Blue and black.

From its uniforms to its style of play, those colors are the Shawnee Mission East boys basketball team’s calling card.

That made the satisfaction so much sweeter for Lawrence High once it slammed the door on the Lancers.

Utilizing a new defensive scheme and a breakneck pace on offense, the Lions finally came out on the right end of an emotional thriller Tuesday night, holding on for an 85-80 victory over the preseason Sunflower League favorite.

“What’s really nice is the quality of basketball team that we played, how strong and physical they are … it just feels great,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “It was a huge rush of emotion for the team. It was very, very positive.”

After a double-overtime loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest in their league opener and a non-league setback to rival Free State, the Lions (7-2 overall, 2-1 Sunflower League) needed big-game karma.

It came in large part because of Davis’ willingness to think outside the typical LHS basketball box.

To neutralize East’s 6-foot-5 space eaters, Davis scrapped his preferred pressure defense in favor of a packed-in zone installed during the last 72 hours.

The Lions proved to be a quick study. While East’s J.D. Christie still delivered a game-high 33 points, he was forced to do most of his damage from the perimeter.

“I can’t say enough about how our kids reacted to the game plan,” Davis said. “For us to change our defense almost 100 percent in three days is a testament to the kids.”

However, Davis kept his free-wheeling offense intact, and his charges responded with too much firepower for the Lancers (3-4, 1-2).

LHS shot 50 percent from the floor, Tyler Knight’s 21 points led four players who scored in double figures, and point guard Kristian Pope turned the ball over just three times despite facing full-court pressure the entire contest.

“The offense was great. We did a good job of setting tempo tonight,” said Pope, who finished with 15 points. “We didn’t let the pressure affect us.”

While he was talking about the East defense, he just as easily could have been discussing the high emotional stakes the Lions repeatedly have encountered this winter.

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“It showed that we can get it done and that our team is mentally stronger than probably a lot of people think,” Pope said. “We’ve been able to get to that hump. Now that we’ve gotten over it, I feel we’ll be able to keep doing it.”

LHS girls 41, Shawnee Mission East 38

The LHS girls had their own hill to master. Down by eight entering the fourth quarter, the Lions got serious on both ends of the floor to continue their perfect start in league play.

LHS (5-4, 3-0) held East to just one field goal in the final frame, while guards Drew Huff and Danielle Bird turned in back-to-back three-point plays – one the conventional route, one courtesy of a long-range jumper – to sneak back ahead with just over two minutes remaining.

“We just turned up the intensity. We knew we had to be in the passing lanes,” LHS coach Kristin Mallory said. “We tried to take it out of 30’s hands a little bit.”

Emmy Hartman – 30 – finished with 19 points for the Lancers (2-4, 2-1).

Huff came back from an early injury scare to score 11 for the Lions.

“I think she really gutted us out and got us back in it,” Mallory said.