Lawrence High guard Asia Goodwin (24) battles for position against Olathe South's Lindsey Bartels (34) on Friday at LHS.

The Lawrence High girls basketball team was put to the test this week with a pair of games against two top-five teams.

Even though the record book will show two losses, the latest being a 54-38 drubbing by Olathe South, the Lions have plenty of reason to remain optimistic about their season. It forced them to mature, much sooner than they may have anticipated.

“We did some growing up, and I thought we needed to,” Lawrence coach Jeff Dickson said. “We are a very good team, but we are not a championship team, and we aspire to do that. The last two games we have played championship-caliber teams and we have wilted in the first or second quarter.”

Lawrence High sophomore Chisom Ajekwu (45) battles for a rebound against Olathe South's DejaNae Roebuck (32) and Lindsey Bartels (34) on Friday at LHS.

Lawrence (5-2, No. 4 in 6A) faced Leavenworth (No. 2 in 5A) on Tuesday and ultimately fell 47-38. A poor second effort in the second quarter led to the team’s first loss of the year after going undefeated before winter break.

This time around, it was a lackluster showing in the opening quarter that proved to be the Lions’ downfall in their league showdown.

Sophomores Chisom Ajekwu and Sammy Williams hit the only LHS baskets in the first eight minutes, scoring just five points in the first period. To make matters worse, Olathe South’s pressure defense forced 10 turnovers. LHS finished with 23 turnovers on the night.

The Falcons (5-1, No. 5 in 6A) proceeded to get easy buckets off the Lions’ errors, jumping out to a 19-5 lead.

“The easiest thing in the world for any team is play a great team and get way down,” Dickson said. “It’s like you have released the pressure. The key is to take those shots and make those plays when it’s a tight game, when we are hanging in there and have the courage to do that.”

Lawrence High junior E'lease Stafford (40) goes up for a layup against Olathe South's Dani Winslow (35) on Friday at LHS.

Junior E’lease Stafford got things going in the second quarter after not scoring until the 4:16 mark against Leavenworth, despite a team-high eight points. Stafford led the team in scoring for the second straight game with 10 points, including seven in the second quarter.

Lawrence was able to trim the deficit to single digits, 25-16, with two minutes to go in the half on a Stafford 3-pointer. However, the Falcons answered right back with a 6-0 run to close out the first half.

“That core group we went to battled and clawed back,” Dickson said. “They got it cut to nine points and like a true champion team they are, Olathe South, that’s when they hit you with that run. You can’t dig yourself a 25-point hole against a top-five team in the state and think you are going to win.”

The Lions cut it back to nine midway through the third quarter. But again Olathe South had an answer with another run and LHS was never able to claw back into it. Williams finished with seven points, while junior Asia Goodwin added five. No other player scored more than four for LHS.

Lawrence will travel to Shawnee Mission West at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.

OLATHE SOUTH (54)

Katie Butaud 4-13 3-3 14, Makayla Gooch 0-4 1-4 1, Kara Griswold 3-7 0-0 7, DejaNae Roebuck 5-10 3-3 13, Lindsey Bartels 2-5 1-2 5, Dani Winslow 2-9 2-5 7, Caroline Harshbarger 1-3 0-0 2, Sophie Reed 2-5 1-2 5. Totals: 19-56 11-19.

LAWRENCE (38)

Hannah Stewart 1-2 2-3 4, Olivia Lemus 1-5 0-1 2, Talima Harjo 0-1 1-2 1, Tamo Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, E’lease Stafford 5-12 3-4 10, Chisom Ajekwu 2-8 0-0 4, Asia Goodwin 0-4 5-10 5, Sammy Williams 3-4 1-5 7, Kiitkto Thomas 1-2 0-0 3, Tyrin Cosey 1-1 0-2 2. Totals: 12-40 12-27.

Olathe South 19 12 12 11 — 54

Lawrence 5 13 9 11 — 38

Three-point goals: Olathe South 5-16 (Butaud 3, Griswold, Winslow); Lawrence 2-11 (Stafford, Thomas). Fouled out: Bartels, Olathe South. Turnovers: Olathe South 10, Lawrence 23.