Playing tough opponents is nothing new for Lawrence High’s girls basketball team.

Since winter break, the Lions have played four Sunflower League teams that had a combined 15-1 league record. It won’t get much easier for the Lions at the Capital City Classic at Topeka Seaman over the next three days.

The Lions (4-6) open against Maize (7-2, ranked No. 5 in Class 5A) at 5:30 tonight in the first round.

“That’s a really tough matchup for us,” LHS coach Jeff Dickson said. “Just one more top-five team in the state that we have to play this year. We’ve shown that we can compete with those teams. Now it’s time to start beating some of them.”

The Lions will play Wichita Heights (7-3, No. 8 in 5A) or Topeka High (4-5) on Friday. The other side of the bracket is loaded with Shawnee Heights (8-1, No. 1 in 5A), St. Thomas Aquinas (6-3) and Shawnee Mission North (6-3).

After two losses by a combined three points, the Lions spent most of last week working on the “little things” at practice.

“It’s just been tiring, I guess,” junior guard Olivia Lemus said of the week off. “It’s just practice after practice. We just want a game in there. We’re excited for the tournament.”

With a young lineup, the three-game tournament in three days will be a new experience for some of the Lions. Freshman 6-foot-3 center Chisom Ajekwu is second in the league with 8.7 rebounds per game, and sophomore E’lease Stafford is around the top 10 in scoring (13.1), rebounding (5.4) and assists (2.5).

“Obviously, our tournament is a tough one,” Dickson said. “The whole season has been filled with great teams. I’m looking forward to the opportunity to go out there and compete. We’ll see how much we’ve improved.”

Free State’s girls basketball team will face Great Bend (7-2) at 6:30 p.m. today in the Firebird Winter Classic at FSHS. The winner will play Derby (10-0, No. 4 in 6A) or Highland Park (3-5).

The Firebirds (7-2, ranked No. 6 in 6A) beat Lansing last week and are confident heading into their home tournament. Junior Madison Piper leads the league with 20.8 points per game and is third averaging 7.8 rebounds.

The other side of the bracket includes Class 6A defending state champion and top-ranked Wichita South (10-0) and Washburn Rural (7-2, No. 5 in 6A).

Along with playing unfamiliar teams, the tournament will give the Firebirds a chance to watch some potential sub-state opponents: Washburn Rural and Derby.

“We’ve never played Great Bend before, and we play them in the first round,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said. “We’ve never played Wichita South. I don’t know if we’ve ever played Derby before. These are all teams that are potential matchups for us, and I think that’s a lot of fun for us.”