Players on the Lawrence High bench watch the action with dismay during the second half. The Lions fell to Olathe South, 89-60, Friday at LHS.

Olathe South’s boys basketball team didn’t just beat Lawrence High on Friday night.

No, that description would do a disservice to their performance.

The Falcons swooped in, devoured the timid Lions and left nothing but a dried out carcass, heading out of town with an 89-60 annihilation of LHS.

That included a dazzling three-point shooting display by O-South, which buried six threes in the first 61â2 minutes of the first quarter and 11 for the game.

The barrage was so brutal, it was unlike any Lawrence coach Chris Davis had witnessed.

“I’ve been coaching for 15 years,” Davis said, “and I’ve coached some really good three-point-shooting teams. I’ve never seen anything like that out of the gate.”

Even the referees were astonished, according to Davis. All three officials made mention to him – during the game – that they hadn’t seen a team shoot like that, either.

Compounding the problem for the Lions was a horrific start that decided the outcome soon after tipoff. LHS shot an abysmal 1-for-17 in the first quarter, the lone field goal coming on a Dorian Green three.

By the time the Falcons’ Eric Avant tipped in a shot at the first-quarter buzzer, O-South had a 24-6 lead and a laugher on its hands.

“It seems like it’s every game, but they just came out firing and hit every shot,” Lawrence’s John Schneider said.

It might not be every time out, but the three-point success of the Lions’ opponents is beginning to develop into a recurring theme. Friday marked the third game in a row that a team has made double-digit threes against LHS (4-5).

“It has to obviously reflect on our defense a little bit,” said Davis, whose team started out in a zone but eventually switched to man-to-man to quell the O-South run. “We’re going to have to go back to the drawing board on our defense and change it up some.”

Lawrence played respectable basketball in the second half, led by Green and Schneider, but it may have taken five NBA All-Stars to stage a comeback that late in the game.

Green finished with 22 points, 14 of them coming in the final quarter. Schneider had 18 points and nine rebounds.

Olathe South was led by Joe McBride’s 20 points and five three-pointers. Denver Holmes, an Evansville recruit, finished with 18. As a team, the Falcons shot 56 percent (31-for-55).

The Lions will begin play in the Topeka Invitational on Thursday.