Free State senior Ashleigh Allam struggles for control of the ball while double-teamed by Lawrence High juniors Jordyn Tolefree, left, and Jasmyn Turner during Saturday night's game at Free State High School.

Eyebrows raised, faces were frumpy and mouths dropped open.

In a word, the Lawrence High girls basketball team was frustrated.

But as they have done so often in this young season of adjustments on the fly, the Lions found a way to turn things in their favor and escaped Free State High with a 39-37 victory Saturday night.

“Free State played at a tempo that worked best for them, and they made us win ugly,” LHS coach Kristin Mallory said. “I felt like in the second half, our kids kept fighting. Of course, we hit some shots in the second half, too, and things always go a little better when you’re making shots.”

During a first half the Lions probably will delete from their video library, LHS shot just 4-of-23 from the field, including 0-of-8 from three-point range. The 17-percent shooting performance yielded just 10 points, and the Lions trailed by eight, 18-10, at halftime.

“It was frustrating,” senior guard Taylor Bird said, “because (Free State junior) Ashli (Hill) blocked so many of our shots and took away our drives. We like to drive the ball, but we weren’t able to get it past her so we had to go outside.”

At the time, moving the offense out of the paint seemed like a scary proposition considering the way the Lions were shooting. It turned out to be a blessing.

After scoring just 10 points during the first 16 minutes, the Lions opened the second half with an 8-0 run during the first 1:09 of the third quarter. The run, which featured three-pointers from Bird and junior Haley Parker, tied the score at 18 and allowed the Lions to let out a sigh of relief.

“That was when I told Taylor and Jasmyn (Turner) that this is where we were taking over,” Parker said. “We have trouble coming out of the locker room with fire at the start of games, and it takes us a while to get going.”

The Lions got going in the second half, but never reached that point of taking over that Parker talked about. Free State was largely responsible for that, particularly the largest player on the Firebirds’ roster.

The Lions’ two-point victory nearly overshadowed what no doubt would have gone down as one of the best individual efforts in Free State girls basketball history. Hill, who set the school record for blocks in a game last weekend at the Bonner Springs tournament with eight, finished the night with 14 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots.

“We weren’t getting to her body when we drove the ball,” Mallory said. “We drove it to her, and then, with those long arms, she just kept swatting it away. But we still felt like we had to take it right at her.”

That turned out to be a good plan of attack, as Hill wound up fouling out with 4:39 to play. Her fifth foul, an over-the-back call on a missed shot, inspired her emotions to boil over, and she pounded the ball onto the ground and drew a technical foul. Parker made one of the two technical free throws, and the Lions led, 34-31.

But Free State still had life. A bucket from Reilly Moore, two free throws from Chantay Caron and a putback from Ashleigh Allam gave FSHS a 37-34 lead with 2:02 to play. But the Lions responded to the Free State run by outscoring FSHS 5-0 the rest of the way. Free State had the ball, down two, with 17.5 seconds to play, but never was able to get a shot, instead handing the ball back over to LHS — one of 19 turnovers on the night.

“We dictated the tempo all night with our defense and really controlled things for about seven-eighths of the game,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said. “But the reality is, offensively we made too many unforced errors.”

Bird led the Lions with 16 points. Turner and Parker added nine apiece, and Jordyn Tolefree chipped in the other five. For Free State, Caron supported Hill’s 14-point effort with 13 of her own, and Wren Wiebe added six.

The loss dropped Free State to 2-2 on the season. LHS improved to 3-3. Both teams are off until January.