Back-to-back losses at the McPherson tournament over the weekend did not sit well with the Free State boys basketball team, and the Firebirds made sure to let everyone know it when they returned to their home court Wednesday to take on Mill Valley.

The Firebirds scored the first 11 points of the game over the course of four minutes as they flustered the Jaguars on both ends of the floor. Free State made quick work of Mill Valley in a 67-40 rout.

“I like the way we started the game. They got an earful in film this week, and rightfully so, in terms of how we played (at the McPherson tournament),” Free State coach Sam Stroh said. “I just told them, ‘Sometimes, we’re our own worst enemy.’ We played as a team tonight.”

Free State (7-3, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A) led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter after a Simon McCaffrey 3-pointer. The Firebirds went into a brief shooting slump after that, though, and the Jaguars went on a 6-0 surge to cut the deficit to 32-17 going into the break.

McCaffrey and senior Zach McDermott made sure that the little momentum the Jaguars had from the end of the first half didn’t carry over to the second. The Free State seniors nailed back-to-back triples to push the lead to 21, and the Firebirds didn’t let up. McCaffrey and McDermott both benefited from the likes of Garrett Luinstra and Noah Butler attacking the basket and Jalan Robinson drawing double teams down low, which left them with uncontested shots far beyond the arc.

“We have a lot of good drivers on the team,” McCaffrey said. “So I’m thankful for them, because it opens up my shot, too.”

The Firebirds put together a balanced offensive performance, with McCaffrey leading the way with 14 points. McDermott, Luinstra and Robinson added 12 apiece.

“That’s what we’re capable of. We’re a team,” Stroh said. “We’ve got more than one guy. Garrett sometimes is the focus in terms of offense, but we’ve got more guys that can put it in the basket. I liked what I saw tonight. It was good.”

While Stroh was pleased with his team’s effort following the disappointing showing in McPherson, he was quick to acknowledge that Wednesday’s win over the Jaguars (4-8) won’t mean much if the Firebirds can’t build off it. The Firebirds will have one more out-of-league game at 7 p.m. Friday at Blue Valley West before they return to Sunflower League play on Tuesday at Olathe East.

“We’ve got to get better tomorrow. It’s consistency,” Stroh said. “I think we’ve played two or three really good games, a couple of average games, and then we’ve had some games where we’ve taken a major dip. One of them, I think, was this past weekend. Hopefully, we’ll learn from it and, hopefully, we’ll look back at the end of the season and McPherson might have been the best thing that happened to us.”

MILL VALLEY (40)

Matty Wittenauer 0-3 2-4 2, Sammy Rebeck 2-3 0-0 4, Mason Little 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Talley 1-5 0-0 3, Connor Nekola 1-4 2-2 5, Kyle Bonnstetter 1-2 0-0 2, Ben Weigel 2-3 0-1 4, Cooper Kaifes 2-7 0-0 6, Ike Valencia 0-2 2-2 2, Brody Flaming 2-2 0-0 4, Keeshawn Mason 3-6 2-2 8. Totals 14-38 8-11 40.

FREE STATE (67)

Jared Hicks 0-1 0-0 0, Garrett Luinstra 6-11 0-0 12, Avant Edwards 1-3 0-1 3, Simon McCaffrey 5-8 1-1 14, Reece White-Downing 1-6 0-1 2, Bansi King 3-4 0-0 7, Noah Butler 1-5 3-4 5, Zach McDermott 5-7 0-0 12, Turner Corcoran 0-0 0-0 0, Jalan Robinson 5-10 2-3 12, Charlie Newsome 0-0 0-0 0, Ethan Lincoln 0-0 0-0 0, Alyus Wisdom 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-55 6-10 67.

Mill Valley 7 10 11 12 — 40

Free State 20 12 21 14 — 67

3-point goals: Free State 7-16 (McCaffrey 3, McDermott 2, King, Edwards); Mill Valley 5-15 (Kaifes 2, Talley, Nekola). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Free State 5, Mill Valley 16.