Chantay Caron can officially shed her sophomore label.

The first-year Free State High forward played like a savvy vet in the fourth quarter against Hutchinson, scoring all eight of the Firebirds’ points and hitting two game-sealing free throws with 0.3 seconds remaining to give FSHS a 47-45 victory in the opening round of the Firebird Winter Classic.

“She really grew up tonight as a sophomore. She had some huge plays for us in that fourth quarter,” coach Bryan Duncan said of Caron. “It really allowed her to step up and show what type of player she is.”

Caron scored the first five points of the fourth to put FSHS (5-5) up, 44-32, but the Salthawks responded with a 13-0 run and took their first lead of the game with 24 ticks to go. Caron bookended the Hutchinson run by hitting three of four pressure-packed free throws in the final six-plus seconds.

After tying the game at 45 with 6.1 seconds on the clock, Caron missed her second free throw, but junior Taylor Manning grabbed the offensive rebound. Manning passed to sophomore Ashli Hill, who missed a would-be game-winner. But Caron secured that miss and was intentionally fouled on the right baseline with 0.3 to go.

The freebies were particularly sweat-inducing for Caron because she said her shot was off at the previous day’s practice.

“I was just kind of praying that they were going in,” Caron said of the game-winning free throws. “It’s nerve-racking.”

Count Duncan among those who didn’t want to be in Caron’s Adidas with the game on the line.

“I’m just happy that I wasn’t out there shooting because I would’ve bricked both of them,” Duncan quipped. “That was huge.”

The fourth quarter was a real turn-around for Caron. She had struggled to find scoring chances in the opening 24 minutes and became frustrated.

“She’s such a competitive kid that she was just trying too hard,” Duncan said. “She had great intentions, but sometimes that’s part of being a young player. You have to realize that sometimes you have to let the game come to you, and once she figured that out, it certainly came to her late in the game.”

Before Caron got going, it was another sophomore Firebird doing the bulk of the damage. Hill scored a game-high 21 points, which featured a 6-for-6, 13-point second quarter, and grabbed eight rebounds.

“I was on tonight, I guess,” Hill said. “I was really focused and ready to play.”

Most of Hill’s 10 field goals came thanks to the high-low looks she was getting with Manning making the entry passes.

“(Hill) had a great night on both ends, and certainly we did a great job of getting the ball thrown in high,” Duncan said, noting that Manning set a FSHS record with eight assists, working the high to Hill’s low. “A lot of Ashli’s success was coming from excellent passing. They had a nice little rhythm going.”

There was one downer for the Firebirds during the first-round victory. Junior guard Maggie Hull went down with a left knee injury late in the third quarter, and Duncan said she was doubtful for the rest of the tournament.

The FSHS coach said his team was happy to avoid the “sunshine bracket,” or loser’s side, after the close victory.

“It certainly means even more in our own tournament and we’ve got a tremendous challenge over the next two days,” he said.

FSHS will play Goddard tonight at 8:15. That game will be preceded by a 6:30 game between Derby and Washburn Rural. On the loser’s side, Kansas City Sumner will play Hutchinson at 4:45, and Topeka and Wichita Northwest will tip at 3 p.m.