Leavenworth ? Kris Wilson received the basketball past halfcourt and had only one man to beat for a lay-up.

The Free State High junior guard dribbled directly toward Kansas City Washington’s Conrad Brown, who fouled him hard to prevent an easy bucket. Wilson, in mid-air, somehow floated a shot into the hoop despite being knocked completely off balance.

Wilson converted the three-point play, leading Free State (2-1) to a 75-62 victory against Kansas City Washington on Friday afternoon at the Citizens National Bank Tournament in Leavenworth.

“I just saw a dude coming at me, so I did what I could,” Wilson said about the shot. “I guess it just went in.”

Wilson’s free throw put the Firebirds up a commanding 17 points with 2:30 left in the fourth quarter. The 5-foot-9 guard had a breakout performance, scoring 18 points. He had 14 in the first half.

“He’s a key component to our team,” Free State coach Chuck Law said of Wilson. “Last Saturday against Maize, he struggled and spent a lot of time on the bench. We had a serious conversation afterwards about the role he needs to play for this team to be successful, and he’s really responded the last two nights.”

Actually, he responded so well that Law didn’t take him out of the game during the first half. Wilson’s first breather didn’t come until the third quarter.

“I actually had to ask coach to take me out, but he told me to just stay in there and keep playing,” Wilson said about the first half. “I was a little surprised, but you just have to keep playing in that situation.”

There’s no denying Free State needed Wilson. His time on the bench didn’t last long in the third quarter because the Wildcats cut the Firebirds’ 15-point halftime lead to 11 soon after he sat down.

For all the statistical categories the Firebirds efficiently managed in the first half (five turnovers, six fouls), the second half featured completely different results (13 turnovers, 13 fouls).

Free State’s surplus of fouls put Washington at the free-throw line 18 times in the second half. In the first 16 minutes, the Wildcats had only two trips to the line. Washington ran an effective full-court press, which forced most of the 13 FSHS turnovers in the second half.

“They were an athletic team and we struggled with that,” said senior guard Kyle Schreiner, who finished with 10 points. “We got bamboozled and had guys running into the wrong positions. But we got it figured out and finally got it going after a while.”

Once Free State found a way to break the press, the game was essentially over. The Firebirds found holes in the press, particularly looking deep. Senior center Christian Ballard, who didn’t score in the first half, finished with 10 points. Many of those were thanks in part to Free State guards looking past the full-court press and finding Ballard deep for lay-ups.

Juniors Weston Wiebe and Anthony Russell each accounted for nine points.

Offensively, Free State still must improve upon its 18 turnovers.

“We don’t run our offense very well,” Law said. “We have too many guys that don’t understand the necessity to execute and work together as a unit on the court. We got by with it today, but we’re not going to get by with that when we play better opposition.”

Free State will play in the tournament’s fifth-place game today at 12:45 p.m.