Lawrence High senior Anthony Harvey, Jr., center, drives between Wyandotte defenders GeRail Lucas, left, and LaRon Mcginnie, right, during their first round sub-state basketball game Thursday evening at LHS.

Lawrence High senior point guard Justin Roberts has a sixth sense on the basketball court. Whenever his team needs him to step up in crunch time, Roberts knows when to take his game to another level.

After watching Kansas City Wyandotte pull within six points on a buzzer-beating three-pointer at the end of the third quarter on Thursday, Roberts scored 12 of his game-high 25 points in the fourth quarter to help the Lions pull away for an 80-62 victory at LHS in the first round of sub-state.

Before the fourth quarter, Roberts was struggling to create offense, missing nine of his first 12 shots. But like he’s done throughout his four-year career, the 5-foot-9 Roberts finds a way to dominate in the final minutes.

The Lions will play host to fourth-seeded Shawnee Mission Northwest (9-12) in the sub-state finals at 6 p.m. Saturday, a team they beat, 59-54, on Feb. 9 at SMNW.

“We can always rely on Justin,” LHS senior Fred Brou said. “He will get out of a slump at any point in time and he will get hot. We know it’s coming.”

On the first possession of the fourth quarter, Roberts caught a pass from senior Price Morgan and swished a three-pointer in front of the student section while being fouled, completing the four-point play.

In the next two minutes, Roberts knocked down two free throws, drilled a mid-range jumper in transition, and found Brou cutting across the baseline for a one-handed slam.

After Roberts helped the Lions trade points with eighth-seeded Wyandotte (3-18), the Lions went on a 13-3 run — which included another three from Roberts — in the next four minutes to turn the game into a rout and empty the benches.

LHS junior Jackson Mallory, who had nine points and nine rebounds, added four points in the decisive stretch.

“There wasn’t going to be a play that could just put us up by 30,” said Roberts, a Toledo commit. “We just knew we had to chip away as much as we could and try to get that lead higher and higher.”

The top-seeded Lions (19-2) led for all but 34 seconds Thursday, but couldn’t cruise into complete control in the first three quarters.

Kept away at arm’s length, the fast-paced Bulldogs, who never needed a shot clock when they had the ball, continued to score in bunches and, at times, frustrated the Lions with their 1-3-1 full-court zone defense.

“That kind of wild feel to the game gets you out of sync on both ends,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “More power to Wyandotte for creating that atmosphere. They knew that was to their advantage and they did a very nice job with it.”

In the first half, the Lions were boosted by the 6-4 Morgan and 6-5 Brou inside of the paint. Morgan scored 11 of his 17 points in the first quarter and completed a double-double with 10 rebounds. Brou added 12 points, five rebounds, two blocks and a tip-slam while being fouled midway through the first period.

When passing from the high post, Morgan and Brou, who have played together since the sixth grade, have an unspoken understanding of where each other will be on the court and they set each other up for easy layups and dunks.

Off of the bench, 6-6 junior forward Kobe Buffalomeat used his size to contribute eight points and three rebounds.

It wasn’t the prettiest of wins, but the Lions know the postseason is all about moving onto the next game.

“It can be tough,” Lewis said. “You are the favorite and everybody expects you to win. The underdog sometimes has the advantage of being the looser team. All that being said, we win by 18 and we’re all excited and thankful for that.”

KC WYANDOTTE (62)

Jae’Lan Bradley 3-12 3-5 9, TreVaun Boyd 3-11 1-3 7, GeRail Lucas 4-10 1-2 10, Marcus Dotson 3-7 0-0 6, Terrell Batts 1-8 0-0 3, Donte Wilson 5-6 1-2 16, LaRon Mcginnie 0-0 0-0 0, Felton Henderson 0-1 0-0 0, Joseph Moye 4-4 1-1 11, Leondre Hale 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 23-61 7-13 62.

LAWRENCE (80)

Justin Roberts 6-16 10-10 25, Price Morgan 5-8 7-10 17, Fred Brou 5-6 2-2 12, Anthony Harvey 2-6 0-0 5, Jackson Mallory 4-8 0-1 9, Kobe Buffalomeat 3-5 2-2 8, Noah Butler 0-1 2-2 2, Braden Solko 0-1 2-2 2, Austin Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Trey Quartlebaum 0-0 0-0 0, Brett Chapple 0-0 0-0 0, Jake Rajewski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-51 25-29 80.

Wyandotte 17 15 16 14–62

Lawrence 24 18 12 26–80

Three-point goals: Wyandotte 9-24 (Wilson 5, Moye 2, Lucas, Batts); Lawrence 5-17 (Roberts 3, Harvey, Mallory) Fouled out: Bradley, Boyd. Turnovers: Wyandotte 5, Lawrence 11.