TOPEKA — Walking off of the court Thursday, Lawrence High senior guard Jackson Mallory slammed his hand on one of the chairs on his team’s bench.

Mallory, one of the vocal and emotional leaders for the LHS boys basketball team, wasn’t afraid to show his frustration after a 69-66 loss to Wichita Southeast in the first round of the Topeka Invitational Tournament at Topeka High.

Senior center Kobe Buffalomeat said it was a game that “slipped away.” For the first time since 2012, the Lions won’t be playing in the championship game.

Most of the damage was done in the first quarter. The Golden Buffaloes (6-4) scored 30 points while shooting an eye-popping 12-for-16 from the floor (75 percent).

“It’s tough when they score 30 in a quarter,” said the 6-foot-7 Buffalomeat, who scored 17 points on 7-of-7 shooting with a big height advantage. “We’d like to put that up in a half sometimes.”

After trailing by 17 points in the first half, the Lions (7-2, ranked No. 4 in Class 6A) tied the score with 2:41 remaining on two made free throws from senior guard Austin Miller.

But all game long Southeast junior wing Israel Barnes was a thorn in the Lions’ side. He drilled a 3-pointer after the Lions tied the score, then a swished jumper on the next possession. Southeast made six straight free throws in the final 45 seconds and the Lions couldn’t close the gap.

“Frustrating is a good word,” Lawrence coach Mike Lewis said. “I do like the way our guys fought. I liked the way we finished. We weren’t always in sync but they were fighting and they were wanting it. Just a game where Wichita Southeast was the better team.”

Barnes, a 6-4 wing who leads the City League in scoring, proved why he’s so tough to guard. He rewards good defense by just making tougher buckets. He made his first five shots, only missing in the first quarter on an attempted buzzer beater.

“There’s no words to describe it,” Mallory said of guarding Barnes. “He’s an incredible player. He’s gotten a lot better in the last year. He completely expanded his game.”

The only thing that nearly stopped Barnes was foul trouble. He picked up his fourth foul — after back-to-back offensive fouls — with two minutes left in the second quarter. Mallory said he looked over to the bench at his team’s coaches and muttered, “We’ve got this.”

That sparked the Lions, who weren’t clicking offensively. They shot 1-of-15 from behind the 3-point arc. They missed nine free throws.

But they went on a few runs by driving to the rim for layups, drilling mid-range jumpers and scoring on floaters. Sophomore Clarence King scored 15 points while Mallory added 14 points and eight assists.

Each time the Lions looked on the verge of taking the lead, Barnes was there using the scoreboard like Batman uses a Bat Signal. Even with four fouls, he was just as dominant. He scored 13 of his game-high 36 points in the last four minutes.

“I thought we responded well,” Buffalomeat said. “We fought back the whole game. We just couldn’t get those last couple points toward the end.”

The Lions will play Wichita East at 3:15 p.m. today.

All-Academic selections: Five Lawrence players were named the Topeka Invitational Tournament’s all-academic team: Buffalomeat, Mallory, Jake Rajewski, Braden Solko and Trey Quartlebaum.

WICHITA SOUTHEAST (69)

Israel Barnes 13-21 5-7 36, Treyveyon Campbell 2-3 3-4 7, Ollie McGee 2-3 0-0 5, Johnny Murdock 3-8 1-3 8, Tarik Adkins 2-3 1-7 5, Tony Riley 2-4 0-0 6, Malik Perkins 1-2 0-0 2, Ty Butner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-44 10-21 69.

LAWRENCE (66)

Braden Solko 0-2 1-2 1, Brett Chapple 0-1 1-2 1, Clarence King 7-13 0-2 15, Jackson Mallory 7-15 0-0 14, Kobe Buffalomeat 7-7 3-4 17, Anthony Selden 1-2 1-2 3, Noah Butler 2-7 0-2 4, Trey Quartlebaum 2-5 0-0 4, Austin Miller 2-5 3-4 7. Totals 28-57 9-18 66.

Southeast 30 13 8 18 — 69

Lawrence 15 18 11 22 — 66

Three-point goals: Southeast 8-14 (Barnes 4, Riley 2, McGee, Murdock); Lawrence 1-15 (King). Fouled out: Perkins. Turnovers: Southeast 20, Lawrence 13.