Lawrence High’s boys basketball players have their eyes set on bringing home a state championship this week.

The Lions will face Wichita South in the state quarterfinals at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Koch Arena in Wichita, attempting to become the first LHS team to win a state title since 1995.

That’s when Lawrence was led by eight seniors — Aaron Butler, Brad Frederick, Andy Hudnall, Jason Morris, Quentin Rials, Kevin Tolbert, Scott Williams and Tye Wilson — and defeated Emporia, 72-61, to capture the Class 6A state championship.

The 20th anniversary of that state title is Wednesday, but none of those players from that team have forgotten about how much it meant to them.

“Honestly, it feels like it was yesterday,” Butler said. “I just remember the excitement of going to state, the anticipation of trying to win state. It was fun. I was 18, and I thought I knew everything, so it was just really, really exciting.”

Then-LHS coach Jack Schreiner heard some criticism at the time for having that many seniors on his team — “Too many seniors, and there was no way I could make them all happy” — but their on- and off-court chemistry was too good to ignore. Most of them still keep in regular contact with each other.

“We knew when we were in junior high that when we were seniors we were going to have a chance (to win state),” Rials said. “Most of us played together at West Junior High. We picked up Brad Frederick and Scott Williams from South and Kevin Tolbert from Central. Added them all to basically the team we had at West, and then Tye Wilson moved in from out of town. We just knew it was going to be something special.”

The ’95 Lions entered the season with a No. 2 ranking in the state but lost their last two games before winter break. That led to Schreiner moving Butler to point guard and their former point guard, Morris, to the low post.

“I remember exactly, we were 2-3 going into the Christmas break, and this was my second year, and I was thinking, ‘Geez, they are going to fire me,'” Schreiner said with a laugh. “We were supposed to be really good. … Jason is only like 6-foot, but could jump out of the gym. When we did that, we created all kinds of matchup problems for people because Jason could score down low, and he could score up top.”

LHS returned from winter break and won 20 of its next 22 games. The only losses were to Topeka Highland Park in the Topeka Invitational Tournament championship and a road loss to Emporia, a month before the two schools met again in the state championship game. The Lions prided themselves with their defense, and Butler said they ran around 20 sprints at the end of each practice so they could outrun opposing teams.

Morris and Butler led the team in scoring throughout the year. Frederick was the tallest player at 6-foot-5 but could score from anywhere on the floor. Tolbert was known for his jumping ability and rebounding. And Rials did a little bit of everything. Hudnall missed nine games because of a broken foot, and Williams, University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams’ son, played some minutes off of the bench.

“This kind of will sum the whole thing up for you,” Schreiner said. “Tye Wilson, arguably one of our best players offensively and defensively, may be the best defensive player I’ve ever coached — he did not start. … He gave us such a spark coming off the bench, and the chemistry was just so good, that’s how we did it.”

The Lions received their rematch against Emporia after beating KC Wyandotte by eight points in the state quarterfinals and topping Wichita Southeast by 20 in the semifinals. The 6A state tournament was held at White Auditorium in Emporia, and the Lions can still remember the raucous environment.

“You couldn’t hear,” Rials said. “You couldn’t talk to the person next to you. I mean, it was like that even before the final game. You couldn’t hear. But literally your insides were shaking. It was unbelievable. I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

Schreiner added: “It was a sellout. They were turning people away. That was a tremendous atmosphere. It was a packed house, at that time, 5,500, I think, or something like that. It was a great place to hold a state tournament.”

In the state final, the Lions led for the majority of the contest and ended any potential comeback by draining 14 of their final 15 free throws. Wilson saved his best game for last, scoring a season-high 26 points.

“Tye was unbelievable,” Rials said. “I could have sworn he was going to Duke or something after that game.”

Though most of the seniors went their separate paths after graduation, the one thing that will always pull them back together is their bond of winning a state championship together.

“It’s a tight-knit community, and everybody grows up together,” Butler said. “We were a senior-dominated team, and we all grew up basically together. It was awesome. Winning a state title with your friends, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

“I hope those guys go win state,” Butler said of this year’s LHS team. “Good luck and we’re proud of them.”