When Bryan Duncan noticed the Free State High girls basketball team looking out of sync on offense, he called a timeout. The Firebirds’ coach was unimpressed, to say the least, with his squad’s lack of motion in the first quarter of Friday night’s game against Olathe South.

He had reason to be.

Free State, which hasn’t played since Jan. 9, came out flat in its home gym in a 45-25 loss, its second straight following a 6-1 start.

“That was an old-fashioned butt-kicking tonight in all phases of the game, including coaching,” Duncan said.

Olathe South senior Jadhon Kerr was noticeably the best player on the floor Friday. The 6-foot forward helped the Falcons breeze through the typically tenacious and punishing Firebird full-court press.

Once Olathe South broke the press, it was able to set up a half-court offense that revolved around getting the ball to Kerr in the post. She displayed an array of moves, including pump fakes in the lane and left-handed up-and-under layups with her off hand.

“They have the best post offense in this half of the state, if not the state,” Duncan said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of getting pressure on the ball, and we allowed them to get into their half-court offense.”

Free State actually carried momentum into halftime when Duncan designed a play for senior guard Allie Hock in the closing seconds of the first half. Hock rolled off a pick on the left wing and received a pass from senior guard Lauren Kimball. Hock arched a rainbow shot and drained a three-pointer that put Free State only six points behind at the half.

“We were still in the game at halftime, and we hadn’t played really well,” Duncan said. “I was pretty upset. We thought we made some adjustments to be successful, and we laid an egg to start the third quarter. For some reason, we were flat, and we didn’t defend very well.”

The Falcons exploded for 19 points in the third quarter, compared to the Firebirds’ four. Kerr scored the first seven points of that quarter.

“It’s baffling because we usually don’t play like that,” sophomore forward Taylor Manning said. “It’s really frustrating because we know we can play a lot better and we just didn’t show that tonight.”

Olathe South (9-2) held Free State’s vaunted backcourt of Kimball and senior guard Jenna Brantley scoreless in the first half. Kimball ended the game with six points, while Brantley didn’t score. Senior forward Kelsey Harrison was the lone Firebird in double figures with 12.

The Falcons confused Free State by mixing up their defensive schemes. The zone defense especially hurt the Firebirds, who committed 19 turnovers.

“I think a lot of the credit needs to be paid to their defense,” senior forward Jessica Scott said. “We just couldn’t really get in a rhythm.”

Free State (6-3) will have a quick turnaround when it plays host to Shawnee Mission East in a makeup game Monday. That will be followed by the first round of the three-day Firebird Classic on Thursday.

“I think it’s always good if you have a rough game to come back and play and prove to everyone that we’re not the team that was out on the floor tonight,” Scott said.