The City Showdown is all about momentum, and Lawrence High’s boys basketball team had all of it in the second half on Friday.

Rebounds started bouncing in the right spots for the Lions. They won races for loose balls. And most of all, shots started dropping in a 79-65 victory over Free State in the school’s home opener at LHS.

The Lions shot a blistering 68 percent from the floor in the second half (15-for-22) and never allowed the Firebirds to pull any closer than seven points in the fourth quarter.

“We didn’t play our best offensively or defensively in the first half,” LHS senior point guard Justin Roberts said. “We knew we were going to come out and play a lot better. We weren’t worried in the locker room.”

After Free State senior forward Chrision Wilburn swished a jumper to open the third quarter, the Lions responded with a 14-1 run over the next four minutes. Roberts scored eight points in the spurt, senior forward Price Morgan added four points, and senior forward Fred Brou added a two-handed slam, assisted from Roberts.

For more, read the Lawrence Journal-World