LAWRENCE HIGH's Daniel Green passes the ball against Lee's Summit (Mo.) North during the semifinals of the Blue Valley Shootout. The Lions suffered a 46-42 loss Friday and will play in today's third-place game.

Stillwell ? With six seconds left, Lee’s Summit (Mo.) North’s Brett Brennan calmly sank two free throws, effectively securing the Broncos’ 46-42 victory against Lawrence High on Friday night at Blue Valley High.

“It’s tough to swallow in that you want to win every game,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “And we kind of had our sights set on that championship game.”

The loss means LHS (2-1) will not repeat as champion of the Blue Valley Shootout. Instead, the Lions will vie for third place in the tournament when they play the loser of the Ralston (Neb.)-Pembroke Hill (Mo.) game at 5 p.m. today.

The Broncos’ zone defense and their methodical offense, which featured several passes before attempting each shot, helped account for game’s low score.

“I don’t know if I’ve seen a high school team be as patient as they were,” Davis said. “The pace of the game was slower than any game I can remember in a long time. That was hard for us to adjust to.”

To attack the Broncos’ zone defense, Davis preached good spacing. And LHS did stretch the zone by knocking down eight three-pointers.

But no Lions player scored more than nine points. Senior Chance Riley expressed disappointment in his team’s execution, attributing the struggles to early season growing pains.

Lawrence High Lion senior Jace McNabb looks to pass the ball against Lee Summit North at Blue Valley School on Friday.

“We need to learn our offense first of all. We didn’t run our zone offense well,” said Riley, who nailed three three-pointers for his nine points. “We just need to keep practicing and get more solid.”

Despite solid defense from both teams, slow is an adjective that could describe the pace of the game and the one the LHS players used to portray the way the began the game.

“We just came out slow,” said senior Nick Wagner, who also scored nine points. “They came out on fire and hardly missed any shots.”

After trailing 16-9 after the first quarter, the Lions rallied to a 27-24 halftime deficit. They surged again in the fourth quarter, taking their second lead of the game on Riley’s three with 6:55 left. Senior Jace McNabb swung the lead, 38-37, back to LHS with 2:44 left.

But the Broncos sank clutch free throws after that. The Lions’ students section dogged Mike Beissenherz with chants of “Airball!, Airball!” every time he touched the ball, but he nailed two free throws with 25.3 seconds left. LHS guard Daniel Green then missed a shot with 15 seconds remaining before atoning himself with a lay-up on the next series, cutting the lead to two. But Brennan sealed the win with his free throws.

The Broncos’ work from the free-throw line served as the difference in the game. Lee’s Summit North connected on 14 of 16 while LHS missed the only two it attempted all game. Rebounding was another stats that did not go the Lions’ way; the Broncos outrebounded LHS, which had manhandled its previous two opponents on the boards.

LHS played strong defense, practically shutting down all but two of Lee’s Summit North’s players. Tyler Brock scored 13 points to lead the Broncos, and Tyron Nevels had 12. But it proved to be enough.

“That’s a darn good basketball team,” Davis said.

Friday’s game, though, could serve as a good learning experience for the LHS team. One night after facing Center High’s frenetic pressure defense, the Lions had to attack the Broncos’ zone.

“It was a polar opposite of the game the night before,” Davis said. “The nice thing about this early season tournament is it gives us a lot of things to see, and we adjust.”