It’s no secret the Free State High girls basketball team is struggling. Free State will enter this weekend’s Firebird Winter Classic on a three-game losing streak.

So what’s the solution to the Firebirds feeling good again about winning? According to coach Bryan Duncan, it’s playing difficult competition. Duncan said nearly all eight teams in the three-day tournament had a legitimate chance of winning it.

“A lot of people would say that we need a couple of cupcakes to get back to winning – I disagree with that,” Duncan said. “Our goal is to be in that state tournament and be competing. We need to beat good teams. We’re not trying to get many soft wins.”

Free State has lost consecutive games to Olathe East, Olathe South and Shawnee Mission East. After Monday’s makeup game against Shawnee Mission East, Duncan gave the team Tuesday off.

“We were tired. We were dead,” senior guard Lauren Kimball said. “Shawnee Mission East was quick, and I think we underestimated how fast they were. They were a lot smaller than we were. Our guards were getting tired, and they definitely wore us out.”

Free State (6-4) will face Gardner-Edgerton (6-4) at 7 tonight in the first round of the tournament. Duncan said his team saw the same opponent in the first round of the same tournament last year.

“I think we beat them by four,” Duncan said of last year. “They’re going to press and play very good man-to-man defense. They’ll also move a lot without the ball on offense.”

If Free State and Junction City advance, they will meet in the second round Friday. The two teams have a history of meeting at tournaments. Junction City won last year’s Firebird Classic championship game, and the two also have squared off in the finals of the Metro Prep Classic in Bonner Springs each of the past two seasons, with Junction City winning this year’s contest, 44-39.

But the potential rematch isn’t even on Duncan’s radar screen.

“Nobody’s even dared mention that word the last couple of days,” Duncan said of Junction City. “Honestly, with the way we’ve performed in the last week and a half, we care only about the first-round game. If we would have been in a different situation where we were successful in the last week and a half, I’m sure it would have been brought up.”

To remedy Free State’s on-the-court troubles for the tournament, Duncan said he never has had to question his players’ effort.

“I think we played about as hard we could in our last game against Shawnee Mission East,” Duncan said. “Now, we didn’t play real smart. But we had a great day of practice today, and I think as players and coaches, we went back to fundamental basketball today.”

In games Free State won early in the season, at least two to three players scored in double figures. The Firebirds didn’t have any double-figure scorers against Olathe East and had one against Olathe South and SM East.

“We’ve had those losses, but it wasn’t something where we need a whole week of practice to change anything,” Kimball said.

Free State’s goal for its home tournament remains intact, like it has all season.

“Our expectation is to win the darn thing,” Duncan said. “With that being said, our immediate expectation is to beat Gardner in round one. It’s a loaded field.”