TOPEKA — With a lethargic start to the second half and Topeka High sneaking back into the game, Anthony Selden went up with the intention of waking up his team.

He darn near just shut the whole game — and tournament — down.

With Lawrence High ahead by seven in its 78-77 overtime win to lead off the Topeka Invitational Basketball Tournament, Selden drove toward the hoop in transition. A defender tried to sneak in and steal the ball, so Selden picked it up, swung it behind his back and went up for a forceful one-hand slam, bulldozing his way through a second Trojan, who went up to block the shot.

The Lions will play in the semifinals at 6 p.m. today at Highland Park.

“I was not expecting that,” said teammate Clarence King. “I was looking for a jelly layup. When he behind-the-back dunked that, I was pretty shocked. I kinda jumped a little bit.”

The crowd — which included several other teams taking place in the tournament — erupted. Watching on the other end of the court, one team’s players all jumped up and down, mobbing each other as if they couldn’t believe what they saw.

The ball bounced away. A whistle blew.

The players stood around as if a timeout had been called.

“The game’s not over,” a parent shouted out from the stands.

Not by a long shot.

The Lions (7-3), who built up a double-digit advantage in the first half, allowed their opponent to creep back into the game.

Once behind by as many as 13, Topeka’s King Sutton scored with just over four minutes left to cut the deficit to two. Larry White (26 points) tied the game moments later with a layup.

“I thought we had some good looks and we played well under pressure (early),” said LHS coach Mike Lewis. “And then I thought we played very poorly under pressure (in the fourth quarter).”

Ahead by three with less than 15 seconds to play, the Lions watched as Ky Thomas (31 points) drilled a contested 3-pointer to tie the game. With 1.5 seconds left on the clock, the Lions needed a prayer to avoid overtime.

They nearly got one.

“It was in,” King said. “I looked at the line before I shot it. I do that every time.”

Inbounding from near center court, Van Dave Jacob found King some 35 feet from the hoop. King turned and launched a near-half-court shot while falling out of bounds.

The shot hit off the backboard and fell through the net. The crowd again erupted, at least until the referee blew his whistle to signal that King had stepped out of bounds.

“I think he’s in. We had three good officials, and there’s probably a good chance that he’s out of bounds,” admitted Lewis. “I liked our look. We ran our look and got our shot.”

Ultimately, it didn’t matter.

King settled everyone down going into the extra period, where he knocked down six free throws.

Topeka, which again trailed by three on its final possession of overtime, opted to drive to the basket for a 2-pointer. Time expired as the shot went in, sealing the LHS win.

“It is what it is. We still came out with the win,” King said. “After that play, I was like, ‘We’ve got to push it.’ That just made me want to do more.”

Lawrence (78)

Anthony Selden 5-6 2-2 12, Brett Chapple 7-12 1-3 15, Trey Quartlebaum 6-16 3-4 16, Jake Rajewski 1-2 0-0 2, Savonni Shazor 1-2 0-2 3, Clarence King 4-14 7-9 15, Van Dave Jacob 2-9 4-4 8, Zeke Mayo 3-5 0-0 7. Totals 29-66 17-24 78.

Topeka (77)

Larry White 9-29 7-12 26, Da’Vonshai Harden 2-7 2-2 6, Ky Thomas 12-24 4-7 31, Marques Hidalgo 1-1 0-0 2, Key’Andre Smith 1-6 0-0 2, King Sutton 2-4 4-4 8, Carlos Esquibel 0-1 2-3 2, Darren Canty 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-72 19-28 77.

Lawrence 19 17 8 22 12 — 78

Topeka 8 19 11 28 11 — 77

Three-point goals: Lawrence 3-12 (Quartlebaum, Shazor, Mayo 1); Topeka 4-16 (Thomas 3, White 1). Turnovers: Lawrence 15, Topeka 13.