As Free State coach Chuck Law analyzed his Class 6A sub-state bracket, something just didn’t seem right.

“We’re 1-7 against teams in our sub-state, yet we’ve outscored them, which is kind of a statistical oddity,” Law said. “But we know we can play with anybody that we go up against.”

Free State will open the first round of sub-state at 7 tonight at Shawnee Mission Northwest. The Cougars defeated the Firebirds, 47-45, at Free State’s gym Feb. 6.

But that was the regular season, where Free State had a roller coaster of a time from December to March.

There were highs – defeating Shawnee Mission East, ranked No. 1 in the Kansas Basketball Coaches Association Class 6A poll. Or how about defeating Maize, the No. 9 ranked team in the state – twice. Free State took Shawnee Mission West, ranked No. 5 in the state, to overtime.

Then, there were lows – losing eight games by a combined 16 points. Since the SM East victory, Free State is 1-5.

With the element of surprise in mind, Shawnee Mission Northwest coach Ben Meseke wasn’t exactly throwing a parade in Shawnee when he learned about the first-round matchup.

“We tried to stay away from them,” said Meseke, in his 10th season as SM Northwest coach. “As I’m sitting here talking, I’m watching (Free State senior center Christian) Ballard (on tape) pushing someone around for a layup and scoring. I’m thinking, ‘How are we going to guard that?’ They’ve beaten the best. What more can you say?”

The winner of tonight’s game will face the winner of Olathe South (14-6) vs. Olathe North (8-12) on Friday.

Law said he liked how Free State matched up athletically against the rest of the bracket. He had similar praise for Meseke, tabbing him and O-South coach John McFall two of the best coaches in the state of Kansas.

“We’re a scary team to people because of our potential,” Law said. “With us, there’s this little bit of a wild card as to what team is going to show up night-to-night or quarter-to-quarter.”

In the first meeting between Free State (9-11) and SM Northwest, FSHS led, 30-20, at halftime, but scored only 15 points in the second half. SM Northwest (14-6) scored 27.

“We did not do too well on transition defense,” Ballard said. “Our defense was pretty terrible, actually. So we’re definitely going to pick that up, come out focused and use our defense as an advantage this time.”

Patience on the offensive end allowed the Cougars to creep back into the game in the second half.

Law said when facing a Meseke-coached team, controlling the tempo was difficult. Despite being down, SM Northwest took more time off the clock offensively. The Cougars’ shot selection vastly improved, as a result.

“Our first half was atrocious,” Meseke said. “I think they had nine layups on us in the first half, and it seemed like that’s all they were doing against us. We tried to work for a good shot (in the second half), instead of getting down the court and winging up a shot.”

Free State got a taste of the postseason atmosphere during its 66-59 loss against Lawrence High in front of a raucous crowd at the “Jungle” last Friday. The Firebirds held a players-only meeting in the locker room directly after the LHS game to keep everyone’s spirits up for tonight’s game.

“It’s win or go home, so everyone’s going to play a lot harder,” Ballard said.

Meseke said he didn’t put a lot of stock into homecourt advantage for the first round of sub-state.

“I just see two teams that want to advance,” Meseke said. “It doesn’t matter if we meet at your house, our house or out in the parking lot.”