photo by: Chris Duderstadt

Lawrence High senior Clarence King elevates for a layup during the Lions' 73-64 victory against Shawnee Mission East on Jan. 29, 2019 at LHS.

Lawrence High senior Clarence King didn’t ask for much on his birthday on Tuesday, but there was one thing he wanted really badly – a victory against Shawnee Mission East.

King did everything in his power to make his wish come true, as he scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Lions to a 73-64 win over the Lancers.

“That was really good,” King said. “That’s all I wanted for my birthday was just a ‘W'”

King gave the Lions an early spark by scoring eight of the Lions’ 17 first-quarter points. Despite putting up 70-plus points again, the Lions (11-1, No. 3 in 6A) found themselves in a grind-it-out defensive battle for much of the night against the Lancers (8-4, No. 9 in 6A).

The tooth-and-nail type game is one that the LHS senior often thrives in, though. Despite picking up two fouls in the first quarter. Chapple kept his composure to score 6 of the Lions’ 9 points in the second quarter, and helped give LHS a 26-24 edge going into the locker room. The LHS forward finished with 10 points.

“They both were offensive fouls. I had to stop being as aggressive on the offensive boards so I didn’t pick up that third foul,” Chapple said. “My guys were just finding me inside and I was scoring.”

The high-flying LHS offense came alive in the second half, but the Lions couldn’t quite shake free of the Lancers until the final 2 1/2 minutes. Senior Trey Quartlebaum provided the dagger for the Lions when he drained a 3-pointer from the wing despite getting fouled on the play. Quartlebaum sank the free throw to convert the four-play, which put the Lions up 62-51 with 2:10 remaining.

“It was nice because my shots weren’t really falling in the first half,” Quartlebaum, who netted 17 of his 21 points in the second half, said. “It just gave me a little bit of momentum. That was the ultimate goal.”

Zeke Mayo joined King, Quartlebaum and Chapple in double figures with 14 points.

The Lions will try to push their winning streak to 12 when they hit the road to take on Olathe North (No. 6 in 6A) at 7 p.m. Friday.

“Composure,” Lawrence High coach Mike Lewis simply said of the point of emphasis against the Eagles. “You’re out on the road on a Friday against a good, athletic team. We’ll have to take care of the ball and we’ll have to guard.”

Lawrence 17 7 22 25 — 73

SM East 14 10 19 21 — 64

Lawrence (73)

Zeke Mayo 5-9 3-3 14, Clarence King 8-12 5-8 23, Brett Chapple 5-6 0-1 10, Trey Quartlebaum 5-13 7-9 21, Mayson Quartlebaum 1-5 2-4 5, Bryant Graham 0-1 0-0 0, Willie Dotson 0-1 0-0 0, Eric Galbreath 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 24-46 17-25 73.

SM East (64)

Tony Friend 0-7 5-7 5, Andy Maddox 4-8 4-5 16, Price Terrill 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Arensberg 6-17 0-0 13, Jack Gilman 0-0 0-0 0, Jack Slaughter 0-0 0-0 0, Preston Reynolds 3-7 2-4 8, Noah Kurlbaum 7-12 1-2 18, Will Townsend 2-2 0-0 4. Totals: 22-53 12-18 64.

3-point goals: Lawrence 8-25 (Trey Quartlebaum 4, Clarence King 2, Zeke Mayo 1, Mayson Quartlebaum 1); SM East 8-24 (Andy Maddox 4, Noah Kurlbaum 3, Nick Arensberg 1). Turnovers: Lawrence 13, SM East 6. Fouled out: None.