Keith Wooden had a chest cold, but towering over his opponents made his illness irrelevant.

Free State High’s boys basketball team’s 80-63 victory Friday over Shawnee Mission North happened because of the most obvious game plan.

“Just throw the ball up there,” Wooden said. “I’ll get it.”

Wooden scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the first half was almost too easy for the 6-foot-9 senior. SM North’s tallest player stood a meager 6-4, allowing Wooden to garner 23 first-half points on 10-of-13 shooting.

“They were five or six inches shorter than me,” Wooden said. “You’ve got to take advantage of that.”

On a night honoring its seniors, Free State (14-6 overall, 7-3 Sunflower League) relied heavily on them. Besides Wooden, forwards Bijai Jones and Cameron Karlin each chipped in 14 points, most of them in the paint. Collin Schmidt also played his final game at Free State.

The seniors scored 58 of the team’s 80 points, giving the Firebirds their fifth straight victory before sub-state play begins next week.

FSHS coach Jack Schreiner said he wasn’t pleased with the defensive effort, but an “A” game was hard to expect.

“They’re high school kids,” Schreiner said. “They probably played the most emotional game of the season at Lawrence on Tuesday. It was probably tough to get up for this one.”

Brady Morningstar, the hero of Tuesday’s 51-50 overtime victory at LHS, broke loose after SM North was forced to double-team Wooden. Morningstar had 11 second-half points, including sinking three of four attempts from three-point range.

Free State's Keith Wooden (55) splits Shawnee Mission North's defense for two of his 30 points. The Firebirds defeated the Indians, 80-63, Friday at Free State.

His outside shooting forced the Indians (4-16, 3-7) to stay honest, allowing the Firebird offense to enjoy a great night.

“That’s why we had Brady out there so much,” Schreiner said. “He’s our top threat from long range.”

Junior guard Dain Dillingham added 10 points for the Firebirds, whose 14th victory set a school record.

Brooks Faddis led the Indians with 24 points. He was 6-of-12 from three-point range.

“It’s a 17-point win that I don’t feel real good about,” Schreiner said. “We didn’t do things defensively that we needed to do.

“Offensively, though, we’re a dang good ballclub.”

Free State now shifts its focus to sub-state. The Firebirds likely will be the third seed, and head Thursday to Overland Park Aquinas.

“We’ve been playing real well,” Wooden said. “We struggled defensively some tonight, but other than that, we feel like we’re rolling.”