Free State High girls basketball coach Bryan Duncan knew it was only a matter of time before his teamâÂÂs inexperience showed.

DuncanâÂÂs young squad struggled down the stretch and Junction City emerged with a 63-49 victory on Friday night at the FSHS gym.

âÂÂI think we saw the lack of experience we have at the varsity level,â Duncan said.

The Firebirds were within two baskets until the final minutes of the third quarter, but couldnâÂÂt overcome their own mental mistakes in the final eight minutes.

Free State committed 10 of its 27 turnovers in the final quarter and the 2-1 Blue Jays capitalized, mostly with wide-open layups.

âÂÂTonight showed that we have the capability to compete with the higher-caliber teams,â Duncan said. âÂÂBut we have to cut out mental mistakes for a whole game in order to do that.âÂÂ

In the first half, Free State limited its mistakes and kept close. Senior Jayme Lisher scored 14 points and the Firebirds were able to capitalize on possessions in the paint.

But by the end of the third period, Junction City had increased its lead to 10 (46-36).

Two baskets gave Junction City its largest lead of 14, but Free State responded. The Firebirds sliced the deficit to 10 on back-to-back baskets by juniors Wallis Romzek and Lauren Abney.

Shortly thereafter, however, Free State committed six straight turnovers and Junction City cruised behind Brianna Buchanan, younger sister of Kansas State senior forward Quentin Buchanan. She scored 14 of her game-high 21 points in the fourth quarter.

Lisher, Free StateâÂÂs leading scorer, was limited to just two free throws in the final 16 minutes.

âÂÂWeâÂÂre taking this as a learning experience,â Duncan said. âÂÂWeâÂÂre young, but weâÂÂre going to have to play solid down the stretch in games like this.âÂÂ

Free State (1-1) will travel to Kansas City Washington on Monday.