Lawrence High junior E'lease Stafford (40) gives teammate Olivia Lemus (2) a high-five after making a bucket-and-the-foul during in the Lions' 51-39 win over the Indians on Tuesday at SM North.

Overland Park ? Lawrence High girls basketball coach Jeff Dickson has been able to get quality minutes out of his bench throughout the season, and the Lions’ depth paid its dividends again in their 51-39 victory Tuesday over Shawnee Mission North.

Junior E’lease Stafford set the tone with 19 points, but she felt that reserves such as sophomore Sammy Williams and junior Asia Goodwin made the difference in the Lions being able to remain undefeated in true road games.

“It was really important because we have a few people on the team that have the flu right now or are not feeling well,” Stafford said.

The Lions were unable to find a rhythm on the offensive end in the first five minutes, forcing Dickson to call a timeout with his team trailing, 12-8. Following the timeout, the Lions made it a point of emphasis to get the ball down low. Lawrence High went on to close the quarter on a 6-0 run — four points from Williams and two from Stafford — and never relinquished the lead the rest of the way.

Williams finished just shy of a double-double with eight points and 10 rebounds. Goodwin then sparked the Lions in the second quarter with five of her nine points to help Lawrence High to a 29-20 lead going into the break.

The lead for the No. 9-ranked Lions (13-4 overall, 5-3 in the Sunflower League) grew to as many as 14 points in the third quarter, thanks in large part to Stafford. The 5-foot-11 junior scored seven of the Lions’ 12 points in the third.

“Just coming back from last game (59-46 win over Olathe Northwest), I felt a little bit more effective attacking the basket. We didn’t do that in the first half,” Stafford said. “We were settling for 3s. We were looking to attack, but the shots just weren’t falling.”

The Indians (4-13, 0-8) clawed back within seven after a Hannah Redick 3-pointer brought the score to 44-37 midway through the fourth quarter, but that proved to be the last field goal for SM North. Indians freshman LeLe Love led all scorers with 21 points.

The Lions will play two more games on the road before hosting Free State in Part Two of the City Showdown to close out the regular season, but Stafford said that they are already playing with a postseason mind-set.

“It’s playoffs right now,” Stafford said. “We have to win every game and give it our all because we’re trying to be a state champion team.”

Lawrence High will travel to Olathe North at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

SM North (39)

Michelle Zehr 0-1 0-0 0, Sarah Boyce 1-3 0-1 2, Noel Rivera-Watkins 0-0 0-0 0, Tiana Lee 2-6 0-0 6, Mackenzie Vielhauer 0-0 0-2 0, LeLe Love 8-21 5-8 21, Alexis Jones 0-8 1-2 1, Hannah Redick 3-11 0-0 9. Totals: 14-50 7-12 39.

Lawrence (51)

Hannah Stewart 1-2 0-0 3, Olivia Lemus 3-9 0-0 9, Skylar Drum 1-2 0-0 2, Sammy Williams 2-6 4-4 8, E’Lease Stafford 6-16 6-10 19, Chisom Ajekwu 0-3 1-2 1, Tyrin Cosey 0-0 0-0 0, Asia Goodwin 3-6 2-4 9. Totals: 16-44 13-20 51.

SM North 12 8 7 12 — 39

Lawrence 14 15 12 10 — 51

Three-point goals: SM North 5-23 (Redick 3, Lee 2); Lawrence 6-17 (Lemus 3, Stewart, Goodwin, Stafford). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: SM North 10, Lawrence 12.