FSHS splits with Leavenworth

? Ashleigh Allam was one sick Firebird.

Feeling the aftermath of something she ate Thursday, the Free State High girls forward spent Friday morning repeatedly regurgitating.

But that wasn’t going to keep her from going to school. Not on a game day.

The Firebirds needed her, too. Allam came off the bench against the Pioneers, scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and helped lead her team to a 43-31 road victory.

Despite her production and the win, Allam still was feeling ill after the game.

“I don’t feel better,” she said, before shrugging off the performance. “You just have to forget about it and do what you can do.”

As usual, Allam was the first Firebird off the bench. But as early as she enters – usually in the first two minutes – coach Bryan hardly considers the junior a sub.

“Ashleigh Allam’s a starter,” Duncan said, before marveling at her ability to perform while feeling ill. “She never complained, you would have never known (she was sick). She just plays her tail off no matter what.”

Allam, who always pushes herself to play as hard as possible, embraces her role as the Firebirds’ sixth starter.

“I actually like not starting because it gives me a couple of minutes to look at the game and look at what I need to do,” she said.

Sophomore forward Chantay Caron led the Firebirds in scoring with 14.

She earned 12 of those at the charity stripe, making 12 of 17.

“She was ultra-aggressive and did a great job for us attacking the basket,” Duncan said, adding that the 12 makes tied a school record.

The Firebirds (8-8 overall, 4-3 Sunflower League) won the game by forcing Leavenworth to take tough shots. The Pioneers hit just 22 percent of their attempts, going 10-of-45 from the floor.

“There’s no doubt,” Duncan said, “defense is what keyed our victory tonight, both in our man, and in our zone.”

Leavenworth 55, FSHS boys 48

The FSHS boys looked to attack Leavenworth with an active zone in order to limit the inside presence of the Pioneers’ two 6-foot-5 starting forwards. That part of the plan worked as the Firebirds held Zack Riggins and Jabril Bowlin to nine combined points. But, FSHS fell to Leavenworth, 55-48, when another Pioneer stepped up.

“We thought we were going to have a really tough time guarding them in the post,” coach Chuck Law said when asked about playing the zone, which the Firebirds hadn’t done much this year. “We hoped to catch them off guard a little bit.”

The Firebirds (10-6, 4-3) did just that, and trailed by only one point after three quarters. But a few defensive breakdowns in the final period were the difference.

“We had a couple of lapses where we left No. 23 (Caprest Rhone) open,” Law said of the Pioneers’ senior guard, who hit three threes in the second half and scored 13 fourth-quarter points. “I didn’t know he was going to rain three threes like that.”

Senior forward Weston Wiebe, who scored nine of his team-high 15 in the fourth, said mental lapses on defense were the difference.

“We just did some dumb things and forgot our responsibilities (in the zone),” Wiebe said. “Seemed like every time we got close, we would forget our responsibilities.”

Wiebe hit a three with 4:28 to go that made it 39-38, Pioneers. But Rhone answered with two threes in a row. Meanwhile, senior guard Kris Wilson fouled out with 3:53 remaining after scoring 10 points and dishing six assists.

“That’s a big part of our offense,” Law said of Wilson. “It’s probably no great surprise that we struggled offensively down the stretch.”

Wiebe said he could have used his running mate in the final minutes.

“It hurt us a lot,” he said of losing Wilson. “He’s our point guard, our floor general.”