Lawrence High sophomore center Chisom Ajekwu puts up a short-range shot against Olathe North on Friday.

Olathe ? Olathe North sophomore Leyanna McGinnis entered Friday’s game against Lawrence High as the leading scorer and rebounder in the Sunflower League.

By the final buzzer, she was likely glad to be rid of Lawrence sophomore Chisom Ajekwu for the rest of the season.

LHS coach Jeff Dickson felt Ajekwu dominated that matchup for most of the game, which propelled Lawrence to a 63-53 win at Olathe North.

Ajekwu finished the game with 14 points and 11 blocks, and held McGinnis to just six points on 2-of-11 shooting. Ajekwu’s presence inside, along with the scoring of junior E’lease Stafford (21 points) and senior Skylar Drum (15 points), were the keys to Lawrence’s victory.

“I’ve had a rough time the last couple of games,” Ajekwu said. “I just had a stronger mentality about the game, and told myself that this was my game. I was going to do everything possible.”

She did just that early on. Despite his team hitting shots, Dickson felt Ajekwu’s defense set the tone for a quick start.

After one quarter, the Lions led, 16-10, and Ajekwu already had seven blocks. The margin stayed the same to begin the second quarter until Stafford got hot.

Stafford hit two 3-pointers and scored eight points in a matter of 45 seconds to give the Lions a 37-18 lead, their largest of the game.

“She’s playing with confidence,” Dickson said of Stafford. “When she gets her outside game going, you just can’t guard her. She’s just too hard to guard.”

However, the Lions (14-4, 5-3 in Sunflower League) committed six turnovers shot just 3-of-9 in the third quarter, which gave the Eagles some momentum. They outscored the Lions 17-8 in the quarter.

“That was a little frustrating at this point of the season,” Dickson said. “We’ve got some pretty inexperienced kids out there and we get a little riled up.”

Midway through the fourth quarter, the Lions looked flustered, and their lead was trimmed to 54-48. Then sophomore Hannah Stewart took it upon herself to calm the team down.

“They sped us up,” Ajekwu said. “Hannah grouped us together and we talked. She just told us to focus, be smart with our passes, and don’t mind the crowd.”

The most impressive part of Ajekwu’s 11 blocks for Dickson was her ability to stay on the floor and out of foul trouble by playing straight up and using her height. That paid dividends late, as Ajekwu rebounded a missed free throw by Drum and passed it out to a wide-open Stafford, who nailed a three-pointer to give the Lions a 10-point lead.

From there, the Lions continued to get stops and hit free throws, leaving Olathe with their third win in a row.

“I was super proud of our team to get stops when they needed to, got buckets when they needed to and free throws when they needed to,” Dickson said. “As long as you come out of there in a win, you’ve accomplished something.”

LAWRENCE (63)

Hannah Stewart 2-4 0-0 4, Olivia Lemus 1-6 1-2 4, Skylar Drum 5-5 3-4 15, E’lease Stafford 7-13 3-4 22, Chisom Ajekwu 6-11 2-4 14, Asia Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0, Tyrin Cosey 0-1 0-0 0, Sammy Williams 2-2 0-2 4. Totals: 23-43 9-16 63.

OLATHE NORTH (53)

Leyanna McGinnis 2-11 2-6 6, Jaida Kenana 3-7 0-0 7, Hope Watts 0-2 1-2 1, Brooklynn Anderson 9-12 2-4 20, Lexy Watts 6-16 2-2 15, Hannah Stirling 1-1 0-0 2, Maya Gallagher 0-1 2-2 2. Totals: 21-50 9-16 53.

Lawrence — 16 23 8 16 — 63

O-North — 10 11 17 15 — 53

Three point goals: Lawrence 8-19 (Stafford 5, Drum 2, Lemus). O-North 2-9 (Jaida Kenana, Lexy Watts). Turnovers: Lawrence 12, O-North 10.