Overland Park ? Lawrence High girls basketball coach Jeff Dickson usually avoids talking about the program’s struggles in the last few years, instead focusing on how far he hopes the Lions will go this season.

But following a 57-44 drubbing at Shawnee Mission South on Friday, Dickson wonders how much losing in the past is affecting the Lions.

“The program has been down for five years,” Dickson said. “These kids have won a total of three league games in their high school careers, and they’re working their tails off every single day in practice to turn that around. Then when we get out to a game situation, we’re still a team right now that does not handle adversity the way we need to handle adversity.”

The Raiders (3-11) scored the first 13 points and led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter. At the end of the first period, they were outracing the Lions down the court for layups and scored six second-chance points from offensive rebounds.

Meanwhile, the Lions (3-11) missed their first eight shots and turned the ball over five times before senior point guard Marissa Pope drilled a three-pointer nearly seven minutes into the contest.

“We lacked emotion,” Dickson said. “They hit a little run to start the game as the home team often does, and we’ve had some energy issues before, but this time I felt like we had some start hanging their heads a little bit pretty early in the game, and that part was extremely disappointing. I was not expecting that at all from our group.”

“As coaches, we never talk about the past at all,” Dickson added, “but it just seems like the girls carry this reputation that the program has with them, and then as soon as things don’t go their way, it’s like a collective, ‘Here we go again.'”

It was more of the same problems in the second quarter, and SM South jumped to a 36-13 advantage at halftime.

Pope, who picked up two early fouls, scored nine points in the first half as she drove to the rim and knocked down a few jump shots. Sophomore Olivia Lemus, freshman E’lease Stafford and junior Gracie Reinsch also added points at the free throw line.

“Marissa Pope … that kid is playing her butt off,” Dickson said of Pope, who finished with a game-high 24 points. “But she can’t do any more than she is already doing. She has fire. She has heart. She has desire. She doesn’t quit. She doesn’t give up.

“After her, it’s just hit and miss, flashes or one kid will have a great game. Then it’s just that lack of consistency, and that lack of emotional leadership from the rest of our squad that’s holding us back.”

Stafford finished with 11 points, eight from the free throw line, and freshman Asia Goodwin added five points and four rebounds.

After losing their first five league games, Dickson still has confidence that the Lions will find ways to win and make a move up the standings.

“That’s our mission going forward, to put the past in the past … and have these girls focus on this year’s team and what this year’s group needs to do,” Dickson said.

The Lions will face Class 6A’s fourth-ranked Shawnee Mission Northwest on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m. at LHS.

Lawrence (44)

Olivia Lemus 0-1 1-4 1, Skylar Drum 0-3 0-4 0, E’lease Stafford 2-6 6-9 11, Marissa Pope 9-18 5-8 24, Alexis Boyd 0-6 0-2 0, Madison McKinney 0-2 1-2 1, Devon Spoonhunter 0-0 0-0 0, Gracie Reinsch 0-2 2-2 2, Emma Bentzinger 0-0 0-0 0, Asia Goodwin 2-5 1-2 5. Totals 13-43 16-33 44.

Shawnee Mission South (57)

Elizabeth Holmes 5-10 6-8 17, Madi McAvoy 1-6 0-0 2, Robyn MacDonald 0-1 1-3 1, Karoline Shelton 2-7 1-2 5, Nikki Norton 2-7 4-4 10, Ashlie Fischer 3-4 0-0 6, Clara Sitas 1-3 2-4 4, Megan Stollsteimer 4-10 4-4 12, Taylor Cossairt 0-1 0-2 0. Totals 18-49 18-27 57.

Lawrence 5 8 13 18 — 44

SM South 19 17 6 15 — 57

Three-point field goals: Lawrence 2-6 (Pope, Stafford); SM South 3-21 (Norton 2, Holmes). Turnovers: Lawrence 15, SM South 19.