The Lawrence High girls basketball team runs a drill during practice where the players have to hit a half-court shot. Sometimes it takes the girls five minutes to do so.

During Thursday night’s opening-round game of the Kansas 6A sub-state tournament, it took three seconds.

Senior Hannah Somers banked in a shot halfway between the half-court line and the three-point line to give Lawrence High a 56-54 victory against Shawnee Mission Northwest.

The “Jungle” fans stormed the court, and Somers received a standing ovation in the hallway outside of the floor.

“Hannah’s incredible,” junior Danielle Bird said. “I love her.”

Asked where this memory ranks in her life, Somers raised a flat hand way above her head.

“It’s unbelievable. I don’t even know,” she said. “It’s like a dream.”

Trailing 54-53 with three seconds left, LHS coach Kristin Mallory called a timeout and designed a play for Taylor Bird. But the Cougars covered her tightly, causing Somers to inbound the ball to Sydnei Tolefree. With Tolefree’s strength on the post – not the perimeter – she passed to Somers, who nailed the shot as the buzzer sounded.

The Lions (14-7) faced that one-point deficit after Northwest’s Jessie Bocquin calmly nailed two free throws after a questionable foul call on Tania Jackson.

“They said she stuck her knee out,” Mallory said. “From my vantage point, it looked like a huge pile-up of people.”

Somers’ shot was a climactic end to an exciting fourth quarter, which featured six ties. Before Bocquin’s free throws, Taylor Bird stole a pass and dished to Danielle Bird for a layup to give the Lions a momentary lead.

Such synchronization was not evident earlier in the game. The Lions turned the ball over four times in the first quarter and trailed 13-7 at the end of that period.

Danielle Bird, who scored a team-high 15 points, provided one of the few early offensive sparks.

“Dan was huge for us in the first half when nobody else could get anything done,” Mallory said. “She was offensively all we had.”

The Cougars led 25-22 at halftime, and Mallory barked at her squad, urging a better performance, during the break.

“She told us to go out and play our hearts out,” Danielle Bird said.

The prospects again looked bleak in the third quarter. Northwest went on a 9-3 run to take a 34-25 lead with 4:42 left in the period. Taylor Bird picked up her third foul a the 5:35 mark, but recognizing the urgency of the situation, Mallory kept her star guard on the bench for less than a minute.

“I don’t know if we just played scared or what,” Mallory said. “I told the girls we only played one good quarter of basketball.”

Making matters worse, the Cougars blazed from the perimeter, knocking down four three-pointers during the first half.

That served as a contrast from the teams’ previous game on Dec. 14 when the (9-12) Cougars won on the strength of their front line, featuring 6-foot-1 post players Becca Roberts and Leslie White. Roberts scored 18 points during that 65-59 victory.

Although they did a good job on the boards, the duo combined for just 13 points Thursday.

“The girls did a good job on her down the stretch,” Mallory said. “We did better than the last time, but we can still improve.”

To add a little muscle in the post, Mallory started Abby Vestal instead of Jackson, and the senior responded with six points.

“She’s had a good couple days of practice,” Mallory said. “Being a senior I wanted to give her an opportunity to start her last game at home.”

The Lions will travel to a neutral floor at Olathe Northwest to face rival Free State for the second round game of the sub-state tournament. The Firebirds won the first two games this year, but the winner of Saturday’s game will advance to state.

“We just want to beat them so bad,” Danielle Bird said. “Losing to them twice is really hard.”