Emporia ? Lawrence High’s girls basketball team went scoreless for a few long stretches in the first half Friday against Emporia. The Lions turned the ball over 21 times. And what hurt the most is they knew they still had chances to win.

The Lions felt they let a good opportunity slip away in a 52-43 loss in their season opener at Emporia.

After a layup by junior guard Olivia Lemus, the Lions trailed 34-33 with 2:03 left in the third quarter. Emporia responded with seven straight points in the period, and the Lions never recovered.

“That was a back-breaker,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said.

In the third quarter, the Lions found their rhythm offensively by finding 6-foot senior forward Alexis Boyd and 6-foot-3 freshman forward Chisom Ajewku in the post for layups. Sophomore guard E’lease Stafford added six straight points in a two-minute stretch, driving past defenders and scoring on putbacks.

But Stafford stepped off the floor after picking up her fourth foul with a minute left in the third quarter, and Emporia junior Jennica Smith scored on a layup, and junior Braxtyn Stewart drilled a three-pointer for a 41-33 advantage.

“She’s got to do that for four quarters, not just a two-minute stretch in the third,” Dickson said of Stafford. “She’s just so unselfish sometimes.”

In the fourth quarter, the Lions cut their deficit to four points following a three-pointer from freshman point guard Hannah Stewart, a free throw from Lemus and a putback by sophomore Asia Goodwin.

However, every time the Lions looked on the verge of making a run, the Spartans came back with a big shots on long jumpers.

“I really thought we’d come out a little more solid, a little more fundamentally sound,” Dickson said.

The Lions had 11 turnovers in the first half and went scoreless for the final three minutes of the first quarter and the last four minutes of the second quarter.

Stafford scored a game-high 13 points, while Ajekwu added eight points, seven rebounds and three blocks in her varsity debut. Fellow freshman starter Stewart scored five points and had one steal.

“I was especially proud of Chisom. I’m obviously biased, but I thought she was getting beat on and hammered all night long,” said Dickson, noting Ajekwu didn’t attempt a free throw despite taking seven shots in the low post.

The Lions will travel to Barstow (Missouri) at 7 p.m. Monday.

Lawrence (43)

Hannah Stewart 2-6 0-0 5, Olivia Lemus 3-12 1-2 7, E’lease Stafford 6-13 0-3 13, Alexis Boyd 3-6 0-0 6, Chisom Ajekwu 4-7 0-0 8, Emma Bentzinger 0-1 0-0 0, Gracie Reinsch 0-0 0-0 0, Talima Harjo 0-3 0-1 0, Asia Goodwin 2-4 0-2 4, Sammy Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Leslie Ostronic 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-52 1-8 43.

Emporia (52)

Taylor Birch 0-10 2-2 2, Kelsey Gordon 4-7 0-1 8, Tamia Victor 3-7 2-2 8, Braxtyn Stewart 4-10 3-4 12, Hannah Taylor 4-9 0-0 9, Jennica Smith 3-6 4-5 11, Natalie Battenfield 1-1 0-0 2, Emma Harmon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 11-14 52.

Lawrence 9 8 16 10 — 43

Emporia 11 13 17 11 — 52

Three-point goals: Lawrence 2-13 (Stewart, Stafford); Emporia 3-14 (Stewart, Taylor, Smith). Fouled out: Smith. Turnovers: Lawrence 21, Emporia 16.