Lawrence High senior Marissa Pope dribbles at the top of the key against Blue Valley Southwest on Tuesday at Lawrence High.

Lawrence High sophomore Skylar Drum drives to the basket against Blue Valley Southwest on Tuesday at LHS.

Lawrence High senior Marissa Pope dribbles at the top of the key against Blue Valley Southwest on Tuesday at Lawrence High.

LHS junior Alexis Boyd puts up a short range shot Tuesday against Blue Valley Southwest at Lawrence High.

Lawrence High senior Marissa Pope puts up an off-balance layup against Blue Valley Southwest on Tuesday at LHS.

Lawrence High’s girls basketball coach Jeff Dickson has told his players it’s going to be a process for them to be successful this season.

Tuesday’s lesson was rebounding.

The Lions gave up 15 offensive rebounds in the first half in a 57-44 loss to Blue Valley Southwest at LHS and never recovered when the Timberwolves converted those offensive boards into an 11-point halftime lead.

“We talk about it. It’s one of those things where right now we spend a great deal of time on it in practice, but we’re just not getting that game transference from practice to the game,” Dickson said. “It’s a weakness right now. It’s something we can definitely improve on.”

The T’wolves (2-0) only shot 30 percent from the field (16-for-53), but they continued to find ways to get to the charity stripe, going 23-for-32 at the free-throw line.

“After giving up eight threes (in the season opener), we did not want to give up threes,” Dickson said. “I thought we did a better job of that. We only gave up two. But then that exposed another thing, when they drove, then we wanted to reach and grab, and we got those fouls.”

Blue Valley Southwest went on a 9-0 run, with five points from senior Taylor Westrom, over the last 21?2 minutes of the first quarter for a 17-8 advantage.

In the second quarter, the Lions (0-2) cut the score to five points through a 6-0 run highlighted by layups from freshman Talima Harjo, junior Devon Spoonhunter and freshman E’lease Stafford.

Spoonhunter finished with a team-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, as Stafford and point guards Marissa Pope and Skylar Drum found her under the basket for layups. Junior Alexis Boyd added eight points, and Stafford had seven.

“I didn’t even know I had nine points,” Spoonhunter said with a laugh. “I’m a post player. I mean, that’s what we work on in practice.”

After the Lions went on their run to trim the score to 23-18, Blue Valley Southwest ended the second quarter on a 7-1 outburst, as LHS missed three shots and turned the ball over three times to end the half.

At halftime, the Lions heard from Dickson about improving their effort on rebounds. It made a difference. They chased loose balls and didn’t give up as many second-chance points. Madison McKinney, a 5-foot-4 sophomore, led LHS with seven boards.

But even with better focus on the glass, the Lions just couldn’t get into a rhythm offensively or defensively to trim Blue Valley Southwest’s lead in the second half.

“I do think we’re improving as a team,” Drum said. “We’re more of a team. We work together better, and this is just a step. We’re going to go a long ways.”

The Lions will face Shawnee Heights at 7 p.m. Friday at LHS.

Lawrence (44)

Skylar Drum 2-4 0-0 5, Madison McKinney 2-3 0-0 4, E’lease Stafford 3-4 0-1 7, Marissa Pope 0-8 4-10 4, Devon Spoonhunter 4-6 1-4 9, Alexis Boyd 4-9 0-0 8, Oliva Lemus 1-3 0-0 2, Talima Harjo 2-2 0-1 5, Gracie Reinsch 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 18-40 5-16 44.

Blue Valley Southwest (57)

Rilynne Like 1-7 10-14 12, Cooper Courtney 2-8 2-2 7, Lauren York 5-11 2-3 12, Taylor Westrom 4-10 1-3 10, Laura Eldridge 4-9 4-4 12, Breezie Pedersen 0-2 4-6 4, Brooke Westrom 0-6 0-0 0. Totals 16-53 23-32 57.

BVSW 17 13 16 11 — 57

Lawrence 8 11 14 11 — 44

Three-point goals: Lawrence 3-11 (Drum, Stafford, Harjo); BVSW 2-12 (Courtney, T. Westrom). Fouled out: Spoonhunter, Stafford, Pope, York. Turnovers: Lawrence 24, BVSW 17.