LHS boys knock out O-North

Box score

LAWRENCE (74)

Justin Roberts 5-9 8-9 21, Connor Henrichs 1-3 1-2 3, Price Morgan 3-8 1-2 7, Ben Rajewski 3-4 0-0 7, Anthony Bonner 4-10 0-0 9, Fred Brou 1-2 4-4 6, John Barbee 3-6 3-4 10, Anthony Riley 2-3 0-2 4, Logan Applegate 1-1 0-0 2, Christian Espinosa 0-0 1-2 1, Cole Brungardt 2-2 0-0 4, Kaustubh Nimkar 0-1 0-0 0, Tae Shorter 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 18-25 74.

OLATHE NORTH (49)

Kenny Byers 1-3 0-1 2, Julian Winton 2-11 7-10 11, Alonzo Williams 2-10 6-8 11, Josh Moore 5-13 0-4 10, Haran Thompkins 0-1 0-0 0, RJ Smith 5-8 3-8 13, Mason Hughes 1-5 0-0 2. Totals 16-51 16-31 49.

Olathe North 7 10 15 17 — 49

Lawrence 18 22 18 16 — 74

Three-point field goals: Olathe North 1-8 (Williams); Lawrence 6-15 (Roberts 3, Rajewski, Barbee, Bonner). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Olathe North 12, Lawrence 10.

Lawrence High’s boys basketball players were preparing for a heavyweight fight against Olathe North on Friday night at LHS. This fight was called in the first round.

The Lions jumped to a huge lead in the first half, beating the Eagles in every phase of the game, in an eventual 74-49 drubbing in the LHS “pink-out” game.

“We just came out and hit them in the mouth,” sophomore Price Morgan said. “Coach (Mike Lewis) said before the game that the team that wants it more is going to get it, and we wanted it more today.”

Most of the crowd wore pink in support of assistant coach Kermit Aldridge, who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the spring. Aldridge spent Thursday night in his own bed for the first time in 10 days and was in attendance at the game.

LHS sophomore Justin Roberts scored 20 points in the first half on 5-of-6 shooting, outscoring the entire O-North team by three as the Lions jumped to a 40-17 halftime lead.

“I’ve been working on my jump shot for the last couple days because it was kind of off last game,” Roberts said. “I just knew I had to put in some work and get that jump shot back. I was hoping I’d shoot this well, but I didn’t know if I would or not.”

Morgan added: “Justin can get hot and hit any shot, pretty much. He was great. He was getting to the rack, hitting open threes, just facilitating the ball and getting other players open. He had a great game.”

LHS (15-3, ranked No. 6 by the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association) stretched its lead to 31 points in the fourth quarter against Olathe North (12-6, ranked No. 10).

The Lions frustrated the Eagles, forcing them to shoot 31 percent (16-for-51) from the field. One of O-North’s top scorers, point guard Julian Winton, didn’t score before halftime.

“The more the game went on, the more I could tell (they were frustrated),” said Morgan, who scored seven points and added a team-high seven rebounds. “Being down 30 in the fourth quarter, I know that’s upsetting. I’m a little bit shorter than they are, a little bit skinnier than they are and taking some boards from them. I can imagine that could be pretty frustrating.”

Eleven different players scored the Lions, as the team emptied the bench in the last two minutes.

“What I was most happy with our guys was just their four quarters of solid play,” Lewis said. “We just kept our momentum going. Our rotation was good with the guys coming in. I just felt like it was four good quarters.”

The Lions will face Shawnee Mission East at 7 p.m. on Tuesday at LHS.