Lawrence High’s girls basketball team is peaking at the right time.

The Lions posted a season-high point total in disposing of Topeka High, 73-57, in a first-round Class 6A sub-state game Thursday night in the LHS gym.

Lawrence High's Lacey Elmore goes up for a shot against Topeka High. The Lions exploded for a 73-57 Class 6A sub-state victory over the Trojans on Thursday at LHS.

“That was our best game this year,” junior point guard Drew Huff said. “Everybody stepped it up. We didn’t want this to be our last game.”

Lawrence High, the No. 3 seed in its sub-state, had lost three of its last four and hadn’t scored more than 56 points in a game all season, but now the Lions (12-8) will go Saturday night to Leavenworth and play Olathe East to earn a berth in next week’s Class 6A state tournament in Emporia.

Huff scored 18 points, but her ballhandling was more important than her point production. The Lions were charged with only six turnovers.

“Six? Is that all?” Lawrence High coach Kristin Mallory said. “Drew did a nice job, and that’s a difference-maker.”

Meanwhile, Topeka High was guilty of 23 giveaways, and that enabled the Lions to put up 16 more shots than the Trojans.

“Lawrence was very aggressive on the baseline and very aggressive in the backcourt,” THS coach Larry Zientara said, “and that equals turnovers.”

Zientara, who coached the Lions to the Class 6A state championship in 1984, ended his 10th season at Topeka High with an 8-13 record.

6Sports video: Lady Lions advance to sub-state finals Photo Gallery: LHS vs. Topeka High LHS girls basketball schedules/stats

Topeka stayed close through the first half, trailing just 33-29 at halftime. Then the Lions exploded for 24 points in the third quarter and raced to a 20-point lead midway through the fourth.

“We typically struggle to score in the 50s,” LHS coach Mallory said. “But the girls did a nice job tonight of finding gaps in their zone.”

Megan Klinger, a 6-foot senior, led the Lions with 21 points, 15 in the second half.

“We used Megan as a decoy in some situations early,” Mallory said, “and she shot well when she had the ball.”

Lawrence High's Kayla Nolte, right, fights for a loose ball with Topeka High's Camille Cushinberry. The Lions won, 73-57, Thursday night at LHS.

Sydney Wilson, Huff’s backcourt mate, had a 19-point night that included three three-point goals.

“We were really playing well together,” Wilson said. “I think we got a little tired late in the first half, but we came back in the second half.”

The Lions clearly were the less-winded team down the stretch.

“That’s unusual for us,” Mallory said, “because we don’t play a lot of kids.”

Olathe East, the top-seed in the Leavenworth sub-state, disposed of Olathe North, 55-38, Thursday night and will meet the Lions at 5 p.m. Saturday in the Leavenworth High gym.

“We know we’ll get a lot of pressure from Olathe East,” Mallory said, “and that they’ll be gunning for us, because we beat them earlier. We’ll need another game like tonight’s on Saturday.”

The Lions spilled O-East, 50-42, last month in the LHS gym.

“Olathe East will have the revenge factor,” LHS guard Huff said, “but we have a lot of confidence right now.”