Olathe ? Free State High played one of the worst first halves coach Jack Schreiner ever had seen Monday night against Blue Valley West.

That made the second half that much more exciting.

“We played hard the second half, didn’t we?” Schreiner said after the Firebirds rallied from a 13-point halftime deficit and pulled off a 57-50 victory in the first round of the Olathe South Invitational. “I love that. When you play that hard, you’re going to be tough to beat.”

Free State (2-0) appeared to be headed for certain defeat in the first half when the Firebirds turned the ball over 12 times and senior standout Brady Morningstar scored just three points.

“It’s difficult for us to win when he has an off night,” Schreiner said of Morningstar, who finished with 15 points.

After Free State’s Danny Pike cut the deficit to 17-15, Scott Heitshusen was the only Firebird to score in the final 5:47 of the first half. The junior sank a three-pointer that sliced the gap to 21-18 with 2:52 remaining, but Blue Valley West (1-1) pulled away with a 12-2 run. Aaron Trigg’s three-pointer just b

“I’m not sure I’ve had a team play as poorly and undisciplined as we did,” Schreiner said. “I take credit for that. We’ll work hard to rectify that. At the same time, that’s probably as good a defense as we’ve ever played in the third quarter.”

After a halftime scolding from Schreiner, Free State cranked up its defensive pressure. The Firebirds forced 15 second-half turnovers, including eight in the critical third quarter.

Free State High's Brady Morningstar (30) holds an inbounds pass as Blue Valley West's Jon Wright tries to pry the ball away. Morningstar had 15 points as the Firebirds rallied for a 57-50 win over the Jaguars on Monday at the Olathe South Invitational in Olathe.

“Our team plays with a lot of fire on defense,” said Heitshusen, who scored a career-high 12 points. “There was no doubt we were still in the game. We worked hard to get steals. We worked our butts off putting pressure on them, and that led to success on offense.”

A three-pointer by Willie Ball midway through the third quarter gave BVW a 41-28 lead, but FSHS closed the quarter with a 13-0 run. Damien Dillon’s steal led to a three-point play for Morningstar with 56.7 seconds left in the quarter, and Morningstar’s layup off another BVW turnover tied the game at 41 just 21 seconds later.

“When we tied it at 41, we were really feeling it,” Heitshusen said. “We thought we could finish it out if we could continue to have good defensive intensity.”

Danny Pike made two free throws 55 seconds into the fourth quarter, giving Free State its first lead since 9-8. The Jags cut the lead to one point twice, but the Firebirds — who didn’t attempt a single free throw in the first half — were 12-of-13 from the foul line in the fourth quarter.

“That’s impressive,” Schreiner said. “A lot of those were when they were really needed, too.”

Morningstar made four of four foul shots in the final 49.7 seconds, and Sam Buhler iced the game with two more free throws with 9.2 seconds remaining.

Dillon added eight points in Free State’s balanced attack, and Pike and Matt Green had five rebounds each to lead FSHS.

Patrick O’Flynn led BVW — which finished with 25 turnovers — with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Free State will play the winner of the Olathe South-Spring Hill game at 8:45 p.m. Thursday at Olathe South. O-South has won the tournament two years in a row and three of the last four.