Free State girls fall on Senior Night

Free State senior Chantay Caron tries to keep the ball away from Olathe South senior Kelsey Balcom. Caron scored 23 points in the Firebirds’ 58-41 loss on Senior Night Friday at Free State High.

If you think Olathe South’s boys basketball team is good, you should see the Falcons’ girls.

After a twinbill sweep of Free State on Friday night, O-South ran its combined record to 33-1.

The O-South girls remained unbeaten (17-0) with a 58-41 triumph over the Firebirds, while the boys climbed to 16-1 with a 55-45 triumph in the nightcap.

In the girls game, the Firebirds (11-7) never led, falling behind 11-2 early and never coming closer than four points the rest of the way.

It was Senior Night for the girls — the boys will celebrate their Senior Night on Tuesday against Shawnee Mission North — and Chantay Caron contributed a game-high 23 in her penultimate game in the Free State gym.

But only three other Firebirds scored, including freshman Kennedy Kirkpatrick, who netted six points in only her second varsity game. Meanwhile, three O-South (17-0) players scored in double figures.

“They were good, and they came to play,” Free State coach Bryan Duncan said of the Falcons. “Their pressure defense created a lot of havoc for our guards.”

O-South forced 21 turnovers and shot a sizzling 48.9 percent (24 of 49).

“I don’t think we played poorly,” Duncan said. “We just lost to a very good basketball team.”