Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s Marley Doleman flashes a 3-point signal after draining a triple during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
Trailing by one with less than 10 seconds to go, the players on the court for the Lawrence High girls basketball team knew they needed to move quickly and try to get in position for a one final heave at the basket.
If not, the Lions season would come to end against Shawnee Mission Northwest at home in the 6A sub-state semifinals on Tuesday night.
A pair of sophomore guards dished the ball around hoping to find somebody who was open and ready to take the shot. A close-range shot from junior forward Cami Nauholz would have not only been enough to get the victory, it would have been a look from the team’s leading scorer this season.
Instead, the ball made its way into the hands of Marley Doleman, a freshman.
Despite her age, Doleman showed little hesitation before launching a 3-pointer from more than 20-plus feet away from the basket. Her high-arcing shot hit nothing but net, sending the Lawrence High student section onto the court and into a frenzy as the team and the fans celebrated a 49-47 win for the Lions.
Doleman said in the moment she was thinking, “We need the shot.”
“She wasn’t guarding up so… shot,” Doleman said.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s players mob Marley Doleman after she hit a game-winner 3-pointer during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
In a back-and-forth contest, Shawnee Mission Northwest held a one-point lead as the game got under two minutes left to play. Lawrence got a stop on defense, with Nauholz pulling down the defensive board. On the other end of the floor, the Lions ran a play that got the ball to Nauholz in the paint. She wasted little time pulling up for a running hook shot over her defender, which she converted to put her team up 46-45.
With less than two minutes left and a 47–46 deficit, Lawrence made an important defensive stop, exactly what the team stressed at its final timeout. Cami Nauholz said the message in the huddle was “to get a stop.”
Sophomore guard Zoey Barber added: “Even if you need to put your body on the line, we need that stop.”
Lawrence even seemed like they were going to get the final stop, as Nauholz pressured a Rikai Cook into arcing a 3-point attempt so high that the ball nosedived into the post and well short of the basket. But without Nauholz protecting the rim, Tess Zans was able to pull down the offensive rebound and immediately attempt a shot over Lawrence senior Jada Baars-Turner. Zans’ floater bounced off the backboard and rim before rolling in for the go-ahead score.
Lawrence swiftly moved the ball up the floor after Shawnee Mission Northwest had regained the lead on a late basket. As Lions head coach Jeff Dickson intended, Barber inbounded the ball, and the Lions launched an attack before the defense could regroup.
“We want to get the ball up the court as quickly as possible and catch them before they can get a second defense,” Dickson said. “We got it to our hottest kid of the night, and she pulled up and took a nice shot.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s Marley Doleman shoots a 3-pointer during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
Doleman’s 3 sealed the comeback and set off the court-storming celebration.
Sophomore guard Lucy Jane Juelsgaard’s 3-pointer to start the game gave Lawrence control of the early pace. Through defensive pressure and transition scoring, the team led 8–2 halfway through the first quarter.
However, Shawnee Mission Northwest rallied late in the first with an 8-0 run, grabbing a 10-8 lead thanks to timely shots and excellent guard play. As Lawrence struggled to finish plays, Abby O’Connor’s perimeter scoring helped the Cougars extend the lead to 18–12 in the second quarter.
Lawrence took back control in the final minutes of the first half. Baars-Turner knocked down a 3-point that reduced the margin to just 23-21 at the break.
Thanks to precise shooting and defensive play, especially a late three from Jada Baars-Turner that reduced the halftime lead to 23–21.
After Ruth Gipson and O’Connor made successive baskets, Shawnee Mission Northwest increased its lead to nine points during the third quarter.
But Lawrence responded with defensive stops, which translated into scoring on the end, to tighten up the margin late in third quarter and early in the fourth.
Barber’s hustle produced extra possessions and forced turnovers, while Macyn Ramsay delivered a couple 3-pointers and several important defensive plays, including a crucial block, to generate momentum down the stretch.
“Defense wins games,” Barber said. “Our teammates help hold us down and keep our heads up.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s Zoey Barber battles for possession of a loose ball during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
Midway through the fourth quarter, Barber made a game-tying 3-pointer for the Lions, and Doleman followed with a beyond-the-arc shot to give Lawrence its first lead since the second quarter.
Doleman delivered a team-high 17 points, while Baars-Turner added another nine points and Ramsey contributed eight points. Nauholz, who spent much of the game having multiple defenders focused on her and getting pulled away from the basket on the other end as she defended a fellow mobile big in Gipson, finished the game with six points.
The Lions were forced to rely on perimeter shooting as the Cougars regularly collapsed into the paint to restrict Lawrence’s interior scoring.
“Their game plan was to crush in on Cami,” Barber said. “When she got the ball and kicked it out, those big-time 3s really helped us.”
Nauholz agreed that opportunities were generated from outside shooting. “When they put three or four people in the paint, it’s really hard to score in there,” she said. “Shooting good from three helps.”
O’Connor led Shawnee Mission Northwest with 12 points while Gipson scored seven points.
Dickson pointed the game-winner by Doleman, specifically the freshman being ready and willing to take the big shot, as being a reflection of the team’s identity.
“I think it says a lot about the culture of our team that as a freshman she feels comfortable taking those shots,” Dickson said. “They all lift each other and empower each other.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s Cami Nauholz blocks a shot during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
The Lions have now won seven of their last ten games, “We talked about keeping competing,” Dickson said. “It’s them believing in themselves and having a good mentality about making the next play.”
Lawrence hopes that tonight’s electrifying victory will carry over into Friday’s game as the postseason continues.
“It’s very special,” Nauholz said. “The energy from this game will carry into the next one. There aren’t a lot of expectations for us, but we can prove ourselves and show what we’re capable of.”
With the victory, Lawrence (14-10) advances to sub-state finals at 6 p.m. Friday night on the road against Olathe South (19-5). The Falcons defeated the Lions 57-34 during a Dec. 16 matchup. In that game, Olathe South also played that game without junior forward Eve Long, who is rated as a five-star prospect by most recruiting sites.
As Dickson told his team afterward, the message moving forward is simple: “To try and shock some people.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s players celebrate a made 3-pointer by Marley Doleman during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s students storm the court of a last-second victory by the Lions during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Lawrence High’s players celebrate a made 3-pointer during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission Northwest on March 3 at Lawrence High School.
