photo by: Chance Parker

Lawrence senior Pearse Long dribbles the ball against Topeka West. Lawrence fell 59-57 during the 61st Annual Topeka Invitational Tournament on Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022 at Highland Park High School.

Pearse Long began thinking about the future not too long ago, and that caused him to think about the past.

When he was a freshman at Lawrence High, his senior teammates used to tell Long to appreciate every day he spends playing basketball for the Lions. That time will go by too fast, they warned him, and Long didn’t understand how that could be possible.

Now he does.

“It for sure did,” Long said. “I’m cherishing this season every game, and I’m trying to be positive every game and not be down too much because it’s my last year playing for the Lions.”

That last year has led Long here — and to the City Showdown, which will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday at Free State High.

The Lions (16-3), ranked No. 5 in Class 6A, enter the game against the top-ranked Firebirds (15-1) on an eight-game winning streak, and that’s to say nothing of the three consecutive games they’ve won in the series.

Long and his classmates don’t know what it’s like to lose to Free State. They don’t want to find out, either.

“It’s going to be obviously one of the biggest, most emotional games there is that we will play in, unless there’s a state tournament championship,” said point guard Truman Juelsgaard. “We know those guys on the other side of town. We just have to play our game and be who the Lawrence Lions are and just play for the name on our chest.”

Four seniors start for the Lions — Long, Juelsgaard, Avion Nelson and Baylor Bowen. Fellow seniors Grant Cleavinger, Hobbs Herlihy, Jabari Johnson and Zeric Avery play off the bench.

Add them to the Lions’ leading scorer in sophomore Zaxton King, as well as juniors Lance Bassett and Cole Watson, and Lawrence High has a rotation that’s 11 players deep — and tall. Eight of them are at least 6-foot-2, with Long and Cleavinger standing 6-foot-5.

“For me, when I’m tired, it’s just like, ‘All right, let’s get the other players in,'” Nelson said. “I just like seeing my guys get out there and run and play and have fun and everything.”

Long acknowledged that approach was difficult for the Lions early in the season, given that they were used to going only seven or eight players deep last year and it meant everyone would be playing reduced minutes.

“It hasn’t been completely smooth sailing, but our guys understand the value of just being a great teammate in situations when they’re not getting as much playing time as they would like,” coach Mike Lewis said. “We really emphasize that when your number is called and it’s your opportunity to step out on the floor, we hope we put you in position to be successful in practice and understand what we’re trying to accomplish.”

On Friday, that means a victory. The Lawrence girls will face Free State at 5:30 p.m., with the boys’ game to follow. Tickets will be available until the gym is sold out, masks will be required for attendees and the game will be streamed via LHS’s Room 308 Productions YouTube channel.

The Lions will play one more home game Tuesday, against Shawnee Mission South, before the postseason begins.

Nelson, like Long, is excited for a potential state championship run; LHS has made it to the past seven Class 6A state tournaments. But a recent talk with his mother, Lisa Hatter, brought the reality of the end of his time playing for the Lions into focus.

“I really don’t want to leave high school just yet,” said Nelson, who will play football at Washburn. “It’s like, ‘Just give me one more year.’ But on the other hand, I’m like, ‘It’s time to put on the big-boy pants now and time to go out and start living on my own and making my own decisions.'”