a flurry of scores from Bechard and Anderson, and then a three-pointer by Freeman, LHS closed the gap to 65-60 with just over a minute remaining.

But the Indians used baseball-like longballs on their inbound passes to break the Lions’ full-court pressure that began giving them fits in the third quarter and subsequently hit 11 of their final 12 free-throw attempts, sealing the victory.

“It took us until we were staring it in the face before we decided that we were going to play hard,” Davis said.

Lawrence High's Brennan Bechard goes up for a shot against Shawnee Mission North during the first half. The Lions lost to the Indians Saturday night at Shawnee Mission North.

If Saturday’s game was not stressed by the LHS coaches and players as a must-win situation, Tuesday’s home meeting with Olathe North undoubtedly now becomes one. True, there is the matter of seeding for next week’s sub-states on the line, but there are sentimental reasons as well.

“It sucks, you know, but you’ve got to learn from them,” Freeman said of the back-to-back letdowns. “(Olathe North) is our last home game guaranteed for us seniors, so that’s definitely a must-win situation. And then Friday’s a must-win also, because you don’t want to go into sub-states on a loss.”