Free State High fans brandished some of Lawrence High’s state-championship trophies during their basketball game Thursday.

After a 76-73 victory in a Class 6A sub-state semifinal, FSHS still has a chance to earn one of its own.

The Firebirds had to earn every bit of their victory in front of a standing-room-only crowd of about 2,000 at FSHS and will play Overland Park Aquinas on Saturday with a trip to state on the line.

“Just an awesome high school basketball game. It’s too bad that one of us had to lose,” said FSHS coach Jack Schreiner, whose Firebirds (15-6) improved to 3-1 against their city rivals this season.

Free State junior Brady Morningstar scored a school-record 34 points — including 13 straight in the second half — to provide enough cushion for Free State to survive a late LHS spurt and avenge a 77-69 Lions’ win Feb. 7.

During the game, a group of Free State students taunted LHS fans with a handful of Lawrence High’s state football trophies, apparently liberated from the LHS trophy case.

The FSHS fans in the raucous, divided crowd waved signs, shirts, and even white trash bags toward LHS players during pregame introductions, but the most sensational scene was the basketball.

“It was a great basketball game, and that’s what these Lawrence High-Free State games are like,” said LHS coach Chris Davis, whose team set the state record for three-pointers made in a season with 217.

Lawrence High's david freeman, left, shoots a three-pointer over Free State High's Adam Bellinder. The Firebirds beat the Lions for the third time this season, winning 76-73 in their Class 6A sub-state semifinal game Thursday at Free State.

The Lions (5-16) already had claimed the marks for most three-pointers made in a game (21), most three-point attempts in a game (59) and most three-point attempts in a season (742).

Lions junior David Freeman broke Holcomb High’s 1992 record of 211 threes when he connected on his second trey of the night, an NBA-range bomb from the left side of the arc with 6:01 left in the second quarter.

“That stuff, that stuff matters,” said Freeman, who led the Lions with 18 points. “But all that matters is winning, and they won tonight and we lost.”

The teams flip-flopped identities from the start.

Free State launched a barrage of three-pointers, making six in the first eight minutes to lead by as many as nine.

But the Lions’ attacking offense and zone defense kept the score close, cutting their deficit to 23-20 by the quarter’s end.

Free State led 39-37 at halftime despite the Lions’ strategy to feed the post, where 6-foot-6 junior Tony Anderson scored 13 of his career-high 16 points.

“What an interesting game,” Schreiner said. “In the first half it was a complete reversal. We were them, they were us. They were shooting twos, we were shooting threes.

“I told the kids it was too easy the first quarter. We made so many threes that we decided that’s what we were going to shoot, and we got out of what we do well — we penetrate and take it to the hole. We didn’t do that, but their zone had a lot to do with that.”

Things changed in the second half.

6Sports video: Firebirds edge past Lions in final showdown of the season

Free State backed off its full-court press to concentrate on defending Anderson, allowing the Firebirds’ standouts to shine on offense.

Senior Dain Dillingham and Morningstar combined for 32 of Free State’s final 37 points. Dillingham scored 10 of his 12 points in the last 16 minutes — including four critical free throws — but it was Morningstar who changed the game’s complexion.

Free State High's Brady Morningstar drives for a layup late in the fourth quarter. Morningstar scored 34 points in the Firebirds' win over LHS.

With LHS ahead, 46-45, with 4:09 to play in the third quarter, Morningstar went on a personal 13-8 run.

The junior — who broke Pat Krivoshia’s previous school record of 33 points, set Jan. 20, 2001 against Kansas City Washington — knocked down three threes, scored on a drive, and hit a tough fade-away jumper that gave the Firebirds a lead they would not relinquish.

“That’s just one of about a million games I’ve seen him get unconscious like that,” Dillingham said of Morningstar. “Those are games I just kind of sit back and smile, because nobody can do anything.”

The Lions showed the resiliency they’ve displayed all season — rallying from a 71-60 deficit with 1:33 to play.

With the buzzer about to sound, Lawrence High senior Taylor Parker nailed a final three-pointer from the top of the key.

“Kind of a fitting end to the season,” Davis said. “And that it was Taylor.

“Taylor Parker is classy and shows as much character as any basketball player I’ve ever coached in my life. He’s the epitome of a Lawrence Lion.”

Free State's Dain Dillingham, right, backs away from Lawrence High defender Tyler Knight in the Firebirds' 76-73 win over the Lions. FSHS opened sub-state with the victory Thursday at Free State.