Olathe ? The Free State High boys basketball team gathered at midcourt and jumped up and down on the logo of the Olathe Northwest Raven, hoisting the Class 6A sub-state trophy high in the air.

Coach Chuck Law smiled, looked up to the crowd and waved at the Free State faithful.

The neutral floor was the scene for the most joyous atmosphere of the season for Free State after its 49-34 victory against Olathe South in the sub-state championship game.

Free State coaches, players and fans officially can get their transportation plans ready for next week – they’re heading to Emporia.

“We knew we had the capability of doing something like this,” Law said of reaching the state tournament. “It’s a great feeling. It was just a matter of coming together as a team. I could not be more proud of our kids.”

If you’ve never seen Free State play this season, you’d think it was an average team just looking at its record. The Firebirds were 10-11 entering Friday night’s game and were seeded sixth of eight teams in their sub-state bracket.

Free State has played inspired basketball in the last week. For instance, Christian Ballard’s grandmother, Mary Ballard of Montgomery, Ala., passed away Monday. After the game, the senior center dedicated the sub-state victory to Mary.

“I really tried to come up here and play my heart out, really show her something and make her proud and just keep her with me,” Ballard said.

Ballard imposed his will on Olathe South defenders and clearly was the most dominating player on the floor. He scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. Ballard scored 13 in the third quarter alone.

Free State capped the third quarter in triumphant fashion. After milking the clock for nearly 45 seconds, sophomore guard Marcus Spates lobbed a perfect pass from the top of the key between two defenders to a cutting Ballard, who put in the layup and drew the foul. Spates and Ballard were visibly fired up after the exchange, intensely nodding their heads with confidence and yelling toward the ceiling.

“For us to be able to hold the ball for 45 seconds and actually execute a last play of the quarter, that’s maybe the first time all year we’ve actually had that degree of execution,” Law joked after the game.

Olathe South simply didn’t have the size inside to muscle up against Ballard. The senior generated open layups all night and made five trips to the foul line. He confidently held his finish on the four he made while jogging backwards to get into defensive position.

“Eight games ago, I don’t know what it was – but something happened with Christian,” Law said. “The light came on, and he has played harder, better and more productively for this basketball team in the last eight games than he has done in anything that he’s ever done in his athletic career.”

Ballard said Law wouldn’t let the team leave Lawrence for Olathe on Friday before showing it a short video clip.

“He showed us ‘Animal House’ before the game,” Ballard said. “We were really relaxed before the game and it just reassured us that we could beat this team. It helped us a lot.”

For all of Ballard’s offensive prominence, junior forward Weston Wiebe was just as dominant on the defensive end. Wiebe guarded Olathe South’s Denver Holmes, who scored 21 points in O-South’s victory at Free State on Jan. 30.

With Wiebe’s punishing defense, Holmes scored one point in the second half Friday night. He only finished with nine.

“The last game, he hit so many jumpshots, so the focus was to always have a hand up and try to force a drive so then I could get help from my teammates,” Wiebe said. “We tried to give him a minimal amount of touches. If he doesn’t touch the ball, he’s not going to do anything.”

Not one Falcons player scored in double figures. O-South only scored six points in each of the second and fourth quarters.

After the game, Law, in his second year as the Firebirds coach, called it the most memorable victory of his Free State career.

“It absolutely is,” Law said. “This is for the seniors – Nick (Devin), Kyle (Schreiner), Christian, and even Jamar (Reese) when he was in late in the game. They have been unbelievable this year. The effort that they have put forth these last six or seven games has been astonishing, and that’s why we are where we are.”

Free State will play its opening state tournament game Wednesday against an opponent to be determined.