Lawrence High's Lance Kilburn (31) lets go of his game-winning three-pointer over Topeka West's Alex North (33) during the final seconds of the game Friday, Jan. 23, 2008, at Highland Park High School in Topeka.

Topeka ? The two-ton barbell located in the gym Friday afternoon was invisible, of course. But Lawrence High’s boys basketball players were well aware of its presence. They felt the weight increasing on their collective backs with each passing game.

It was the heaviness of four straight losses and 34 days without a win.

“It seemed like we couldn’t catch a break,” LHS point guard Dorian Green said of the stretch.

On Friday, Green’s backcourt mate Lance Kilburn hang cleaned the ghastly mass, propelled it over his head and heaved it into the Kansas River for good measure.

Kilburn buried the game’s final shot attempt, a buzzer-beating three-pointer that lifted Lawrence to a wild 51-50 victory against Topeka West in the consolation semifinal of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Highland Park.

One day after losing in the waning seconds of the tournament’s first round to Denver’s Lincoln High, the Lions finally could breathe a bit easier.

“That one yesterday hurt really bad,” Kilburn said of Thursday’s 63-61 defeat. “I couldn’t have imagined what this one would have done to us.”

The Lions never will know — although a loss seemed more than likely for much of Friday’s contest.

Before Kilburn’s bomb, the Lions last led, 7-6, on center Paul Eltschinger’s jumper at 5:18 of the first quarter. Lawrence trailed by as many as 11 points at 24-13 on West guard Tyrell Brown’s jumper with 4:43 left in the first half. LHS closed the gap to five by halftime (27-22), but couldn’t put together a major push out of the locker room.

“We were shaking a snake off our leg the whole second half,” LHS coach Chris Davis said.

So, too, was Kilburn.

In fact, Kilburn, Lawrence’s second-leading scorer, was shaking off an anaconda. He all but disappeared for the game’s first three quarters, tallying zero points on five missed shots.

Channeling the spirit of David Copperfield, however, Kilburn re-emerged just in time, scoring all 14 of his points in the final quarter, including the game-winning three.

Davis said he spoke to Kilburn during a fourth-quarter timeout, urging him to take more threes rather than drive to the basket.

“He’s one of our better shooters and we need him to shoot the three right away,” Davis said. “He picked a good one to hit.”

Kilburn actually picked two long-range shots to hit. The first came right before the buzzer beater — a three that barely trickled over the rim, pulling LHS within 49-48 with 18 seconds left.

That merely was a precursor for the game’s frenetic and fabulous final sequence, which truly took a team effort by the Lions.

It began when Brown missed the second of his two free-throw attempts for the Chargers (2-8) with 16.9 seconds remaining. Trailing, 50-48, Green brought the ball up court and clanked a step-back three off the iron. Hounded by three defenders, Eltschinger snared the rebound underneath, lost the ball momentarily and kicked out to LHS guard Robbie Wright in the left corner. As the seconds ticked into single digits, Wright passed up a three in favor of Green back at the top of the key.

But Green didn’t have a decent look. Kilburn did.

“That last one, I knew it was good as soon as it left my hand,” Kilburn said.

Kilburn let loose from the left wing two seconds before the final buzzer sounded. The shot swished through the net moments later, sending the entire team rushing onto the court to mob Kilburn as time expired.

“What a steely shot,” Davis said. “We needed that so bad. I couldn’t ask for anything better for Lance.”

Green’s 17 points led the Lions, but his decision under duress to find the open man proved even more important.

“And once he shot it, I knew it was in,” said Green, echoing Kilburn’s words. “You could tell by the flight of the ball that it was good.”

The dish gave Green six assists on the afternoon. LHS guard Bobby Davis scored seven points and backup center Michael Stanford added six.

LHS (5-6) will face Topeka High in the fifth-place game at 1:45 p.m. this afternoon.