The Free State High girls basketball team achieved two program milestones courtesy of Friday night’s 57-48 victory against crosstown rival Lawrence High.

The Firebirds notched their 14th win, tying the 2000-01 squad for the best in school history. They also won in the LHS “Jungle” for the first time during coach Bryan Duncan’s five-year tenure.

“It’s the first time for all of us,” senior guard Lauren Kimball said. “It’s a real big win and a booster for the rest of the games.”

¢ Play it again?: Local fans could enjoy a third installment of the Free State-Lawrence High girls basketball rivalry for the second consecutive season.

If the second-seeded Free State girls defeat Leavenworth on Thursday in the opening round of the Class 6A sub-state tournament and the third-seeded LHS girls upend Shawnee Mission Northwest, it will set up a rematch between the squads for the right to advance to this year’s Class 6A state tournament in Emporia.

¢ Crowd pleaser: Lawrence High sophomore guard Dorian Green may have generated the loudest Jungle ovation of the night during Friday’s boys game.

It happened on an odd turn of events, when Free State stole the ball and was about to go in for a layup. Green came out of nowhere and blocked the shot against the backboard, took it the length of the floor and scored on the other end.

“The one where Dorian Green ended up finishing it – I thought the roof was going to come off the place; it was so loud,” LHS boys basketball coach Chris Davis said. “That was really special.”

¢ A slick observation: When the Lawrence High and Free State bowling teams took part in last Saturday’s regional meet, they competed at Topeka’s North Gage Bowl, which has wooden lanes.

Lawrence’s Royal Crest Lanes, which will be the site of Saturday’s Class 6A state meet, has synthetic lanes.

Free State coach Anita Carlson drove her team to Topeka on Thursday for a practice session on the wooden lanes.

LHS coach Greg Farley noted the change, but said it didn’t have much bearing on the final results.

“What you get with wooden lanes is, the oil soaks in or evaporates a little bit quicker off of the wood surfaces,” Farley said. “The synthetic lanes hold the oil longer.”