Shawnee ? Ben Meseke made sure to find Free State High coach Chuck Law after the game. Meseke wanted to give him the secret.

The Shawnee Mission Northwest coach’s voice echoed off the walls of the empty corridor as he discussed how he had saved his team from a shooting funk by making them do a rain dance in practice. The shots had been pouring in ever since.

Law had no choice but to listen and perhaps even consider the drastic measure after his team again was cursed by its inability to make open shots in a 61-44 loss to Northwest.

The Firebirds made just one field goal in the first quarter – a Brian Murphy jump shot two minutes in – and fell into an early 14-3 pickle.

“We’re such an anemic offensive team,” Law said, “it’s hard for us to dig that kind of hole against a team like Shawnee Mission Northwest.”

Free State high's Nick Ayre (23) fights for the ball with SM Northwest's Danny Pestock. The Firebirds fell, 61-44, Tuesday in Shawnee.

After Murphy’s basket, Free State went more than nine minutes without a field goal before a Christian Ballard layup cut the deficit to 24-6 with five minutes remaining in the half.

“We had good shots – we just couldn’t knock them down,” Free State junior Kyle Schreiner said. “To their credit, they were hitting everything they threw up.”

Indeed, the rain dance seemed to have worked. Northwest connected on four of five three-point attempts in the first quarter and finished the game shooting 67 percent from behind the arc.

The Firebirds cut the lead to 40-30 on a Scott Heitshusen three in the third quarter, but they couldn’t get any closer.

“They just riddled our press,” Law said. “Their two guards are very good, and the size that they have to look over the top of the press really creates opportunities for them.”

Though Free State struggled to score early, Law said he still was pleased with his squad’s number of quality shots.

“We got the ball into places where we have an opportunity to be successful,” Law said, “and that’s what we have to do.”

The Firebirds shot just 1-for-8 in the first quarter despite experimenting with new offenses and presses to get the offense jump-started.

“We shoot the ball reasonably well in practice,” Law said. “In games I’m not sure where we are – I’m not sure mentally where we are.”

Schreiner led Free State with 10 points, while Heitshusen and Weston Wiebe each added seven.

The Firebirds will travel Thursday to Leavenworth.