Lawrence High junior Talima Harjo (13) battles for a loose ball against Leavenworth's Abby Mack (42) in the Lions' 47-38 loss to the Pioneers on Tuesday at LHS.

For the first six minutes of the Lawrence High girls basketball team’s 47-38 loss to Leavenworth on Tuesday at LHS, the Lions’ defense stifled the Pioneers by holding them to just one field goal.

The floodgates quickly opened after that, though, as the Pioneers went on an 18-4 that spanned the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter. The Pioneers (5-1, ranked No. 2 in Class 5A) hit the Lions with four 3-pointers — three of which came from Zoie Hayward –during the surge, and never trailed during the final three quarters. Hayward led the Pioneers with 14 points.

“We were kind of disappointed, but it’s our fault because we didn’t execute what we were supposed to do,” LHS junior E’lease Stafford said. “We just have ourselves to blame.”

Stafford ended up leading the Lions with eight points, but was held scoreless until the 4:16 mark of the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-11 junior sank two free throws and then drilled the first of her two 3-pointers in a 15-second span to cut the Pioneers’ lead to single digits at 42-33. It was too little too late for the Lions, though, as they suffered their first loss of the season.

“They’re a good team,” Stafford said. “What we can learn is that we need to take care of the ball, turn down our turnovers and just (go to the) next play. We’ll get ready for the next game.”

Things will not get much easier for the Lions (5-1, ranked No. 4 in 6A) in their second game back from winter break, as they will take on Olathe South at 5:30 p.m. Friday at LHS. The Falcons (4-1, ranked No. 5 in 6A) handed Shawnee Mission Northwest (5-1, No. 2 in 6A) its first loss of the season on Tuesday.

LAWRENCE (38)

Hannah Stewart 1-6 3-4 5, Olivia Lemus 0-2 0-0 0, Skylar Drum 0-4 5-6 5, Talima Harjo 2-2 0-0 5, Tamo Thomas 1-3 0-0 3, E’lease Stafford 2-8 2-7 8, Chisom Ajekwu 2-3 2-4 6, Asia Goodwin 0-1 0-0 0, Sammy Williams 2-2 0-0 4, Kiitkto Thomas 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 11-33 12-21 38.

LEAVENWORTH (47)

Terrion Moore 4-10 0-0 9, Alexis Cole 1-2 0-0 2, Alyche Brown 1-1 1-2 3, Zoie Hayward 4-9 4-5 14, Jaliah Bowen 0-1 0-0 0, Cierra Robinson 3-6 1-1 7, Aarika Lister 6-14 0-0 12, Abby Mack 0-1 0-0 0, McKenzie Brown 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-45 6-8 47.

Lawrence 9 8 7 14 — 38

Leavenworth 9 20 9 9 — 47

Three-point goals: Lawrence 4-10 (Stafford 2, Harjo, Tamo Thomas); Leavenworth 1-5 (Moore). Fouled out: Moore, Leavenworth. Turnovers: Lawrence 15, Leavenworth 12.