Olathe ? Last season, in a 29-point pasting of Lawrence High at LHS, Olathe South guard Joe McBride torched the Lions for 20 points and five three-pointers.

Evidently, that was just a warm up.

Friday night — this time at O-South — McBride scored 27 points and drilled four three-pointers, including three in the first quarter, to lead the Falcons (7-1, 4-0) to a 66-58 victory. The loss was the third straight for the Lions (4-5, 1-3), who fell below .500 for the first time this season.

“We walked in here expecting them to shoot the ball well and with confidence,” said Lions assistant coach Mike Lewis, who filled in for head coach Chris Davis, who was at home with the flu. “But we were ready to buckle down and fight through that, and I thought we did a pretty good job.”

The coaching cameo was the first for Lewis at the varsity level, and the players said it had little impact on the outcome of the game.

“Coach Lewis did a good job,” junior guard Drake DeBiasse said. “It was a little different, just the atmosphere and the intensity. But it felt pretty normal.”

For Lewis, who pulled double-duty Friday night after coaching the junior varsity team before the varsity game, the opportunity turned out to be one he won’t soon forget.

“It felt great to be able to lead a Lawrence High team onto the floor,” he said. “We’ve got a competitive group of guys, guys who are team-oriented and are going to keep battling.”

That much was obvious early on. The Lions trailed by as many as nine points three different times during the opening quarter, but pulled to within two during the second quarter and trailed by just three at the half.

After staying in the locker room a few minutes longer than normal during the break, LHS jumped all over the Falcons to open the third quarter.

First, Lance Kilburn (18 points, six rebounds) snagged a steal at midcourt and fed a pass to Dorian Green, who unleashed a rim-rattling, one-handed dunk to pull the Lions within a point. Next, Kilburn drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key after another O-South turnover.

“I thought that was the best we’ve started the second half all year,” said Green, who led the Lions with 20 points.

Two more buckets from Green and another from Kilburn pushed the Lions lead to three, but the Falcons closed the quarter on a 12-4 run and took a five-point cushion into the fifth.

At that point, McBride re-emerged as the thorn in the Lions’ side. After scoring 14 points in the opening quarter, the 5-foot-11 guard scored eight in the fourth — six coming on free throws — to ice the game.

He finished 7-for-12 from the floor and 9-for-9 from the free-throw line.

While McBride controlled things from the outside, senior Ross Ellrich and junior Kazmere Boyd did just enough inside to keep the Lions honest. Ellrich scored eight of his nine points in the first half, and Boyd scored nine of his 12 points off the bench in the second half.

“We just needed to body them up more and be more physical,” LHS center Paul Eltschinger said. “We’re working on being more physical overall. We’ll get it.”

Friday’s loss ultimately came down to the disparity in shooting between the two teams. While the Falcons connected on 20 of 43 shots from the field — including 6-of-15 from three-point range — the Lions shot just 23-for-59, including a cool 7-for-32 from downtown.

LHS will travel Thursday to Topeka to open play in the Topeka Invitational.