Lawrence High junior Shane Willoughby, left, tries to reach for a steal against Olathe North's Zach Downing on Friday night. Olathe North defeated LHS, 58-38.

The Lawrence High boys basketball team had a 25-24 lead in the middle of the third quarter on Friday at home.

Things fell apart from there.

Olathe North used a 18-0 run to pull away for a 58-38 victory, leaving LHS coach Mike Lewis questioning his team’s toughness.

“It’s just an embarrassing effort for our program,” Lewis said. “The guys know it, the people who were at the game know it. We’re soft in a few ways, and when you’re soft and not able to compete in the Sunflower League, you’re going to get beat by 20.”

Eagles junior forward Tanner Gentry led the charge, scoring 23 points and seemingly making his way to the basket at will.

A strong, skilled forward like Gentry hurt the Lions right before winter break too; Shawnee Mission Northwest’s A.J. Spencer had 37 points.

Lewis said his team has talked about different ways to handle a skilled individual, but nothing has worked.

In Friday’s game, Lewis put all kinds of different players on Gentry, but nobody could contain him well enough to slow the Eagles’ run.

“Right now, we don’t have somebody or even a few somebodies who are willing to step up and control somebody like that,” Lewis said.

Lewis accepted some of the blame for his team’s performance. He said his team wasn’t prepared for the Eagles’ 3-2 zone, which effectively stalled the Lions’ offense.

With the Lions (2-4) playing at 7 p.m. today at Rockhurst, he understands his players will have to forget about the loss — and how they lost.

“We’ve got to grow up fast,” Lewis said. “You can keep waiting on kids to grow up, but eventually they have to take a stride in the right direction.”