In the handshake line following Olathe North’s 46-42 win over Free State, Eagles coach Nick Bradford pulled Caely Kesten aside and passed along words of encouragement. They couldn’t have been any different than the words he was shouting less than 20 minutes earlier.

After watching Kesten spring open for a jumper, Bradford yelled down the court at his players: “Never lose sight of CK! Keep your eye on her!”

Moments later, when she drilled a 3 at the buzzer to send the Firebirds into the fourth quarter up 5, Bradford was apoplectic. He saw it coming.

“Yeah,” Kesten explained with a sheepish grin. “He’s my coach.”

During the summer, Bradford coached Kesten’s EYBL team, leading to the relationship between the two.

Less the third quarter on Friday, when Kesten scored the majority of her team-high 13 points, Bradford did a pretty good job taking her out of the action.

With several Eagles (3-3, 2-1 league) defenders draped all over Kesten, Free State senior Erin Cushing took over facilitator duties, racking up four assists in the first half. As a team, the Firebirds (0-6, 0-2) moved the ball well, tabbing eight assists on their first nine baskets.

Free State freshman Shannon Clarke got off to a strong start, making her first four field goals, but sloppy play in the second quarter saw a one-time 12 point advantage drip down to 2.

“It’s like I told them in the locker room (after the game),” said coach Ted Juneau. “We can’t play just well enough to lose.”

The Firebirds finished the half with 11 turnovers, totaling 17 for the game. Kesten’s outburst in the third quarter helped them extend the lead, but the offense fell flat in the fourth, where the Firebirds were outscored, 14-5.

Clarke had a chance to send the game to overtime, but her floater attempt with less than five seconds left missed.

“They weren’t bad shots,” Juneau said. “They were shots that you wanted to take and the person that took them, you wanted to take it.”

The Eagles hit two free throws to seal the win. Still, after the game, Juneau said his message was to stay the course.

“I don’t think we’re so afraid to win, that all of a sudden we panic at the end. We haven’t. It’s just you lose a little confidence,” Juneau said. “You’ve got to forget that, and that’s what I told them. You’ve just got to go play. If you let that eat at you, you’ll never be good as a basketball player or as a person.”

Free State (42)

Sam Lawrence 2-9 0-0 5, Caely Kesten 5-8 0-0 13, Shannon Clarke 5-11 1-2 11, Haley Hippe 4-11 3-4 11, Erin Cushing 1-2 0-0 2, Mayela Edwards 0-0 0-1 0, Joy Nunoo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-42 4-6 42.

Olathe North (46)

Sireen Kenana 1-2 1-2 4, Hope Watts 2-3 2-2 6, Lexi Carter 0-4 0-0 0, Hannah Stirling 2-7 1-3 5, Leyanna McGinnis 11-16 1-3 23, Sydney Tobis 1-2 0-0 2, Maya Gallagher 2-7 0-0 6, Avery Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-40 5-10 46.

Free State 14 6 17 5 — 42

Olathe North 5 13 14 14 — 46

Three-point goals: Free State 4-12 (Kesten 3, Lawrence 1); Olathe North 3-9 (Gallagher 2, Kenana 1). Turnovers: Free State 17, Olathe North 18.