Olathe ? While most of the rest of us became fatter during Christmas vacation, the Lawrence High boys basketball team grew tougher.

“Defense was the thing we worked on the most during the break,” LHS coach Chris Davis said Friday night after his team showed the work was not in vain.

Senior John Novotny, who normally patrols the lane with a don’t-mess-with-me look that calls to mind a cop walking the beat in a Jimmy Cagney flick, couldn’t play more than a minute thanks to a bum ankle, and he generally is the team’s most intense defender.

Even without Novotny lending his role-player leadership qualities, the Lions looked like a team in every respect in defeating Olathe Northwest, 61-47, in a game the Lions led by as much as 22 points before the junior-varsity players gained valuable experience playing against varsity starters.

On the way to a 28-14 halftime lead, LHS limited the Ravens to, get this, two second-quarter points. Much tougher assignments await the Lions, but that shouldn’t diminish the progress the team has made in embracing a defensive philosophy that too often wasn’t on display a year ago. With Lions challenging them, the Ravens made just four of 17 field goals in the first half.

When the LHS starters (guards Daniel Green and Nathan Padia, center John Schneider, forwards Nick Wagner and Chance Riley) needed a rest, reserves Kevin Logan, Jace McNabb and Dorian Green made sure the intensity didn’t wane.

“The more aggressive we are, the better we’re going to be,” Davis said.

That’s what he’s been preaching. His players put it into practice.

“Pressuring the ball is a big key to our offense because everything for us offensively starts on defense,” McNabb said.

He was the first one to pop off the bench and congratulate Dorian Green, the emerging sophomore, when he came out of the game, a moment symbolic of how this collection of individuals already has meshed into a team. High school teams across the country are torn apart by petty jealousies of seniors who, instead of embracing young talented teammates, repel them. There was no evidence of any of that sort of thing. Nobody cheered harder for junior center John Schneider, who played well in the first varsity start of his career, than Novotny, the starter he replaced. If the veterans maintain that attitude and bolster the confidence of the emerging newcomers, this will be an enjoyable season for all involved.

“I think we have a nice mix of inside and outside players, and that’s going to give us the ability to do some different things,” Davis said.

The depth of the roster makes it easier for the coach to preach defense in two respects. First, Davis can withhold playing time from anybody who doesn’t buy into playing nasty defense. Second, the depth enables him to keep fresh bodies on the court.

“The guys know they only have to play hard for two or three minutes, and then I’ll sub a guy in for them,” Davis said. “The guys understand they can push the gas pedal a little harder because of that.”

Gun-and-let-gun basketball is a free and easy way to play, but it’s painful to watch. This season’s version is much easier on the eyes.