Nijel Pack scored 20 of his 24 points in the second half to bring No. 3 Lawrence Central back from a halftime deficit to beat No. 16 North Central, 71-69.

North Central started hot as Mike Elliott hit a three-pointer on the first possession of the game. He connected on three triples in the first quarter. On the other end, Lawrence Central wasn’t knocking down shots. Dre Davis, Tae Davis, and Nijel Pack were able to score four to keep the Bears in it.

LC is the third best team in the state for a reason. They didn’t stay down for long. The Bears tied the game as senior guard Jasen Graves came off the bench to knock down a couple threes. Leland Walker scored a couple times and Theran Johnson hit a three to push North Central’s lead back to seven points.

At halftime, North Central was up five points, but Nijel Pack and Dre Davis were a combined 3-14. Those two are too good for that to continues, and it didn’t. In the third quarter, those two scored the first 17 points for Lawrence Central. It was night and day in the second half. Pack hit a three-pointers to tie it then second later hit another to give the Bears the lead. Pack scored 12 in the third quarter, while Dre Davis added nine. Behind them, LC took a four-point lead to the fourth period.

After a Jasen Graves three-pointer, Leland Walker scored a layup to get North Central back within five. Dre Davis answered with a driving layup but was called for a technical foul afterwards. That started a personal 8-0 run for Walker. He made the two tech free throws then banged back to back three-pointers. He took North Central from down seven to up one in a matter of seconds.

Down one, LC’s Tae Davis scored and added a free throw to put the Bears up two. Walker came right back to tie the game. It was officially the Leland Walker Show. Moment later, he made another three to put the Panthers up 64-62. Walker scored 18 points in the fourth quarter. He buried shot after shot to give North Central hope.

With under two minutes to play, Elliott scored inside to give North Central a one-point advantage. Pack answered by converting two free throws. With 48 seconds left, Pack was able to get a steal when Walker drove to the lane. Pack added two more free throws to put LC up three.

With North Central down three, it was Leland Walker time again. He hit a contested three-pointer to tie the game. With only a few seconds left, Pack rushed the ball up the court and attacked the basket. Although the officials had let contact go on previous possessions, Pack was awarded free throws on his drive.

Pack knocked down the two free throws to put LC up two points. Pack went 11-11 from the free throw line for the game.

There was only 1.6 seconds left, but Leland Walker nearly had one more thrill left. After letting the inbounds pass bounce, he grabbed the ball and shot from half court on the right side of the court. It hit glass before hitting the rim twice.

Lawrence Central won 71-69.

Pack’s 24 points led Lawrence Central. Dre Davis added 15 points and eight rebounds. Tae Davis had a stellar game with 14 points and seven rebounds. Jasen Graves added nine points on three threes. Greg Jenkins filled the stat sheet with six points, five rebounds, and four assists.

Leland Walker scored a game-high 29 points. He hit five three-pointers along the way. Mike Elliott finished with 13 points and seven rebounds. Theran Johnson added 12 points and 10 rebounds. Charlie Peterson recorded eight points and six rebounds. Jalen Clark had five points and four assists.