Sorry second half dooms FSHS girls, 38-33

Banaka Okwuone (35) struggles to keep the ball in bounds during the second half.

Free State High looked like a Rolls Royce in the first half, but the wheels fell off in the second half, and Washburn Rural toppled the Firebirds, 38-33, in girls basketball Friday night in the FSHS gym.

“I think we need to give credit to their defense,” Free State coach Bryan Duncan said about the Firebirds’ second-half about-face, “because we’re a good offensive team.”

The Firebirds were in the first half, making 11 of 22 shots and forging a 24-21 lead at the break.

Then they went stone-cold, making only one of 15 second-half shots – a stick-back by Banaka Okwuone with 3:35 remaining – and scoring only nine points.

Moreover, Free State nearly doubled its turnovers in the second half, committing 13 errors after having just seven giveaways in the first half.

“Our effort was great,” Duncan said after the season opener. “We just needed to be more patient on offense, because I thought we were outstanding on defense.”

Free State High's Lauren Kimball, left, and Topeka Washburn Rural's Morgan Barrett fall over the ball as they struggle to recapture it. The Firebirds lost to the Junior Blues, 38-33, Friday night at FSHS.

Washburn Rural coughed it up 18 times and made a third of its shots (13 of 39). Free State’s overall shooting (12 of 37) was virtually the same.

Rural sophomore point guard Morgan Bennett hit a couple of three-pointers and posted a game-high 15 points. Junior forward Jenna Brantley paced the Firebirds with 12 points.

“They made plays at key moments, and we didn’t,” Duncan said.

Still, Duncan and the Firebirds were looking at the loss from a positive standpoint.

“We’ve never beaten them in nine years,” junior guard Lauren Kimball noted. “In fact, this is as close as we’ve come. We just got ahead of ourselves a little bit on offense.”

Washburn Rural has been a state contender over the years, although the Junior Blues lost several players off last year’s 19-3 team.

“We took a top-five team in the state to wire,” Duncan said. “I think we’re headed in the right direction.”