Lawrence High senior guard Lance Kilburn has emerged as a productive alternate weapon for the Lions this season. With many teams focusing their defensive attention on senior guard Dorian Green, Kilburn has stepped up for the Lions, averaging 19 points per game.

There are a lot of words and phrases one can use to describe Lawrence High guard Lance Kilburn.

His teammates have what seems to be an endless supply of adjectives for the 6-foot-4 senior.

“Intense,” says senior guard Bobby Davis.

“Hard worker,” added senior Michael Stanford.

“He’s got a good shot,” said another Lion, junior guard Drake DeBiasse.

“He takes the ball to the rack,” senior big man Paul Eltschinger said.

Of all the ways Kilburn can be described, perhaps the best adjective to use is one that nobody said but everybody implied: valuable.

“He’s probably the most versatile player we have,” LHS senior Dorian Green said. “He can play up top, handle the ball, drive and shoot it. And down low he creates so many mismatches.”

Green would know. If not for Kilburn’s presence in the LHS lineup, the Lions’ leading scorer and one of the city’s most hyped players of the last decade routinely would face triple teams on game nights. Green still gets doubled, but, more times than not, Kilburn makes opposing teams pay for it.

So far this season, Kilburn has delivered big-time numbers. In the opener against Washburn Rural, he scored 17 points in a 64-53 victory. In three games at the Blue Valley Shootout he averaged 19.7 points per game, including a 26-point showing in the third-place game.

Here’s a player averaging 19 points a game — while also leading the Lions in rebounding — that rarely gets more than the obligatory, “Lance Kilburn added 17 points for the Lions” line in the recap.

Kilburn actually prefers it that way.

“I just want to win,” he said, acknowledging the cliche but sticking with it anyway. “As long as we keep winning, I don’t care what’s written in the newspaper.”

During Kilburn’s two seasons of varsity basketball, winning has been the norm for the Lions. As a junior, he was a key member of an LHS squad that made a run to the state title game. And so far this year the Lions have jumped out to a 2-2 start.

Throughout most of the wins, Kilburn’s contributions were barely noticed outside of the LHS locker room.

“I’ll tell you exactly why that is,” Lions coach Chris Davis said. “Two words: Dorian Green. Nobody is going to be able to command attention when Dorian is on the court. But the payoff for Lance is that he gets to be sneaky because he’s worked so hard and he knows where to be and what to do.”

Sneaky. Stealthy. Surprising. More words used by teammates to describe No. 31.

“Dorian’s always going to be our best player,” Kilburn said. “And when he gets shut down, we need somebody to step up. I love being that guy.”

By filling that role and being able to deliver at the same time, Kilburn has earned the trust of his superstar teammate and the respect of the rest of the LHS roster.

Kilburn’s transformation from role player to Mr. Reliable began at last year’s state tournament. After spending most of his junior season as a spot-up shooter who was happy to let LHS’s five seniors run the show, Kilburn turned from agreeable to aggressive in one giant jump stop.

“Something just clicked,” Kilburn said. “Things started flowing a little better playing with Dorian, and everything started working out for me.”

After the season, as Kilburn stood at the team banquet, eyes bouncing around the room, mind hoping someone would tell him that the dream season was not finished, he decided to pick up where he left off. In the offseason, even while playing a prominent role on the LHS baseball team that tied for third at state, Kilburn dedicated himself to the hardwood. This summer, things intensified. He worked tirelessly to get stronger and quicker and both traits have helped him as a scorer and in the paint. His decision to outwork everyone, including Green at times, came from his drive and desire.

“I just hate to fail, almost more than I like to win,” Kilburn said. “Every since I was a little kid, I just hated to lose.”

This weekend, as the Lions travel to Free State for a rare, Saturday-night meeting with the Firebirds, Kilburn’s blood will likely boil, his heart will race and his focus will be fixed on one thing and one thing only: winning.

“Lance is the most competitive person I’ve ever played with,” Green said.

That should bode well for the Lions in the first city showdown of the 2008-09 season. So should the team’s experience of playing on the state’s biggest stage just nine months ago.

“Saturday’s huge,” Kilburn said. “Because it’s for bragging rights and because it’s against our cross-town rival. And it’s a little more fun to play in because of the atmosphere. The crowd is amazing. But it’ll be nothing new for us.”