Lawrence High boys advance to state title game with 78-64 victory

Lawrence High point guard Justin Roberts drills a shot in the first half over a few Shawnee Mission North defenders in the Class 6A state semifinals on Friday at Koch Arena in Wichita

? Lawrence High junior point guard Justin Roberts wasn’t going to let any defense stop him Friday night in the Class 6A state semifinals. Not with a spot in the state championship game on the line.

Roberts scored a game-high 27 points to lift the second-seeded Lions to a 78-64 victory over No. 6 seed Shawnee Mission North at Wichita State’s Koch Arena. The Lions will face top-seeded Wichita East in the state championship at 6:15 p.m. today. The Aces beat Olathe East, 59-52.

With all of his fellow starters sent to the bench in the first half because of foul trouble, Roberts delivered big basket after basket. He knocked down three triples in the first half, drilled mid-range jumpers and found lanes to the rim.

“Justin is a special player,” junior forward Price Morgan said. “He really put the team on his back. He controlled the tempo of the game, and he just did what he had to do to get the win for us.”

The only time the Lions struggled was the opening minute, when the Indians (16-8) took a 5-0 lead and senior guard John Barbee, Lawrence’s top defender, picked up two quick fouls.

But the Lions (23-1) responded with a 17-0 run over the next nine minutes. Morgan started the stretch with a layup before Roberts drilled three-pointers on back-to-back possessions. Senior guard Anthony Bonner, who was tasked with stopping SM North’s leading scorer, Michael Weathers, after Barbee went to the bench, also added four points in the first quarter with a few drives to the rim.

In the second quarter, the Indians found their offensive rhythm at the free-throw line, attacking the basket and drawing fouls. Four LHS starters had at least two fouls and went to the bench, but Roberts responded by scoring seven points in the period. Senior guard Ben Rajewski also added a three-pointer.

“That last four minutes of the second quarter, he was not only exhausted, but he was a really, really key part to us finishing that half,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said of Roberts. “Just an extremely tough young man. Right there, you look at Justin Roberts and say, ‘How many high school kids can do that?'”

The Lions led by seven points at halftime and never allowed the Indians to come any closer. Any time SM North scored a basket, the Lions quickly answered with one of their own. Bonner scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, drilling a pair of three-pointers, driving to the rim and finding a way to the free-throw line.

“He’s the best shooter I’ve ever played with,” Roberts said of Bonner. “He can get hot at any moment. So I’m always trying to find him, trying to get him in the game and help our team as much as possible.”

Barbee also added six points in the third quarter, and senior forward Logan Applegate scored on a putback at the buzzer for a 45-33 advantage.

The Lions knew they needed to keep SM North’s star junior brothers Michael and Marcus Weathers away from the rim to slow down the Indians’ offense. They packed the paint and did their best to avoid fouls. Michael Weathers finished with 26 points on 4-of-18 shooting from the floor, while Marcus Weathers had 23 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

“It was probably one of the best wins we’ve ever had,” Roberts said. “I couldn’t be more proud of these guys. We get to play for a state championship, get a chance to put up a banner at our school. These seniors get a chance to leave their mark here. I couldn’t be any happier.”

In a fourth quarter, where the two teams combined for 64 points, the Lions shot 18-for-20 at the line to prevent any comeback and earn a spot in the state title game — a goal they’ve had all season long.

“Games like that we face adversity,” Bonner said. “We might be missing a person, or somebody might be in foul trouble, and we need people to step up. Everyone has always came through. That’s what great teams do, and that’s what we’ve been doing all year. I couldn’t be more proud of these guys.”

The state championship game will be a rematch of the Topeka Invitational Tournament championship, when the Aces handed the Lions their only loss of the season, 83-72, on Jan. 24.

SHAWNEE MISSION NORTH (64)

Michael Weathers 7-11 9-11 23, Torrence Allen 2-6 2-4 7, Nick Perez 1-3 0-0 2, Will Schneider 2-2 0-0 4, Michael Weathers 4-18 17-22 26, CL Stacker 0-0 0-0 0, Byron Morgan 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Gibson 0-0 0-0 0, Andrew Gonzalez 1-2 0-0 2, Brendon Henderson 0-3 0-0 0, Charles Littlejohn 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Miller 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 17-45 28-39 64.

LAWRENCE (78)

Justin Roberts 6-13 12-12 27, Price Morgan 3-5 0-1 6, Ben Rajewski 3-7 0-0 8, Anthony Bonner 6-11 6-7 20, John Barbee 3-4 1-2 8, Logan Applegate 1-5 2-2 5, Fred Brou 1-1 0-0 2, Anthony Harvey 0-0 0-1 0, Fred Brou 1-1 0-0 2, Tae Shorter 1-1 0-0 3, Kyle Hoffman 0-0 0-0 0, Jackson Mallory 0-1 0-0 0, Kobe Buffalomeat 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-48 21-25 78.

SM North 5 12 16 31 — 64

Lawrence 14 10 21 33 — 78

Three-point field goals: SM North 2-15 (Allen, Mi. Weathers); Lawrence 9-17 (Roberts 3, Rajewski 2, Bonner 2, Barbee, Shorter). Fouled out: Ma. Weathers, Allen, Morgan, Rajewski, Applegate. Turnovers: SM North 7, Lawrence 9.