Lawrence High's Jackson Mallory, left, and Justin Roberts, right, try to steal a loose ball away from Blue Valley Northwest's Jackson Heath during the third place game at the 6A state basketball tournament in Wichita on Saturday afternoon.

Wichita ? After Lawrence High senior Anthony Harvey Jr. grabbed the final rebound and dribbled to mid-court to run out the clock Saturday, senior Justin Roberts raised both of his arms in the air as he walked toward the sideline.

It was a fitting end for one of the most successful senior classes in school history, finishing with a 74-66 victory over Blue Valley Northwest in the Class 6A state third-place game at Wichita State’s Koch Arena.

Roberts, the school’s all-time leading scorer, put on one last show, scoring 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting. It was one point from his career high, and he set the tone for the top-seeded Lions, who made 14-of-24 three-pointers (58 percent).

The Lions admitted they still felt the sting from Friday’s 74-61 loss to Wichita Southeast in the state semifinals. But they knew they wanted to end with a win and make the most of their last game. Plus, they are just too competitive to throw in the towel early.

“I think the easy thing would’ve been to come in and been dejected and been down. Roll over and not really play with our heart,” LHS senior forward Fred Brou said. “But it says a lot about the team that we didn’t do that. We came out, we executed, and we played the game that we wanted to.”

The Lions (22-3) never trailed in their season finale, making their first six shots, including three triples by Roberts, who said he was playing through a “great deal” of pain from his previously injured shoulder. Senior Price Morgan added a jumper, Brou had a dunk on a pass from Morgan, and Harvey swished a three.

“I didn’t think I would have a good shooting day,” said Roberts, who made six threes and had five assists and five rebounds. “My shoulder’s been kind of bothering me since (Friday). I thought I’d just be more of a passer, try to get the assists. But my shot was falling, so I had to keep going with it.”

The Huskies tried to pack to the paint to limit Morgan and Brou, and the Lions had no problem shooting from the perimeter. LHS junior Jackson Mallory, who had a game-high six assists, drilled four three-pointers in the second quarter on his way to 15 points. Even junior Braden Solko made his first three of the season, flashing a wide grin to his teammates on the bench.

In the fourth quarter, the second-seeded Huskies (19-6) scored on six of their first seven possessions, trailing by two points with five minutes left. Darien Jackson led BVNW with 31 points, four steals and a few highlight dunks.

Not to be denied, the Lions always had an answer. Harvey hit two critical threes, pointing to the sky after each make. Brou added a dunk off of a long inbounds pass from Mallory in the final minute to close out the victory.

“When one guy is hitting and another guy is hitting, then everybody just starts to play in rhythm,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “I said, ‘Wish we would’ve had a couple of those (Friday) that could’ve fallen.’ But we started getting on a roll.”

This group of seniors — Brou, Harvey, Morgan and Roberts — posted a 62-10 record over the past three seasons, including a state runner-up finish last year.

Coming out of the locker room, they were emotional. This was about more than playing basketball. It was a family.

“The bond you get with these guys, it means so much more than these wins,” Morgan said. “Thankfully we had a pretty good run at it. Just sucks it’s over. This has been such a huge part of my life.”

The seniors were sophomores when former assistant coach Kermit Aldridge died from cancer. They’ve dedicated the last two seasons to him and thought of him after their final game together.

“We said we were going to play hard until we graduate for Coach A,” Harvey said. “I think Coach A would be happy for us right now. It was all for coach Aldridge this whole time.”

“Just leaving Lawrence High, I can’t hardly say it, it means so much,” Morgan said, trying to fight back tears. “I love this school. I love these guys. This is a happy cry. It’s tough being over.”

BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST (66)

AJ Pleasant 0-6 0-0 0, Jamichael Morgan 2-2 2-3 6, Jackson Heath 4-6 0-0 8, Darien Jackson 11-18 9-11 31, Joseph Pleasant 8-17 3-3 19, Rigley Nuss 0-0 2-2 2, Samuel Ward 0-1 0-0 0, Jackson Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-50 16-19 66.

LAWRENCE (74)

Justin Roberts 10-18 5-6 31, Price Morgan 3-9 1-5 7, Fred Brou 2-3 1-2 5, Anthony Harvey Jr. 4-9 2-2 13, Jackson Mallory 5-9 1-2 15, Braden Solko 1-1 0-0 3, Kobe Buffalomeat 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Butler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 10-17 74.

Northwest 15 14 16 21 — 66

Lawrence 20 16 17 21 — 74

Three-point goals: BV Northwest 0-8; Lawrence 14-24 (Roberts 6, Mallory 4, Harvey Jr. 3, Solko). Turnovers: BV Northwest 9, Lawrence 15.