It could have been easy for Lawrence High’s girls basketball team to overlook its game Monday night against Kansas City Christian.

After all, the contest was a late nonleague addition against the smaller Class 3A Panthers. Plus with the Lions playing in this week’s tournament across town — the Firebird Winter Classic at Free State High — there definitely were more than a few distractions.

But LHS coach Kristin Mallory had her team’s attention because the Lions responded with what she called her team’s “best performance” of the season in a 54-49 victory over K.C. Christian at LHS.

“We warned them that this was going to be a really good team, and they certainly responded extremely well tonight,” said Mallory, whose squad improved to 5-3 overall.

“This is by far the best game we’ve played this year, and probably the best home game we’ve had in a couple of seasons.”

Handing the Panthers (8-2) their second loss wasn’t an easy task for LHS because K.C. Christian showed it wasn’t intimidated when it opened the contest with a 15-13 lead after the first quarter.

LHS senior Megan Klingler, who tallied 12 of her 16 points in the first half, allowed the Lions to go into halftime with a 30-27 advantage.

“We knew that just because they were a little bit of a smaller school that they (still) were more than capable of playing with us,” Klingler said.

Lawrence High junior Drew Huff, right, drives against Kansas City Christian's Bethany Schwab. Huff scored a team-high 17 points in the Lions' 54-49 victory Monday night at LHS.

The Panthers showed their prowess in the second half when they adjusted their defense to shut down Klinger by double-teaming her.

The strategy worked; Klinger scored only four points, all off free throws, in the final 16 minutes. But all the attention the Lions’ top post player received allowed junior Kayla Nolte to go unguarded.

“I guess it backfired somewhat,” said a smiling Nolte, who scored a season-high 12 points on 6-of-10 shooting. “I knew that they were going to double her, so I just had to step up and hit my shots.”

So did LHS point guard Drew Huff, who scored a team-high 17 points, including eight in the last two quarters.

“She did a really nice job of controlling the tempo,” Mallory said of Huff. “All of our players really stepped it up tonight. You could just see that in how we were executing our set plays.”

The Lions had plenty of time to practice them because they’ve had 10 days off since their 53-23 victory over Olathe Northwest.

6Sports video: Lawrence High girls take down KC Christian Photo Gallery: LHS Girls vs. K.C. Christian

“We looked pretty fresh out there,” Mallory said. “I think that time off did us some good.”

It at least was beneficial down the stretch when K.C. Christian cut the Lions’ lead to six with 1:30 to play.

But the Panthers, who were led by 6-footer Kristen Knoth’s 23 points, had two three-pointers rim in and out, and were forced to foul.

Lawrence will have just two days off before taking on Blue Valley at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in their opening-round game at FSHS.

Lawrence High's Megan Klingler, left, drives against Kansas City Christian's Bethany Schwab in the Lions' 54-49 victory. Lawrence won Monday at LHS.