Tentative Firebird boys take tumble

Combine tentative and turnovers, and it’s a fairly sound mathematical equation that the final sum will be trouble.

Such was the situation the Free State High boys basketball team found itself in Friday night during the first game of the Chuck Law era.

The Firebirds had problems keeping possession of the ball, and when they did, they failed to be aggressive with it, falling behind early and never catching up in a 51-39 loss to Washburn Rural at FSHS.

“We were just a little anxious, a little keyed-up,” said Law, coaching his first game after taking over for longtime Free State coach Jack Schreiner, who resigned last month. “It took us awhile to settle in and play, and by that time the hole we dug ourselves was a little too deep.”

Law almost had to watch his first quarter as the varsity boss end the same way it began – with a zero on the scoreboard. The Firebirds had more turnovers (seven) than shot attempts (six) in the opening eight minutes and didn’t make one of those count until Scott Heitshusen’s three-pointer dropped with one second left.

Meanwhile, Rural (1-0) overcame its own opening-night jitters to claim a 14-3 lead that never fully evaporated.

“We have a lot of young kids that are coming in, stepping up and playing on the varsity level,” said Heitshusen, an experienced senior who played significant minutes during last year’s run to the Class 6A state tournament.

“There were a little first-night jitters, but I don’t think it was that much. We were all just tentative, passing up shots.”

Down a football-esque 17-9 at the half, Free State (0-1) mounted a charge, closing the gap to two points late in the third quarter. However, the Junior Blues reaped the rewards of attacking the basket, enjoying a huge disparity at the free-throw line to put the game away.

“Offensively, we really did some nice things in the second half,” Law said. “I couldn’t be happier with the effort that they showed. … They could have packed it in.”

Heitshusen led all scorers with 15 points, including three three-pointers, while junior guard Phil Ozorkiewicz added eight for the Firebirds.

Jay Valerius paced Washburn Rural with 12 points, and Greg Schmidt added 10.

Free State has almost a full week to work out the kinks before heading to Leavenworth for next week’s eight-team Citizens National Bank Invitational.

The Firebirds will open the tournament at 8:30 p.m. Thursday against Fort Smith (Ark.) Northside.

“Our biggest dilemma right now is how much we turn them loose on offense,” Law said. “We structured so much that I think our guys tonight were a little bit robotic.

“We’ve got to find that happy medium.”