Topeka ? For Friday night’s Topeka Invitational Tournament boys basketball showdown, Lawrence High and Highland Park came out with guns blazing.

But Highland Park proved to have the more deft marksmen.

“They didn’t miss,” LHS coach Chris Davis said. “That’s one heck of a basketball team.”

The Scots knocked down eight three-pointers and shot 14-of-17 from the free-throw line to earn a 70-52 victory.

LHS, which will face Topeka High in tonight’s third-place game, did not hit a free throw, but countered with 10 three-pointers.

Highland Park (10-0) looked like a team poised for a deep run through state, and three of its players – Kyle Weems (21 points), Lamont Austin (15) and Ty Modupe (4) – have received interest from college programs.

“There’s no one you can lay off, Davis said. “They’re athletic. They play great defense.”

For the second consecutive night, hot-shooting seniors Chance Riley and Nick Wagner paced the Lions. After scoring 19 and 15, respectively, against Topeka Seaman on Thursday, the two switched scoring roles against the Scots. Wagner had 19 points with five threes, while Riley notched 17 with three three-pointers. The duo accounted for all but 16 of the team’s points, benefiting from the penetration of the LHS guards.

LAWRENCE HIGH SENIOR CHANCE RILEY fires a jump shot over a Topeka Highland Park defender during a semifinal matchup at the Topeka Invitational Tournament. Riley scored 17 points Friday in the Lions' 70-52 loss.

“Our guards have been getting to the basket real well,” Riley said. “We’re just getting easy kickouts, and that’s what we’re best at.”

The game-within-the-game between Riley and Weems proved to be entertaining, with both responding to each other’s efforts on the offensive end.

“It was a real good matchup,” Riley said. “We were going back and forth for a while there.”

That back and forth included some trash talk from both parties.

“We kept hitting shots in each others’ faces,” Riley said.” It got real, real intense.”

The Lions (6-4) trailed by just six at halftime, but the game shifted in the second half when the Scots enjoyed a 32-20 advantage.

“They’ve done a really good job all season,” Davis said, “coming out in the third quarter kind of turning it on.”

With a standing-room-only crowd watching in the steamy Seaman High gym, sweat glistened off the foreheads of the coaches. Those conditions added to the game’s intensity.

“We were very focused,” Davis said. “We played a really good basketball game. I don’t know what to be too critical of.”

The Lions played with a lot of effort, but showed signs of frustrations late in the game. After Daniel Green received his fifth foul with 2:03 left in the game, an official issued a technical to Riley. The referee claimed he swore, but the senior denied doing so.

“I think it was one of the fans because we were right by the student section,” Riley said. “I said a little something, but I didn’t curse.”

LAWRENCE HIGH SOPHOMORE GUARD DORIAN GREEN brings the ball up the floor against Topeka Highland Park. The Lions fell to the Scots on Friday night at the Topeka Invitational Tournament.

To combat the explosive Highland Park offense, Davis tweaked his matchups. He started the game with 6-foot-5 forward Nathan Padia, one of the team’s most athletic players, guarding Austin, a point guard. Senior Kevin Logan, a lockdown defender, also took turns against Austin. Also, senior John Novotny started in the post instead of John Schneider.

“(Novotny)’s playing pretty well right now, and he’s playing pretty strong,” Davis said. “I’m happy with that.”

However, going against a talented Highland Park frontline, combined with early foul trouble, limited Novotny to two points. Schneider did not score.

The Lions face another stiff challenge this afternoon against Topeka High with third-place bragging rights on the line.

“They’re about as quick as anybody I’ve seen all year long,” Davis said. “We’re going to have to really get back and play some defense.”