Topeka ? With its leading scorer and rebounder hobbled by a knee injury, Free State High’s boys basketball team could have called it quits.

But the Firebirds learned two lessons in Friday’s 53-47 loss to Topeka West in the Topeka Invitational:

First, even with 6-foot-9 senior Keith Wooden largely ineffective on offense, they still had a chance to pull out a win.

Secondly, they need the Arizona State-bound forward, who suffered a deep-knee bruise in Thursday’s win against Topeka Seaman, to put them over the edge.

“This was a great opportunity for them to come through and show what they can do,” FSHS coach Jack Schreiner said. “You can’t make up 18 points and 10 rebounds with just one kid. I told them I needed a little something extra from everyone and we’d be OK.”

Free State (7-4) didn’t replace Wooden’s points — scoring 13 below its season average — but it found another way to compensate.

Its defensive intensity was top notch, matching the Chargers’ quickness throughout the game, especially in the third quarter.

Free State's Dain Dillingham puts up a shot against Topeka West. The Chargers defeated the Firebirds, 53-47, Friday night at the Topeka Invitational.

Down 30-23 at halftime, FSHS watched the Chargers (8-2) widen the lead to 39-25 two minutes into the third. The spurt nearly sunk Free State’s hopes.

“At halftime, we talked about how the halftime doesn’t mean anything. It’s the first three minutes of the second half that’s important,” said FSHS junior Dain Dillingham, who led all scorers with 18 points. “They came out and put up seven points. We called time out and said it’s now or never.”

The Firebirds went on an 13-2 run, capped by a wide-open Cameron Karlin scoring from underneath the basket off a Wooden pass. Wooden, who had two points and six rebounds, still attracted attention from the Charger defense, which allowed Karlin to sneak in unnoticed for the bucket. That made the score 41-38, with 6:04 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Two minutes later, with the score 43-41, Dillingham missed a baseline jumper. The Firebirds missed three straight tip-ins before Topeka West grabbed the rebound.

Schreiner said that had any of the shots fallen, Free State would have won.

“I thought the play that turned the game was when Cameron and Keith and Cole (Douglas) all had point-blank shots and they all missed,” Schreiner said. “If we make that, we tie the game, then we come down and get a stop … go to our spread offense and the game’s over.”

Free State's Cole Douglas, left, ties up Topeka West's Ike Walker. The Firebirds fell, 53-47, in the Topeka Invitational on Friday night.

But Topeka West held off the Firebirds by hitting its free throws and keeping Free State from getting any good offensive looks the rest of the way.

Free State, which plays Topeka High (6-3) at 3:30 today in the consolation championship, has to contemplate playing without Wooden. Allowing the All-Sunflower League forward to play was a game-time decision Friday, and it was influenced by the presence of ASU assistant coaches in the stands and a potential title on the line.

But Schreiner said he was not sure if Wooden would play today.

“There’s not very much more he can do to it,” Schreiner said. “It’s just how much pain he can sustain. That’s why I played him as much as I did tonight.”

A game without Wooden? Sounds like another test.