Lawrence High freshman E'lease Stafford hits the floor to get a steal during the Lions' game against the Barstow Knights on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, at LHS

Lawrence High’s girls basketball coach Jeff Dickson handed out slips of laminated paper to his players with the words “Unleash the beast” written on them before Monday’s game against Barstow (Missouri).

The Lions took that message to heart, dominating on both sides of the court in a 60-29 rout at LHS.

Playing in their fourth game in six days, the Lions jumped to a 27-10 lead at halftime behind 12 first-half points from sophomore guard Olivia Lemus, six points by junior forward Alexis Boyd and four from freshman E’lease Stafford.

On defense, LHS played the passing lanes for turnovers, hustled for rebounds and forced Barstow into low-percentage shots.

“We got off to a real good start,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said. “Defensively, I thought we played better team defense. We were forcing them to take some outside shots, and they didn’t hit them.”

Lawrence High freshman E'lease Stafford hits the floor to get a steal during the Lions' game against the Barstow Knights on Monday, Feb. 2, 2015, at LHS

In the first half, the Lions (3-10) attacked Barstow’s zone defense with strong ball movement, then fed off energy from their teammates when they continued to make shots.

“It just makes it a lot easier to have more confidence in my shot,” said Lemus, who hit two threes in the first quarter. “When we’re more hyped, it’s easier to make our shots.”

“E’lease Stafford kind of got going early, and Olivia Lemus knocked down some shots,” Dickson added. “Alexis Boyd has put together a nice stretch of games here at this midseason. Obviously the game looks a little bit easier when you’re making shots.”

Barstow (2-9) cut Lawrence’s lead to single digits with a strong run to open the second half, but the Lions refused to fall into the same mistakes that cost them wins last weekend.

“We were just, like, ‘We’re not losing games that are definitely ours,” Lemus said. “We’re just going to get this ‘W’ tonight because it’s ours, and we definitely wanted it. We’re not going to lose on our home court anymore.”

The Lions extended their lead to 20 points by the end of the third quarter with timely buckets by Stafford, Boyd, senior forward Matia Finley, sophomore Skylar Drum and senior point guard Marissa Pope.

In the fourth quarter, LHS shut the door on any comeback bid with a 10-3 run via five different scorers. Later in the period, Drum and sophomore Madison McKinney hit back-to-back threes.

“I thought we took good shots against Highland Park (on Saturday),” Dickson said. “We just didn’t get some of them to go. Our focus was to continue to take good shots and trust that those would eventually go for us, and that’s what happened tonight.”

Lemus led with 14 points, while Boyd had 12, and Pope and Stafford pitched in nine apiece.

The Lions will return to Sunflower League play Friday, traveling to Shawnee Mission South for a game at 5:30 p.m.

Lawrence (60)

Olivia Lemus 6 0-0 14, Skylar Drum 3 0-0 7, Marissa Pope 3 3-3 9, Matia Finley 1 0-2 2, Alexis Boyd 5 2-2 12, Emma Bentzinger 1 0-0 2, Madison McKinney 2 0-0 5, E’lease Stafford 3 2-3 9. Totals 24 7-10 60.

Barstow (29)

Charnai Anderson 3 1-1 9, Kate Walsworth 2 5-7 9, Abby Krause 1 2-2 4, Charnise Anderson 1 0-2 3, Kieran McMann 2 0-0 4. Totals 9 8-12 29.

Barstow 4 6 10 9 — 29

Lawrence 13 14 13 20 — 60

Three-point field goals: Lawrence 5 (Lemus 2, Drum, Stafford, McKinney); Barstow 3 (Charnai Anderson 2, Charnise Anderson).