Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State’s Brendan Barrett shoots a 3-pointer during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Free State led nearly wire-to-wire in a convincing 58-48 Sunflower League victory over the visiting Shawnee Mission West Vikings during a boys basketball game on Friday night.
Free State head coach Dwayne Paul said his squad still has much room for improvement.
“In Sunflower-play, it doesn’t matter how you get a win,” Paul said. “A win is a win.”
The contest got off to a bizarre start as Free State was sent to the line for a pair of free throws — stemming from a technical foul assessed against the Vikings 45 minutes prior to tip-off.
As the boys teams were warming up during halftime of the girls varsity contest, referees hit Shawnee Mission West with a technical for violating a rule precluding slam dunks.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State’s Ethan Prescott jumps into the air for a layup attempt during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Free State (3-3, 1-1 Sunflower League) trailed only briefly in the first quarter, but quickly regained a 9-7 edge via star forward Bennett Nagel’s feathery shooting touch from long-range.
The opening frame concluded with Packson McDaniel’s buzzer-beating layup for a 14-10 Free State lead. McDaniel opened the second quarter by crashing the offensive glass for a stick-back lay-in. Soon after, sophomore point guard Brenden Barrett sliced his way into the lane for a bucket at the rim and an 18-12 Free State lead.
Nagel and Barrett combined for 15 points as the Firebirds held a 30-22 halftime advantage.
Barrett’s speed in transition and first-step explosiveness in the half-court set proved to be too much for the Vikings’ beleaguered defense, as evidenced by the 6-foot-2 scoring guard’s blow-by bucket to put the Firebirds up by 10 in the opening moments of the second half.
Barrett also displayed his silky midrange game, draining a 12-foot pull-up jumper from the left elbow for a 37-28 Free State lead. The Vikings didn’t go quietly as freshman guard Ian Riley deployed a pumpfake to get his defender off-balance, before stepping to the left and drilling a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 37-31.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State’s Jayden Williams releases the ball for a jump shot while falling backward during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
On the other end, Nagel bulldozed his way into the paint for a layup. Ethan Prescott then quickly followed with another point-blank bucket as the Firebirds built a 46-31 cushion entering the fourth quarter.
Barrett drilled a 3-pointer from the left wing to open the final frame, and sophomore center Reese Wilmes dropped in his lone field goal attempt of the contest for a 51-35 advantage.
Paul was somewhat pleased with squad’s play through the first 24 minutes of action, but said they were “sloppy” in the final frame.
“We did some good things and some not-so-good things,” he said. “When we got to a point where we knew what was going to work and we started to do those things, I thought we did what a lot of high school kids do and we kind of got sloppy.
… “It’s more about how you win and how you lose. If we play hard and shots aren’t falling and we lose — I can live with that. But I don’t feel like we [played] the right way consistently. I felt like guys were trying to get themselves back [on track], but we’ve got to get ourselves going within the flow of the offense.”
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State head coach Dwayne Paul calls out to his team as the Firebirds start an offensive possession during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Nagel poured in a game-high 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting, to go along with three steals and two rebounds. Barrett finished with 12 points, including 6 of 6 from the free throw line. McDaniel chipped in 7 points while Prescott added a team-high six rebounds. The Firebirds outrebounded the Vikings by a 28-21 margin, and 10 to four on the offensive glass.
Despite the efficient offensive performance, Nagel said it was “emphasized” to him by coaches after the game that he was “too selfish” and should have focused on getting his teammates more involved.
“I just got to get back in the gym, talk to my teammates, and be a team player,” Nagel told reporters.
Paul clarified that he does not consider any of his players to be “naturally selfish.” He said his preference would have been for Nagel to finish with more than two assists.
“I want to see Bennett have 17 and 7 and not 17 and 2,” Paul said.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State’s Bennett Nagel looks to drive around his defender during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
Barrett, who appeared mostly unguardable, said he was “seeing a lot of open gaps” in the Vikings’ leaky perimeter defense.
“They were pushing up on me a little too much, but I knew I had a quicker first step,” Barrett said. “So I tried to use that to my advantage and get downhill.”
Barrett said he was thrilled with his defensive performance, while Paul echoed those sentiments.
“He has taken a huge step defensively from last year,” Paul said, adding that Bennett has embraced the role of lockdown perimeter defender.
Free State is idle until Jan. 5 when it returns to the court for a challenging non-league home clash with the undefeated Topeka West Chargers. The jam-packed week also includes matchups with St. Joseph Central and Gardner Edgerton.
“It’s going to be a brutal week,” Paul said, adding that he wants his team to get healthy over winter break.
Mac Moore/Lawrence Sports
Free State’s Brayden DeBruin goes up for a contested layup during a boys basketball against Shawnee Mission West on Dec. 19 at Free State High School.
