As the final ticks of the scoreboard trickled to zero, members of the Shawnee Mission East girls basketball team began celebrating.

The Lancers jumped up and down as if they won a more meaningful game than the 50-39 victory they earned against Free State High on Monday night.

Perhaps the celebration was a combination of excitement and shock. After all, on paper, Free State probably would have been the favorite.

Shawnee Mission East (5-4) has only two seniors on its roster. One of them barely played and didn’t score.

Free State (6-4) has five seniors and starts all of them.

“We’ve gotten outplayed the last three games,” senior guard Jenna Brantley said. “We need to step up and play as a team again. We’re falling apart as a team right now.”

Free State now has lost three in a row.

Speedy and scrappy Shawnee Mission East guards caused the majority of the Free State mishaps Monday. Juniors Taylon Johnson and Kelsey Whitaker pressed the Firebirds in the backcourt and rarely turned the ball over on offense.

The duo played fundamental basketball – they weren’t flashy. Essentially, all you needed to hear was SM East coach Rick Rhoades yell “SPRINT!” at least eight to 10 times during the game to notice the Lancers’ hustle.

“You could tell that they came out with a passion and desire to win,” Free State coach Bryan Duncan said. “They just really outhustled us. When we had an opportunity to get back in the game late, they got several offensive rebounds off of missed free throws. That’s a sign of a team that’s not playing well.”

Free State actually held a 33-31 lead with 1:30 left in the third quarter. But the Firebirds lacked the offensive motion and rhythm the Lancers displayed. It seemed Free State attempted to make considerably more one-on-one moves. SM East frequently penetrated to the basket and found open shooters – mostly Johnson (12 points) and Whitaker (11).

FREE STATE HIGH'S LAUREN KIMBALL, LEFT, and jessica Scott sandwich Shawnee Mission East's Meredith Walrafen during the second half. The Firebirds fell to the Lancers, 50-39, on Monday night, pushing Free State's losing streak to three games following a 6-1 start.

“We’re terribly dissatisfied,” Duncan said of Free State’s offensive performance. “We dribbled the ball way too much and just went hog-wild.”

Brantley led Free State’s offensive charge with 13 points, including two three-pointers. However, she was the only Firebird in double figures.

“I’m glad that I got my scoring going again,” Brantley said. “But I’d rather win than be scoring.”

SM East held a 44-37 lead with 2:34 left in the fourth quarter and didn’t let Free State inch much closer. Free State fouled to stop the clock, but SM East junior Emmy Hartman drained four straight free throws to seal the victory.

The Firebirds won’t have much rest this week. Free State will play host to the eight-team Firebird Winter Classic, which will begin Thursday. Free State will face Gardner-Edgerton at 7 p.m. in the opening round.

“We need to go out and play the best that we can play,” sophomore forward Taylor Manning said of the tournament. “We need to get a good week of practice in.”

Despite dropping three games in a row, Brantley stressed this weekend’s tournament as an opportunity to get back on the winning track.

“It’s three games and it’s only January,” Brantley said of the losing streak. “We have two more months left.”