Lawrence boys basketball players, Anthony Selden (14) and Braden Solko, embrace after a narrow defeat in Saturday’s Kansas 6A state championship Saturday, March 11. The Lions were defeated by the Huskies, 64-61.

Wichita ? Waiting for the trophy presentation to begin after a loss in the Class 6A state championship game Saturday, Lawrence High seniors Kobe Buffalomeat and Jackson Mallory embraced in a long, tearful hug.

In their final high school game together, they nearly shocked the state.

Against top-seeded Blue Valley Northwest, the Lions rallied from an 18-point deficit at the beginning of the fourth quarter, but couldn’t get that final shot to drop in a 64-61 thriller at Wichita State’s Koch Arena.

The Lions (17-8) missed their final four attempts from the field after sophomore Brett Chapple scored on a put-back, while being fouled, to cut the score to 62-61 with 28 seconds remaining.

Inbounding the ball from under their own hoop with five seconds left — down by three points — the Lions were unable to fire a desperation shot before the ball was knocked out of bounds.

“It stings, but I immediately just go back to how proud I am of our team,” Lawrence coach Mike Lewis said. “What fight. What grit. Just the determination they had. Just very proud to be their coach.”

When Lawrence trailed by 22 points in the third quarter, it didn’t look like the Lions could keep up with Blue Valley Northwest’s offense, which shot 68 percent from the floor in the first half.

But no matter how grim it appeared, the Lions never gave up hope.

Mallory, who was held scoreless in the first three quarters, delivered the spark in the fourth quarter. The 6-foot-2 guard scored 11 points in three minutes during a 13-2 run.

“We didn’t want to go down without a fight,” said the 6-5 Chapple, who had 11 points and nine rebounds. “We didn’t want to be embarrassed out there. We decided to pick it up and give it our all.”

The Huskies still kept the Lions at arm’s length away with a pair of buckets from 5-10 guard AJ Pleasant (16 points) and a two-handed slam in transition from senior Tulsa commit Darien Jackson (26 points, eight rebounds, four steals).

Lawrence played a triangle-and-two zone in the fourth quarter, using senior Braden Solko to face-guard Jackson, who scored 20 points in the first half, and leaving the 6-7, 285-pound Buffalomeat to protect the rim.

“We locked down on our defense,” said Buffalomeat, who was too sick to attend the team’s midday shootaround. “We picked up the intensity on everything. Then we started knocking down some shots — finally.”

With a minute left, LHS sophomore Clarence King picked up a loose ball and drilled a 3-pointer to cut his team’s deficit to four points, 62-58.

The Huskies (22-3) missed five straight free throws in the last three minutes, setting up Chapple’s and-one bucket to bring the crowd to a frenzy in a one-point game.

After another BVNW missed free throw, the left-handed King, who scored a team-high 19 points on 7-of-14 shooting, drove to the rim but couldn’t covert the layup as his body slammed to the ground.

The Huskies followed with two free throws for a three-point lead with 18 seconds left. Looking to tie the score, the Lions had three offensive rebounds on their last possession, including a deep 3-point attempt from Austin Miller that looked eerily similar to the game-tying shot by North Carolina’s Marcus Paige in the 2016 NCAA title game.

“We fought, man,” Mallory said. “We showed what a Chesty Lion really means. I think we can hold our heads up. At the same time, being that close just sucks.”

The two schools traded leads seven times before the Huskies ended the first half on an 18-0 run. In the second quarter, BVNW made 11 of 14 shots from the floor (79 percent) and Lawrence was scoreless for the final three-and-a-half minutes.

“We could’ve been in that locker room saying, ‘That’s embarrassing.’ But we came together and we fought back,” Buffalomeat said. “Just happy with these guys. We had a rough year but no one thought we’d make it back and we almost got a state championship.”

Throughout the third quarter, the Lions couldn’t make up any ground on their 18-point halftime deficit. Sophomore Noah Butler scored on a put-back, junior Anthony Selden added a block and sophomore Trey Quartlebaum tried to find driving lanes, but each time the Huskies responded with points — and usually dunks.

In the huddle before the fourth quarter, the Lions reminded themselves that no deficit is too big with eight minutes on the clock, and they didn’t want to fold.

Eight minutes later, despite a loss, they walked out of the building leaving their fans proud.

“Everybody who made the trip down here got to see a hell of a basketball game,” Lewis said. “I know we’re very proud of this team. Just a really special game. We had our chances. Just needed a couple of things to go our way.”

LAWRENCE (61)

Braden Solko 0-4 0-0 0, Brett Chapple 4-5 3-3 11, Clarence King 7-14 2-4 19, Jackson Mallory 4-9 5-5 14, Kobe Buffalomeat 3-5 0-0 6, Anthony Selden 1-2 0-0 2, Noah Butler 2-6 2-3 6, Austin Miller 1-7 1-2 3, Trey Quartlebaum 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-54 13-17 61.

BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST (64)

AJ Pleasant 6-16 4-5 16, Jamicheal Morgan 3-4 0-3 6, Parker Braun 2-2 0-0 4, Darien Jackson 10-16 5-8 26, Joseph Pleasant 2-6 0-0 4, Sam Ward 1-3 0-0 3, Jacob Clark 1-2 1-2 3, Jackson Heath 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 26-50 10-18 64.

Lawrence 15 10 9 27 — 61

BVNW 16 27 9 12 — 64

3-point goals: Lawrence 4-10 (King 3, Mallory); BVNW 2-6 (Jackson, Ward). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Lawrence 14, BVNW 10.