LHS girls fight but fall

After a few bad starts in recent games, Lawrence High’s girls basketball team refused to fall into the same mistakes Friday against Olathe Northwest.

The Lions fought to a seven-point lead at halftime, but couldn’t avoid problems with turnovers in the second half in a 53-48 loss at LHS.

The Ravens (7-9) opened the third quarter with a 17-2 run in the first five minutes. After shooting 4-for-24 from behind the three-point line in the first half, Olathe Northwest hit four threes in that stretch.

But instead of just fading away, the Lions cut their 34-26 deficit to just three points by the end of the third quarter. Senior point guard Marissa Pope scored seven points in the period, while junior forward Alexis Boyd added two turnaround jumpers, and senior forward Matia Finley made a layup.

The Lions (3-13) shot 3-for-17 from the field in the fourth quarter, but played tight defense and trailed 46-43 with 1:36 left after Boyd made a free throw. Olathe Northwest junior Annemarie Boeh responded with a baseline drive for a layup, and the Lions couldn’t pull any closer.

“I was really proud of how we played,” said Pope, who scored 14 points and had three assists. “We haven’t played a whole game that well all season. That’s the best we’ve played in a whole game. So that was really nice to see.”

The Lions ended the first half on a 12-0 run over the final four minutes, using side-to-side ball movement to attack Olathe Northwest’s 2-3 zone.

Sophomore guard Olivia Lemus scored five points in the stretch, sophomore guard Skylar Drum added three, and Boyd had four.

“I was actually proud of my team today. I thought we fought the whole time,” said Finley, who grabbed a game-high 17 rebounds to go with six points. “I think we just really worked together this game, worked it around and just really found the good shots.”

The Ravens went 10-for-46 (22 percent) from three-point range.

Pope focused on Ravens senior point guard Shaleia Jamison, who ranks fourth in the Sunflower League with 16 points per game. Jamison didn’t attempt a shot in the first half. She finished with nine points.

“I liked our fight,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said. “I liked the way we battled. I liked our leadership. I liked our communication. I felt like, for what’s a very young team, I thought we grew up a little bit tonight.”

“I’ve been excited to work with this group all season long,” Dickson added. “But I saw a lot more excitement out of them. I saw them shedding some of the stuff from the past and kind of just coming out and playing.”

Olathe Northwest (53)

Shaleia Jamison 1-4 6-8 9, Hannah Stohr 0-3 0-0 0, Sami Marks 4-6 2-2 13, Ashley Heller 2-11 0-2 4, Annemarie Boeh 2-6 4-6 8, Pete Sellon 0-4 0-0 0, Ryley DeMaro 1-7 0-0 3, Maddi Heise 4-14 0-0 12, Kaylie Kappelmann 0-5 1-2 1, Christen Curry 0-0 0-1 0, Hannah Nelson 1-2 0-0 3. Totals 15-62 13-21 53.

Lawrence (48)

Skylar Drum 1-5 1-2 3, E’lease Stafford 1-7 0-1 2, Marissa Pope 5-17 2-2 14, Matia Finley 3-6 0-0 6, Alexis Boyd 5-14 4-6 14, Rebecca Finley 1-2 0-0 2, Olivia Lemus 1-1 2-2 5, Madison McKinney 1-1 0-0 2, Asia Goodwin 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 18-56 9-13 48.

Northwest 13 4 23 13 — 53

Lawrence 12 12 13 11 — 48

Three-point field goals: Northwest 10-46 (Heise 4, Marks 3, Jamison, DeMaro, Nelson); Lawrence 3-19 (Pope 2, Lemus). Turnovers: Northwest 13, Lawrence 25.