Emporia ? Sunday, two days after clinching its first trip to the Class 6A state tournament since 2002, the Lawrence High boys basketball squad had a shootaround.

LHS coach Chris Davis sensed something different in the atmosphere.

“You could tell the buzz was a little bit higher, and the tension was starting to get a little tighter,” he said. “I think everybody’s pretty jacked up and ready to go.”

If the Lions (15-7) carry that momentum until 8:15 tonight when they play Wichita East (18-4) at White Arena, it will give LHS a much better chance to win than it had in the first meeting between the two teams — a 95-77 loss Jan. 22 in the third-place game at the Topeka Invitational Tournament.

“Our first quarter killed us, and we just came out real flat,” LHS senior guard Brennan Bechard said. “I mean, you can’t really be excited about playing (the third-place) game, but this game will be totally different.”

It will have to be.

East outscored LHS 31-13 in the opening quarter, and the Lions never could close the gap to fewer than 12 points.

The Lions also must contain East’s inside-outside duo of guard Sammie Fisher and forward Carl Whitten. They combined to score 53 points against the Lions in Topeka.

“I think we felt a little depressed from the night before and the loss to Highland Park, but I didn’t see anything in them that we can’t beat,” senior guard David Freeman said. “We match up well against them, we just didn’t come out and play.”

The Aces do not have a distinct size advantage, which could open things up for 6-foot-7 senior Tony Anderson. He had 13 points and nine boards in the first game.

“We just really did not play our best basketball,” Davis said. “And whether that’s that we didn’t play well or that was how good they are, I guess we’ll have to find out on Wednesday night.”