Olathe ? It’s time for John McFall to buy a new outfit.

“I’ve always had a lucky shirt,” said McFall, who has gone 221-64 in his 13 seasons as head boys basketball coach at Olathe South. “If we lose two in a row, I change it. I haven’t had to have a very big wardrobe.”

Defending Class 6A state champion O-South hadn’t lost two games in a row since the 2000-01 season, and the top-ranked Falcons hadn’t lost in their home gym since the 2001-02 season.

Friday night, O-South experienced both of those rare setbacks in a 71-52 drubbing at the hands of ninth-ranked Free State High.

“We were ready for this game,” said senior Matt Green, who made three of Free State’s eight three-pointers and finished with a career-high 17 points. “It was definitely payback. We had to get them.”

The Firebirds (7-1 overall, 4-0 Sunflower League) have won five straight since a 57-45 loss to O-South in the semifinals of the Olathe South Invitational. While that was a nonleague game, Friday’s victory put FSHS in control of the conference race.

“It’s all in our hands,” said senior Brady Morningstar, who led FSHS with 18 points and eight rebounds. “We control our own destiny.”

Free state high's Matt Green goes up for a basket over Olathe South's Chad Johnson, right, during the first half. Green, a senior, scored a career-high 17 points, and the No. 9 Firebirds routed the top-ranked Falcons, 71-52, Friday night at OSHS.

South, meanwhile, fell to 6-2 overall and 4-2 in the league. Shawnee Mission West defeated the Falcons, 43-30, Wednesday at SMW by sinking 24 of 38 foul shots.

Free State also took advantage of its free-throw opportunities against O-South, sinking 17 of 21 — including 6-for-6 shooting by senior Sam Buhler in the fourth quarter — but it was the Firebirds’ outside shooting that made this one a blowout.

Senior Bobby Underwood, who finished with 10 points, sank two three-pointers — including one as part of a four-point play — in the first four minutes as FSHS pulled in front. Free State finished 8-of-16 from behind the three-point line.

“They were getting wide-open looks and sticking them in the hole,” said McFall, whose team has lost as many games this season as it did in the previous two years combined when the Falcons were 48-2 and reached the 6A state finals twice. “They were hot. They played extremely well.”

FSHS was 6-of-12 from the perimeter in the first half. Green sank a pair of three-pointers in the final 2:35 of the second quarter, and Morningstar’s layup at the buzzer gave Free State a 34-21 halftime lead.

Photo Gallery: Free State High vs. Olathe South (01-14-05)

O-South opened the second half with a 9-0 run that cut the deficit to 34-30. The Falcons were within five when FSHS reserve Nick Ayre made a layup with 4:32 left in the third quarter. The junior then stole South’s inbound pass and flipped the ball to Morningstar for a dunk.

“That was a great pass,” Morningstar said. “I wanted to get things going again.”

Free State High's Scott Heitshusen pushes the ball up-court against Olathe South defender Daniel Finn. The Firebirds beat the Falcons, 71-52, Friday in Olathe.

Free State widened the gap to 57-47, then closed with a 14-2 run before South’s Denver Holmes sank a three-pointer in the final seconds.

“They did exactly what we asked them to do,” said Free State coach Jack Schreiner, whose team beat O-South for the first time since the 1999-2000 season. “We told them at halftime that they were going to have to weather the storm. Olathe South was going to score. We just had to respond.”

Buhler added 12 points for Free State, and Clint McFall led O-South with 10.

South will tumble in the rankings after two straight losses, but John McFall wasn’t ready to count his team out.

“Everybody wants us. We know that,” he said. “That’s something we don’t shy away from. We’ve got our program where we want it. My definition of having our program where we want it is that people jump up and down when they beat us. West jumped up and down. Free State jumped up and down. We’re everybody’s big game, and our kids understand that. We’ll be fine.”