Emporia ? Final: Free State defeats SM West, 44-38: Senior guards Lauren Kimball and Jenna Brantley hit two free throws each to seal the six-point victory for Free State. SM West attempted to shoot a three-pointer as time wound down, but Brantley intercepted the pass as time expired.

Brantley led Free State with 14 points. Kimball had 11. Senior forward Kelsey Harrison had nine, while junior forward Sarah Craft scored eight.

Brit Bahr led SM West with 11 points.

0:50 FOURTH QUARTER: Free State leads SM West, 42-38: Senior guard Jenna Brantley hit a crucial layup with 1:32 remaining to five Free State a six-point lead. SM West stopped the clock and put senior guard Lauren Kimball on the line with 1:03 left in the game. Kimball hit both free throws.

2:03 FOURTH QUARTER: Free State leads SM West, 38-34: Senior forward Kelsey Harrison hit a huge three-pointer with 3:15 left in the game to give Free State a four-point lead. Before the three, SM West went on a 13-3 run since the middle of the third quarter. SM West’s Lauren Beeman hit two threes in a row before Harrison’s shot.

SM West has only made one two-point bucket in the second half. The Vikings have four threes after intermission.

6:45 FOURTH QUARTER: Free State leads SM West, 35-26: SM West went on an 8-0 run to cut the lead to 32-26. Senior guard Jenna Brantley stopped the run by converting a layup, plus the foul. Brantley converted the free throw to build the Free State lead back up to nine. Brantley now has a team-high 10 points.

END OF THIRD QUARTER: Free State leads SM West, 32-24: Both teams scored eight points in a relatively uneventful third quarter. Senior guard Lauren Kimball scored five points in the quarter to lead Free State. She now has nine.

HALFTIME: Free State leads SM West, 24-16: Free State continues its strong free throw shooting in the state tournament. The Firebirds went 10-of-13 from the foul line in the first half. Junior forward Sarah Craft leads Free State with eight points off the bench. Craft had a three-pointer, a layup, then got fouled on a three-point attempt. Craft converted all three free throws.

SM West guard Kaitlyn Biel leads the Vikings with six points at intermission.

Free State is 6-of-18 (33.3 percent) from the field, while SM West is 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from the field. Of the Vikings 17 shots, 10 of them have been three-point attempts. They’ve converted three long-distance shots.

END OF FIRST QUARTER: Free State leads SM West, 11-9: Free State jumped out to a 7-0 lead on SM West. Sophomore forward Taylor Manning had a jumper, senior forward Kelsey Harrison had two free throws and junior forward Sarah Craft hit a three-point shot from the right corner.

SM West guard Kaitlyn Biel kept the Vikings in the game with two three-pointers in the first quarter.

The Free State girls (17-7) take on Shawnee Mission West (17-7) in the third-place game of the Class 6A state tournament from Emporia.