Olathe East too much for Free State girls

Free State sophomore Courtney Hoag tries to save the ball from going out of bounds during Free State’s game against Olathe East on Friday.

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With only one player taller than 6-foot, the Free State High girls basketball team isn’t going to overpower many opponents and is well aware of it.

But FSHS is quick and loaded with shooters, so heading into Friday’s matchup against a much bigger Olathe East team, the Firebirds were resolved to stick to what they do best.

“We’re a good three-point-shooting team,” said FSHS coach Bryan Duncan following a 53-48 loss in which the Firebirds hit only nine of 33 attempts from long distance.

“Only tonight we didn’t make them.”

Kennedy Kirkpatrick led the way with 13 points, six assists and four rebounds, Chelsea Casady added 10 points and five rebounds, and Lynn Robinson chipped in nine points, but the off-shooting night caught up to the Firebirds despite a solid all-around game.

“I think we did everything we needed to do on both ends of the floor other than hit those threes,” Duncan said, citing rebounding, passing, and a season-low 10 turnovers. “I know that’s a big ‘what,’ but in our case, that’s what we’re expecting to do.”

Sanayika Shields, the Hawks’ 6-foot forward, burned the Firebirds in the paint with 19 points and seven rebounds, and 6-2 forward Kylie Gafford added 13.

“It was tough without an inside scoring presence against a team of that size,” Duncan said.

Even with the production of Shields and Gafford, Duncan praised the post defense of Chelsea Casady and her sister Abbey, who, despite each only being 5-9, are the primary Firebird “bigs.”

“My sister (Abbey Casady, who tallied four points and five rebounds) and I, we just try to be bigger than we are,” Casady said. “We just use our muscles and get into them, try to front them more and just play our game.”

Free State’s pressure defense led it into halftime down only 22-18 despite a 2-for-16 three-point-shooting clip.

With the wealth of good shooters — Kirkpatrick, Robinson, Chelsea Casady and Alexa Gaumer — at his disposal, Duncan wasn’t about to abandon his plan at halftime.

“I was like, what have I been saying to you all game, keep shooting,” he said.

The Firebirds hit their first three three-pointers to open the half to pull within two points, but the Hawks, led by several baskets from Shields, closed the quarter with a 15-7 run to pull away.

And though FSHS was able to narrow the deficit to three with just under a minute remaining, the missed chances proved too much to overcome.

“We knew they were going to score some points inside, and they did,” Duncan said. “But we expected to shoot better from the perimeter and we didn’t.”

Box score

Olathe East girls 53, Free State 48

OLATHE EAST (53)

Kylie Gafford 4-6 5-7 13, Justice Daniel 0-3 1-2 1, Katie Hannam 5-8 0-0 10, Sanayika Shields 5-12 9-13 19, Alyssa Palmer 0-7 2-4 2, Lyndsey Lyman 2-2 0-0 4, Cailey Taylor 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Jorgenson 1-2 2-2 4. Totals: 17-40 19-28 53.

FREE STATE (48)

Abbey Casady 2-2 0-0 4, Jackie Garcia 1-1 2-2 4, Kennedy Kirkpatrick 5-16 0-0 13, Lynn Robinson 3-10 0-0 9, C. Casady 4-12 0-0 10, Courtney Hoag 0-0 0-0 0, Alexa Gaumer 1-6 0-0 3, A’Liyah Rogers 2-2 1-1 5. Totals: 18-49 3-3 48.

O-East 12 10 24 7 — 53

FSHS 8 10 16 14 — 48

Three-point goals: OEast 0-3; Free State 9-33 (Kirkpatrick 3, Robinson 3, C. Casady 2, Gaumer). Fouled out: Free State — A. Casady. Shooting: OEast 17-40 (42.5 percent); Free State 18-49 (36.7 percent). Turnovers: OEast 9, Free State 10.