The girls and boys basketball teams at Lawrence High didn’t challenge Washburn Rural’s teams in last year’s season openers. The girls lost by 18, the boys by 20.

This time around, both coaches aren’t really sure what to expect. The girls tip off against Washburn Rural at 5:30 p.m. today at LHS, and the boys follow at 7 p.m.

Girls coach Nick Wood just wants to find out which of his players can be effective contributors on the varsity level.

“We’ll throw them in the fire and see who can help us out,” Wood said.

The Washburn Rural girls team finished third at state last season and poses a tough first test for the Lions.

Boys coach Mike Lewis was still working with his rotation this week and didn’t know for sure which guys would play varsity until Wednesday. In his opinion, early practices have been going well.

“There’s always those days where the expectations are high, and they aren’t quite reaching those expectations,” Lewis said. “On average, we’ve had some really good practices. The guys have been going hard. They really know how to compete against each other.”

Washburn Rural’s boys team is also talented — an early coaches poll has Rural ranked sixth in Class 6A.

“We’re anxious that they’re going to be in our gym,” Lewis said. “We’re going to be ready for them.”

Free State’s girls also will open their season tonight — on the road at 7 p.m. at Emporia.

The Free State boys will open Tuesday as part of a girls-boys doubleheader at Topeka Seaman.

The FSHS home openers will be a Dec. 10 doubleheader against Shawnee Heights.