When Lawrence High’s boys basketball players are playing at their best, they look unbeatable. But in the Topeka Invitational Tournament championship on Saturday, they just couldn’t find their rhythm for a few stretches.


Against undefeated Wichita East, the Lions couldn’t afford some of those mistakes and they suffered their first loss of the season, 83-72.


In the first quarter, the Lions shot 3-for-12 from the field and struggled with interior defense. The Aces jumped out to a 21-11 lead.


“We didn’t start the game shooting real well, missed a couple layups and a couple of those three-pointers,” LHS coach Mike Lewis said. “The three-point shot is just so big. It just creates so much momentum and energy and fuels you on defense. We missed, I don’t know, three or four at least in that first half at the beginning of the game that we needed.”


In the second quarter, the Lions responded well to a fiery timeout by Lewis, and cut the score to 33-30 at halftime. They tied the score midway through the third quarter before things went downhill for an eight-minute stretch — a 32-11 run by the Aces when East shot 58 percent from the field (11-for-19).


“Offensively, I thought we played a little too much one-on-one,” Lewis said. “We tried to take the load on our own shoulders instead of playing as a team. Not the whole game, just a few possessions where I wish we would have bounced it a little bit more or said, ‘We’re going to go side-to-side with this thing. We’re going to run our set.’ But we got caught up in the moment a little bit and just decided to take it one-on-one. It didn’t help us tonight.”


LHS nearly made up for its mistakes with a furious rally in the last three minutes. It would’ve been one of the best comebacks in tournament history. I don’t really buy into the idea that an undefeated team benefits with a loss so it can refocus, but the Lions have to feel good knowing that they were within four points at the end of the game after having a few bad stretches. .


“We just kind of scratched and clawed our way to stay in it, which I’m really proud of our guys,” Lewis said. “That’s who we are. We’re not going to fold. We’re not going to curl up. We’re going to fight to the end and our guys proved that.”


In case you missed it, we’re copying one of the popular features of KUsports.com, “Keegan’s Ratings,” where Sports Editor Tom Keegan ranks KU football and men’s basketball players after every game he attends and I’m bringing back the high school ratings for this basketball season. These individual rankings are just one person’s opinion, but it’s a good way to look at how each person impacted each game.

Lawrence High boys basketball

1. Price Morgan, jr. — After LHS coach Mike Lewis lit into his team in the second quarter, Morgan responded with some of his best play of the season. He completed a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and he played great defense in the low post. His most memorable play was flying out of nowhere for a tip slam that pumped up his team and the crowd in the third quarter.


2. Anthony Bonner, sr. — Bonner was off and on with his shot all game, but he did his best to pick his team up in the fourth quarter, when he scored 10 of his team-high 24 points. The senior also added four rebounds and a steal, but he did have four turnovers.


3. Justin Roberts, jr. — As he’s done a few times this season, Roberts gave the Lions’ offense a lift in the second quarter with six of his 21 points. He did a good job of driving to the rim and making layups or getting to the free throw line. He had two rebounds, two assists and two steals, but there wasn’t much he could do defensively to limit Samajae Jones, who heated up in the second half for 22 points.


4. John Barbee, sr. — Barbee seemed frustrated with a few hand check calls by officials, and it took him a while to find an offensive rhythm. But he scored seven points in the Lions’ furious rally down the stretch. He added seven rebounds.


5. Ben Rajewski, sr. — Rajewski had a few open threes, but just couldn’t get them to drop, shooting 0 for 4 from behind the three-point line. He finished with four points, three rebounds and an assist. I thought he did a solid job playing defense on the perimeter and helping out in the post.


6. Fred Brou, jr. — The 6-foot-5 junior just couldn’t find a rhythm against East. He missed his only shot (on a putback) and had two rebounds. He played solid defense when he was in, but did pick up a couple of quick fouls.


7. Logan Applegate, sr. — Applegate scored his only basket, beating the defense down the floor after East hit a three late in the third quarter. He played good defense when he was in the game.


8. Anthony Harvey, jr. — Harvey missed his only shot, a three-pointer, but had a nice assist in the fourth quarter for a layup by Morgan.


9. Jackson Mallory, so. — Mallory picked up some quality minutes in the fourth quarter, and he played good defense, helping force a few turnovers down the stretch. He didn’t attempt a shot or record any stats.


10. Tae Shorter, sr. — Shorter entered the game in the final minute to foul when the Lions were trying to make their comeback.


• Next up: 7 p.m. Feb. 6 at SM South. Record: 12-1.
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