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Shawnee Mission West’s Palmer McLaughlin blocks the shot of Free State’s Aedri Grooms during a girls basketball game on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
A turnover-heavy performance spelled doom for the Free State Firebird girls basketball team in a 44-36 loss to visiting Sunflower League foe Shawnee Mission West Vikings on Friday night.
The Firebirds jumped out to a 3-0 lead after Libby Easter connected from long-range on the game’s opening possession, but were held to just one field goal over the final seven-plus minutes of the opening frame.
Shawnee Mission West opened the second quarter on an 8-0 spurt, including back-to-back 3-pointers to go on top 14-5. Free State freshman guard Quinlynn Vail’s driving layup, followed by an Addie Fulscher low-post score cut the Firebirds’ deficit to 19-16 late in the second half.
Free State struggled mightily to keep the Vikings off the offensive glass. Vikings’ freshman forward Aubrey Armour capitalized on a second chance opportunity midway through the third quarter — corralling an offensive rebound and scoring on a scoop shot to hand the Vikings a 27-20 lead.
Also hampering the Firebirds’ ability to fend off the Vikings on the glass was the absence of Sarai Preston, as the 5-foot-8 junior forward was on the shelf with an injury.
“We’re normally small, but that made us even smaller,” Free State head coach Summer Frantz said.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State head coach Summer Frantz communicates to her players from the bench during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, the Firebirds mounted a comeback. A Vail 3-pointer followed by freshman guard Morgan McClorey’s knifing layup punctuated an extended run, knotting the contest at 34 with 3:27 remaining in regulation.
On the ensuing possession, another Vikings’ offensive rebound led to Jamiya Carter’s 3-point make.
“What really hurts is that we gave up some key offensive rebounds that were momentum builders for them,” Frantz said. “We talked about it before the game, that rebounding was going to be a big thing — especially from our guards with some of those longer rebounds and with Sarai out.”
Shawnee Mission West stayed hot from beyond the arc as Madison Andre’s triple stretched its lead to 40-34. From there, a combination of ice cold shooting and turnovers enabled the Vikings to salt the contest away from the charity stripe.
Frantz also indicated that she felt that some inconsistency in calls by the officials did have an impact on her players during the game.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well, and it was a game where it was tough to know how it was going to be called at times,” Frantz said. “And I know that’s hard as a player to not know, necessarily, how it’s going to be called from play-to-play.”
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Free State’s Taylor Hulcher battles for a lose ball during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Free State also committed 21 turnovers on the night, many of those coming while the Firebirds were attempting to manufacture transition offense. Frantz said her squad was forcing the issue which resulted in “costly” turnovers.
“We talk a lot about that fine line of being aggressive and looking to go into transition, but then knowing when we don’t have anything,” she said. “So just being aggressive, but not in a hurry to where we are making some bad decisions.”
Despite the tough loss, Frantz said the Firebirds put forth a valiant effort.
“I thought we played really tough and I’m really proud of the girls for the way they played until the end,” she said.
For Free State, Vail concluded with a game-high 17 points, while knocking down three 3-pointers. Frantz said she was impressed with the freshman guard’s assertiveness on the offensive end.
“We’ve been challenging Quin to be more aggressive,” Frantz said. “We know what she can do — and the best thing about Quin is that she loves to compete.”
Free State (2-4 overall, 0-2 Sunflower League) returns to the court Jan. 9 for a road clash with Gardner Edgerton (0-5 overall, 0-2 Sunflower League).
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Shawnee Mission West’s Jordan Garcia gets fouled as Free State intentional fouls late to extend this girls basketball game on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
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Free State’s Quinlynn Vail launches a 3-pointer during a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State head coach Summer Frantz talks with Morgan McClorey during a break in the action of a girls basketball game against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
