The jungle crowd at Lawrence High’s basketball arena rumbled midway through the first half, shouting “Wagner! Wagner! He’s on fire!”

The LHS fans spoke the truth. Senior Nick Wagner scored 28 points on 11-12 of shooting, propelling LHS (1-0) to an impressive 72-49 victory Friday night against Washburn Rural (0-1).

“Nick played an awesome game,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “One of the things that is really neat is that (his teammates) looked for him. They realized he was hot, and they kept getting him the ball. Some kids got pressured, and he was the one that was open, and he stood up and knocked it down. I’m very proud of him.”

The scoring total was a career high for Wagner in his first start. The senior played on the C team during his sophomore year and the JV team last year.

“I couldn’t wait for the season to start so I could play some varsity,” Wagner said, “It just worked out great.”

The entire Lions team sizzled from the field, missing on just two two-point field goal attempts while scoring 38 first-half points. Seniors Chance Riley and Daniel Green scored 11 and 10, respectively.

“We have a fair amount of firepower,” Davis said. “Tonight they shared the ball, and when the guy was open, they hit the shots.”

After a blistering first half, things slowed in the third quarter for LHS. It took the team more than six minutes to score during that period. The fourth quarter became a foul fest with the teams combining to go to the charity stripe eight times.

Senior Nathan Padia scored his only points in the third. He did not have an explosive offensive game, scoring three points, but he defended everyone on the floor from perimeter players to Washburn’s 6-foot-7 center Jay Valerius.

“Nathan Padia played a great defensive game,” Davis said. “He definitely stood out as someone that did well.”

The team’s offensive performance, however, would surprise those who attended the “Pack The House” scrimmage on Monday. It took more than five-and-half minutes for a Lions player to score during that practice session. Davis said that missing two days of practice because of snowy weather forced LHS to scrap implementing a complicated offense.

“It almost played in our favor, having to miss a practice or two,” he said. “It made everything get simple.”

The Lions hope to play with the same effectiveness when they begin the Blue Valley Shootout on Thursday.

“This is a great momentum builder,” Davis said. “I’m really liking the team aspect that I’m seeing right now. If we keep playing that way, we’re going to be a tough team to reckon with.”

The LHS girls team had a chance to make it a sweep for LHS against Washburn but lost, 63-56, perhaps showing signs of its youth.

“They’re a little bit more experienced than we are,” LHS coach Kristin Mallory said, “a little bit more game savvy.”

LHS led 53-51 in the fourth quarter before Washburn went on a 12-3 run to finish the game and secure its first victory of the season.

“We didn’t run the last three or four minutes the way we needed to,” Mallory said.

That includes LHS’ inability to foul at the end of the game when the Lions needed to stop the clock. Mallory threw off her sportcoat in disgust.

“You’ve got to know those things,” she said. “That’s basketball knowledge, and you’ve got to do a better job with that.”

LHS (0-1) showed several positives, especially attacking the Washburn pressure defense through penetration and kick-outs to open shooters.

“We took the ball right at them,” Mallory said. “Our kids did a good job of looking to get the ball to the basket.”

That led to 17 free-throw attempts, but LHS only converted seven of them.

A bright spot was the play of Tania Jackson and sisters Danielle and Taylor Bird. All three scored in double digits, though the Bird sisters fouled out.

“I had a pretty strong first half,” said Taylor Bird, admitting team needed to work on its zone offense and when to foul in the fourth quarter.

“We’re definitely going to work on that,” Mallory said. “We’re not going to have that problem again.”