The few Shawnee Mission North fans who filled a small section in Free State High’s gym Friday night found an opportunity to mock Class 6A’s top-ranked Firebirds.

With the third quarter winding down, Free State’s leading scorer, Brady Morningstar, shot a hurried three-pointer that fell quite short of the rim, prompting the Indian faithful to start the “air-ball” chant.

Free State High's Nick Ayre, center, blocks the pass of Shawnee Mission North's Brandon White. The Firebirds won, 55-39, Friday night at Free State.

Too bad for North that Morningstar, by himself, already had tallied just two points fewer than the 25 SM North had on the scoreboard, and the Firebirds already had switched to cruise control in their 10th consecutive victory — a 55-39 dismantling of the Indians.

Still, Free State coach Jack Schreiner sat in his seat sporting a slight scowl, knowing his team was succumbing to thoughts of tonight’s 7:30 p.m. contest against archrival Lawrence High.

“Defensively, I thought we played well all game, but in the second half I thought we got a little lackadaisical on offense,” said Schreiner, whose squad improved to 12-1.

“We didn’t knock down the kind of shots we normally never miss, and that kind of kept me from playing more kids. But you know, they’re high school kids, and they know what tomorrow night is all about.”

While Free State might not have played “great,” according to Schreiner, the Firebirds made enough good plays to easily take care of SM North.

Free State's Jenna Brantley, right, looks for an opening against Shawnee Mission North's Tracey Anderson. The Firebird girls lost, 59-44, Friday at FSHS.

Morningstar, whose 25 points led all scorers on 11-of-17 shooting, took over the first 10 minutes of the game. He scored 15 of Free State’s first 21 points, missing only one shot.

“It’s hard not to just sit back and watch him take over sometimes, because he’s definitely a fun player to watch,” said Free State senior Sam Buhler, who added 17 points, 10 of which came in the second half.

By halftime the game’s outcome already was decided. Free State intense defensive pressure held SM North to a lone point in the second quarter and almost 10 minutes without a basket.

Free State High's Matt Green (33) tracks down a loose ball as SM North's Eric Nitsche defends.

“We’re up 19 at half, and, yeah, there was a letdown,” Schreiner said. “Defensively, we can’t ask for much more out of them, but offensively we have to do better and not rely so much on just Brady.”

SM North girls 59, Free State 44

Each team entered Friday with five victories, and any pregame advantage could have went to Free State because it was coming off a third-place finish in the Firebird Winter Classic.

Heck, the contest was tied at 23 with three minutes to go in the first half.

But an 8-0 Indian run fueled an SM North rout.

“We just didn’t show up ready for this one,” said Firebird coach Bryan Duncan, whose squad fell to 5-8 overall and 0-5 in the Sunflower League.

“In each of my three seasons here we’ve never been able to play worth a darn against North, that’s the really frustrating part.

Free State senior Jamie Stanclift tied for game-high honors with 16 points, and Jenna Brantley added 10.

6Sports video: Free State takes out Shawnee Mission North (02-04-05) 6Sports video: Free State girls crumble against SMN (02-04-05) 6Sports video: Firebirds to face Lions again (02-04-05) Photo Gallery: Boys: Free State vs. SMN Photo Gallery: Girls: Free State vs. SMN FSHS boys basketball schedules/stats FSHS girls basketball schedules/stats

Free State boys 55, SM North 39

SM North	10	1	14	14	—	39
Free State	14	16	11	14	—	55

Three-point goals — SMN 3-8 (Nitsche 3-4, White 0-2, Brown 0-2); FSHS 2-11 (Underwood 1-3, Morningstar 1-5, Green 0-1, Heitshusen 0-1, Devin 0-1). Total fouls — SMN 7; FSHS 13. Turnovers — SMN 15; FSHS 6.Shawnee mission North (39)Mack Brown 3-8 3-4 9, Eric Nitsche 3-7 0-0 9, Javano Duley 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon White 1-6 3-4 5, Dominique Grayson 6-10 3-7 15, Ty Hubert 0-1 0-0 0, Braden Katz 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Wall 0-0 0-0 0, Tim Palvelka 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 13-28 10-17 39.Free State (55)Brady Morningstar 11-17 2-2 25, Matt Green 1-3 0-0 2, Sam Buhler 6-10 5-6 17, Bobby Underwood 1-3 0-0 3, Danny Pike 2-3 0-0 4, Scott Heitshusen 0-1 0-0 0, Kyle Schreiner 0-0 2-2 2, Nick Ayre 1-2 0-0 2, Brian Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Devin 0-1 0-0 0, David Green 0-0 0-0 0, Ben Wilson 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Ballard 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-42 9-10 55.SM North girls 59, Free State 44

SM North	16	15	16	12	—	59
Free State	7	16	5	16	—	44

Shawnee Mission North (59)Lindsay Ryan 8 0-0 16, Ellen Jorgenson 5 2-2 12, Ashlyn Fitzpatrick 2 1-3 5, Rebekah Peterson 3 1-2 7, Tracey Anderson 2 1-2 5, Angelica Rucker 0 1-2 1, Cameron Roland 2 0-0 4, Amber Peasley 3 3-3 9. Totals 25 9-14 59.Free State (44)Lauren Kimball 2 3-4 7, Kelsey Harrison 0 2-2 2, Chloe Hall 2 0-0 4, Jamie Stanclift 4 8-12 16, Jenna Brantley 4 1-2 10, Banaka Okwuone 2 1-3 5. Totals 14 16-23 44.