Lawrence High players celebrate with the student section after the Lions defeated Shawnee Mission Northwest, 65-44, on Saturday evening in the sub-state championship game at LHS. With the win, the Lions will now head back to the state tournament in Wichita.

Back at the Class 6A state tournament for the second straight year, Lawrence High boys basketball players will enter as the No. 1 seed — and, possibly, with less pressure than a year ago.

Last season, the Lions were filled with state-title-or-bust expectations on their way to second place at state.

It’s a little different this year. The Lions were focused, yet loose, in practice this week, preparing for their first-round matchup against Dodge City (12-10) at 3 p.m. today at Wichita State’s Koch Arena.

“Last year, going into the season, the rest of the state expected us to be in the championship game, if not win it,” senior forward Price Morgan said. “I felt like we did a pretty good job of embracing that. There’s that extra pressure you felt all the time.

“This year we came in, nobody expected anything out of us. We were kind of playing the underdog card all along. We knew we had a really talented group here.”

There were a lot more question marks at the beginning of the season for the Lions. Senior point guard Justin Roberts was recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee, and they had to fill three spots in the starting lineup from graduated seniors.

“I knew this team was going to be a good team, but as a coach you never want to put one goal — and one goal only — that’s a state championship,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “I don’t think that’s fair to the team. My philosophy is more, it’s about the journey.”

The Lions (20-2) are a loose group, always enjoying joking around with each other on and off the court. They’ve won their past five games, all by at least 10 points.

They admit there’s some pressure from earning the top seed, but one of the big benefits from last season is they know what to expect once they travel to Wichita. It’s the first time the Lions have returned to state in back-to-back years since 1991-92.

“We definitely aren’t going to go in scared or anything,” junior Jackson Mallory said. “Last year, we played kind of, I guess, timid because we knew we had to win. This year I think we’re just going to go in and play our game and do what we do.”

Dodge City is led by six seniors, including leading scorer Dayton McGroarty (13 points) and Northwestern Missouri State football commit Noah Williams (9.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game).

The Red Demons have won seven of their past eight games, and have played well against top competition. They lost in double overtime against McPherson, the top seed in 4A-I, and lost by two points against Eisenhower, which was the top seed in 5A.

“We know a decent amount (about them). We know the offense they run,” Mallory said. “They are a good team, obviously, they are in state. But I think if we come out and play the way we can, we should be fine.”

Whether there’s less pressure from a season ago or not, the Lions have the same goal of finding a way to win the state tournament and adding a banner to the school’s gym.

If anything, last year’s run to the state title game gave the Lions extra confidence for this season.

“We’re definitely motivated,” Roberts said. “We didn’t get to do it for the seniors last year. We want to try to avenge them in a way, and get it for ourselves.”