It’s almost always a dogfight when Lee’s Summit West and Lee’s Summit North square off. Add in a full house and a district title on the line, and it becomes a backyard brawl.

Lee’s Summit West jumped ahead early and never trailed, but the Titans still had to hang on for three quarters until they could pull away for a 71-57 victory in the Missouri Class 5 District 13 final in front of a packed house at Lee’s Summit High School.

“This time of the year, when you’re ending people’s seasons, they’re gonna fight,” LS West coach Michael Schieber said. “I thought we weathered a lot of storms tonight. We played through a lot of adversity tonight.”

That adversity included playing much of the game without junior guard Mario Goodrich, a main spark on the Titans’ offense, who limped off the court after apparently injuring an ankle just before halftime. LS West led 35-27 at the half, but LS North battled back and cut the deficit to 47-43 by the end of the third quarter.

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