Free State senior Jenna Brantley launches past Leavenworth defenders. Free State blasted Leavenworth, 63-33, Thursday at Free State.

From left to right, Free State's Allie Hock, Sarah Craft and Maggie Hull cheer on the Firebirds against Leavenworth in 6A sub-state.

It looked like Bryan Duncan was looking into the future Thursday night in the Free State High gym.

The Firebirds girls basketball coach didn’t have any of his five seniors on the floor at the end of the third quarter against Leavenworth. With four minutes remaining in the Firebirds’ 63-33 victory, the only players on the hardwood wearing Free State jerseys were sophomores.

The reason was simple – Free State ran Leavenworth so far out of the gym in its 63-33 victory in the first round of the Class 6A sub-state tournament that the seniors enjoyed a lengthy rest with the game out of hand.

The game was lopsided from the end of the first quarter, when Free State led 15-1. With 3:41 left in the second quarter, seven Firebirds already had scored. Free State then went on a 12-0 run to open the second half, at which point the score read 43-10. You get the idea.

“It shows that we’re not here just to get by and beat teams,” senior guard Lauren Kimball said. “We’re here to go to the state tournament. We made it this far last year, but we want to make it even farther.”

Free State lost in the first round of the Class 6A state tournament last season.

This year, the Firebirds have one game remaining to get to state. They will play Lawrence High for the third time this season on Saturday. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Olathe Northwest.

“Beating a team three times is hard, but I think all of us are up for the challenge,” Kimball said. “There’s nothing we’d rather do than play LHS again and beat them.”

Free State (15-6) is playing arguably its best basketball of the season and has won three games in a row. The Firebirds certainly are playing better than they did Feb. 9, when Leavenworth (3-18) visited Free State’s gym in the first meeting. To put it into perspective:

First meeting’s halftime score: 19-19.

Second meeting’s halftime score: Free State 31, Leavenworth 8.

“We didn’t press them this game, and we played really hard man-to-man defense,” senior guard Jenna Brantley said. “They’re really good at getting the ball out of the basket fast and pushing it up the court, so it slowed them down, and they made a lot of turnovers.”

Leavenworth committed 18 turnovers, compared to Free State’s 12.

Brantley led the Firebirds with 12 points, while Kimball chipped in 11. No other Firebird was in double figures, but nine Free State players scored on Thursday.

“We were very unselfish,” Duncan said. “I think tonight was a nice night for the seniors, especially playing in their last home game, to really enjoy playing together.”

Brantley was probable before the game because of a swelling rash on her legs that was a reaction to strep throat. She didn’t show many lingering effects, hitting three of Free State’s eight three-pointers.

“I just got tired a little faster, got out of breath and had a little bit of a cough, but for the most part it was fine,” Brantley said.

With the Firebirds ahead so considerably, Brantley didn’t play much toward the end.

“We had a lot of subs, so I didn’t get the full effect,” Brantley said.