Lawrence High's Fred Brou (21) and Ben Rajewski work to pry the ball away from Shawnee Mission South junior CJ Hill, center, during their game Friday evening in Overland Park.

Overland Park ? Back on the court for the first time in 12 days, Lawrence High’s boys basketball team didn’t receive any favors from Shawnee Mission South on Friday night.

The Lions led for nearly the entire game, but the Raiders refused to fade away, forcing LHS to hit some free throws down the stretch in a 54-50 road victory at SM South.

LHS led by nine with under three minutes to play when the Raiders (8-6) scored on four straight possessions to cut the score to 52-48 with 1:16 remaining.

The Lions had some problems at the free-throw line, with senior John Barbee missing four straight attempts, but they ramped up their defense, and SM South missed its next five shots. LHS pulled away with late makes at the charity stripe by Barbee and junior forward Price Morgan in the final 20 seconds.

“We kept it close,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “You just learn from it. We’re really happy to get a win. You come over here, and it’s a hard place to win. We’ve been off for 12 days, but I thought our guys had great energy.”

The Lions (12-1, ranked No. 2 in Class 6A) were tough to stop on offense early in the fourth quarter, with junior point guard Justin Roberts scoring five straight points, Morgan scoring on a layup-and-the-foul and senior Anthony Bonner hitting a free-throw-line pull-up jumper.

The Raiders did their best to stop Bonner in the first half, including face-guarding him with 6-foot-6 senior Anei Anei. Roberts helped the Lions take advantage by scoring 12 of his game-high 21 points in the first two quarters.

Roberts drilled two threes and added two three-point plays the old-fashioned way by drawing a foul and finishing through contact in the first half.

“They were kind of sagging off of me, worrying about (Bonner),” said Roberts, who noted he’s been working on his jump shot. “There were gaps open, so I just attacked the gaps and pulled up for a shot if I had to.”

In the third quarter, the Raiders didn’t place as much attention on Bonner, and the Colorado State signee made them pay. Bonner scored the first six points of the second half with drives to the rim, a right-handed dunk in transition and a pull-up jump shot. He ended the third quarter with a buzzer-beating three-pointer, assisted by junior guard Anthony Harvey, to give the Lions a 37-27 advantage.

“The last two years (coach Mike Lewis) talked about that, me and Justin will be targets like that,” Bonner said of SM South’s defensive schemes. “I know my teammates are going to do their thing. I just trust them, stay composed and move around. They find me when they find me.”

The Raiders only shot 29 percent from the field, but hit big shots when they needed them. They used a 9-0 run to tie the game midway through the second quarter, but Roberts immediately followed with a three-pointer from the right wing.

In the fourth quarter, the Raiders used a pair of threes from guards CJ Hill and Brian Harness, and a few acrobatic layups by Anei to start their late rally.

“It’s their home court, and nobody likes to lose on their home court,” said Morgan, who grabbed 13 rebounds and scored seven points. “I mean, they’re a good team. It’s just tough. This is what you expect on a Friday night in the Sunflower League.”

The Lions will welcome Shawnee Mission Northwest to LHS for a game at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

LAWRENCE (54)

Justin Roberts 7-9 4-4 21, Price Morgan 3-6 1-3 7, Ben Rajewski 1-3 0-0 3, Anthony Bonner 7-12 0-0 15, John Barbee 1-7 4-12 6, Fred Brou 1-3 0-0 2, Logan Applegate 0-0 0-0 0, Anthony Harvey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-40 9-19 54.

SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH (50)

Brian Harness 5-12 3-4 15, Nicolay Skvortsov 0-5 0-0 0, Bailey Obersteadt 0-2 0-0 0, Brady Anderson 2-4 0-0 6, CJ Hill 2-12 2-2 7, Anei Anei 5-13 9-9 19, Yor Anei 1-2 1-1 3, Jake Mankin 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-51 15-16 50.

Lawrence 14 10 13 17 — 54

SM South 7 11 9 23 — 50

Three-point field goals: Lawrence 5-13 (Roberts 3, Bonner, Rajewski); SM South 5-17 (Harness 2, Anderson 2, Hill). Fouled out: Hill. Turnovers: Lawrence 11, SM South 7.