Lawrence High senior Emily Peterson celebrates with teammates after making the winning free throw against Shawnee Mission Northwest on Friday, December 17, 2010.

Evidently, the Lawrence High girls basketball team has found the secret to victory. Her name is Emily Peterson.

For the second straight game, the LHS senior went to the free throw line in the final seconds with the game on the line. And for the second straight time, Peterson delivered, hitting one of two free throws with one second remaining to give LHS a 44-43 victory over Shawnee Mission Northwest on Friday at LHS.

“That’s a tough spot to be in,” LHS coach Nick Wood said. “I don’t care if it’s the NBA, city league or high school basketball, that’s a tough spot to be in. I know it’s cliche, but big-time players step up in big-time situations, and that’s two games in a row where Emily has done that.”

How she got there was anything but ordinary. With the game tied at 43 — the teams battled back and forth all night and never were separated by more than five points — Northwest had what looked to be the last possession of regulation. After working the ball around for 15 to 20 seconds, SMNW’s Elissa Ojeda was left wide-open on the block with four seconds remaining. Rather than draining the game-winner, though, Ojeda short-armed the shot, and Peterson came up with the rebound.

“When I got it, I just held onto it as tight as I could and was playing for overtime,” Peterson said.

Northwest had other ideas. Instead of allowing time to expire, Northwest’s Sarah Schmidt slapped Peterson across the arm with one second to play, sending the LHS senior to the line for two shots at victory. Peterson hit the first, missed the second intentionally and gave the Lions (2-3) their second consecutive victory heading into winter break.

“That’s a tough way to win or lose a ballgame,” Wood said. “Obviously, though, being on the positive side of things, we’ll take it.”

LHS would never have been in position to win had it not been for a strong second half in which the Lions outscrapped the Cougars to hang close. LHS led 17-12 after one quarter, trailed by one at halftime and didn’t lead in the second half until the one second remained on the clock.

“In the first half, they were more aggressive,” Wood said. “At halftime, I just told them that needed to change. That had to be our identity not theirs. And we did a great job of being tougher in the second half.”

Getting senior sharpshooter Rachel Kelly back didn’t hurt. Kelly led all scorers with 15 points, including three three-pointers. Peterson finished with 12 points and senior Tamiya Green added 10, on 5-of-6 shooting.