It’s games like these that Lawrence High senior Dorian Green was built for.

Season on the line, LHS as the underdog, all eyes of the high school basketball world focused on the gymnasium he’s playing in.

If you hadn’t seen him go through pre-game warm-ups in the classic candy-striped pants and black warm-up shirt dozens of times before, you’d half expect him to ride in on a horse wearing a white cowboy hat while the soundtrack to a rugged, old Western plays in the background.

Like it or not, Dorian Green is a legend.

He’s one of the greatest basketball players in the rich history of Lawrence High and at 5 tonight, when his Lions (13-8) take on Shawnee Mission East (15-6) for the right to advance to the Class 6A state tournament in Emporia, he will be the one the Lions look to to set the tone for the night.

A wise move to be sure, because Green always seems to be at his calmest when the stakes are the highest. He thrives on pressure, gets a rush of adrenaline from the big time and always finds a way to deliver when his team needs it most.

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Although he cemented his place as an LHS icon with his run through the state tournament last season, the roots of his greatness surfaced during his sophomore season. Leading a team loaded with weapons, LHS coach Chris Davis found it harder to think of ways to keep Dorian off the floor than ways to get his blossoming superstar sophomore some minutes.

Try as he did, Davis caved to the greatness for most of the second half of the season and Green worked his way into the regular rotation.

The bar was raised substantially prior to Green’s junior season and, once again, he answered the bell, leading the seventh-seeded Lions to a sub-state championship and a berth in the Class 6A state title game.

LHS lost that one and the only thought Green was left with was one of unfinished business. Getting there was great. Not winning it all was devastating.

And so, as his senior season rolled around, the expectations reached an all-time high. Not since Danny Manning walked the halls at LHS had so much been expected of a Lawrence High Lion. Green has not disappointed.

During his team’s 21 games leading up to tonight, the 6-foot-1 guard has scored in double figures in all 21, including totals of more than 26 points on eight different occasions. His season low was 14 points — during a regular-season victory over Shawnee Mission West — and his season high was 37 in an 82-80 loss to Blue Valley.

Green has scored 34 twice, 29 once, 28 once and 27 twice. Not once did he hog the ball or try to go outside of the offense to get his.

Perhaps that’s the best thing of all about Green, the part of the legend that often gets overlooked. As great as he is as a scorer, he’s an equally outstanding teammate. Green’s driving force is winning, not scoring points, getting his name in the paper or impressing the college scouts. He’d just assume score four and win as score 37 and lose.

And tonight, as the No. 3 seed Lions go for revenge against the No. 2 seeded Lancers at Free State High, Green will do whatever it takes to get his team the victory.