Lawrence High senior Price Morgan went straight to the school’s training room after Friday’s 49-42 victory against Shawnee Mission South to get taped up — the result of a physical and grinding boys basketball game in the Jungle.

“I’ve felt worse,” Morgan said with a wide smile.

Winning always helps, and Morgan was the key for the Lions, who were playing their second straight game without senior point guard Justin Roberts. Morgan scored 14 points in the fourth quarter and marked his territory in the paint.

A 6-foot-4 linebacker headed to Air Force, Morgan enjoys the physicality. When he wasn’t trying to post up on offense, he was diving across the hardwood for loose balls or fighting for rebounds.

“Once you get a little momentum going, everybody just starts to feed off of it, even yourself,” said Morgan, who had a team-high 21 points and 11 rebounds.

The tide finally turned at the end of the third quarter when LHS junior forward Kobe Buffalomeat grabbed a rebound and passed it ahead to senior Anthony Harvey, who went to the rim for a buzzer-beating layup.

After Morgan took a charge on SM South’s first possession of the fourth quarter, Harvey drilled a triple — the team’s only three-pointer in 14 attempts. Harvey’s three gave the top-ranked team in Class 6A its first lead since early in the first quarter.

SM South (7-7 overall, 2-3 in Sunflower League) answered Harvey’s three-pointer with a layup, but Morgan elicited a full-pitched roar from the crowd with a layup-and-the-foul bucket. That started a stretch of nine straight LHS points by Morgan.

Facing a 2-3 zone for most of the night, the Lions (13-1, 5-0) struggled to make any shots from the outside. Awaiting inside of the three-point line were SM South forwards AJ Webster and Yor Anei. The 6-9 sophomore Anei blocked five shots, and the 6-8 Webster added three blocks.

“Those guys had five or six inches on him, it felt like, but he’s quick, and he anticipates pretty well,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said of Morgan. “And he just fights, so you better be ready to battle when you’re playing against him.”

Despite problems shooting the ball, the Lions stayed strong defensively. The Raiders shot 1-of-17 from behind the three-point line. SMS senior point guard CJ Hill scored a game-high 22 points on 7-for-20 shooting.

Leading by three points with under three minutes left, Morgan caught a pass from fellow forward Fred Brou and turned it into a layup for 37-32 advantage. The Raiders were never any closer despite the Lions missing six free throws in the last two minutes.

Brou, who had 11 points and eight rebounds, added a two-handed slam for the exclamation point in the final 15 seconds.

“Without Justin, it’s always a different game,” Brou said. “We’re still trying to get used to it. But we’ve had our cold streaks, and I thought we did a good job of playing through it.”

The Lions hope Roberts, who dislocated his shoulder during the Topeka Invitational Tournament, will return soon.

“He’s sore, and then he just got the shoulder brace on (Thursday),” Lewis said. “He hasn’t been able to spend any time with it on. Not playing today was a good family decision on their part. No doubt, we’re trying to do what’s best for Justin and get him healthy.”

SM SOUTH (42)

AJ Webster 4-6 1-1 9, Bailey Obersteadt 1-4 0-0 2, Sam King 0-2 0-0 0, Brady Anderson 1-13 0-0 2, CJ Hill 7-20 7-7 22, Yor Anei 3-8 0-0 6, Dom Esparrago 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 16-53 9-10 42.

LAWRENCE (49)

Braden Solko 0-2 0-0 0, Price Morgan 7-14 7-10 21, Fred Brou 3-7 5-9 11, Anthony Harvey 4-11 2-2 11, Jackson Mallory 2-10 2-2 6, Noah Butler 0-6 0-4 0, Kobe Buffalomeat 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Miller 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 16-52 16-27 49.

SM South 13 6 7 16 — 42

Lawrence 6 11 8 24 — 49

Three-point goals: SM South 1-17 (Hill); Lawrence 1-14 (Harvey). Fouled out: Morgan. Turnovers: SM South 18, Lawrence 11.