Free State junior Jackie Garcia (10) is fouled by Lawrence High sophomore Krista Costa (22) Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011 at LHS.

Unlike most of their young team, Free State juniors Lynn Robinson and Jackie Garcia had city showdown experience.

That much was very clear in the Firebirds’ 44-35 victory at Lawrence High on Tuesday. With the score tied at 30-30, Robinson and Garcia combined for the next eight Firebird points, giving Free State a three-point lead it wouldn’t give up.

“They really carried us tonight and made tons of big plays on both ends of the floor when we needed them,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said.

Robinson had 21 points to lead all scorers. She often drove past LHS defenders before scooping the ball off the backboard, silencing the boisterous LHS crowd.

LHS coach Nick Wood thought Robinson’s play was the difference in the game.

“We sure as heck couldn’t guard her,” Wood said. “She was taking the ball and dribbling right to the rim.”

Seemingly no one could stay in front of her, and even worse, there didn’t seem to be much defensive help inside. Wood called it a complete defensive breakdown.

Free State also had some trouble containing the Lions’ best scorer, senior Tamiya Green. She finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

But Duncan was pleased overall with his team’s defensive effort on her.

“She’s just a really good player, and really good players are going to have good nights like that,” Duncan said.

The Firebirds (5-3) led 18-12 at half behind nine points from Robinson. They scored the first two buckets of the second half to take a 10-point lead, the largest for either team.

The Lions (3-5), behind outside shooting from junior Christina Haswood, responded, going on a 12-2 run in the final six minutes of the third quarter to take a 26-24 lead going into the final quarter.

In the locker room after the game, Wood told his players that they needed to try to bring the same energy all game as they did during that six-minute stretch.

With 4:56 left in the fourth quarter and the score knotted at 30, Robinson and Garcia started to aggressively take the ball the basket, resulting in easy layups or trips to the free throw line.

It was both impressive and risky, especially considering that Robinson started the fourth quarter with four fouls. One charge could have disqualified her from the rest of the game.

The Firebirds led 38-35 with 1:07 to go, and Duncan switched his team’s defense from man-to-man to a 2-3 zone out of a timeout.

“We felt like in that situation, it was a good move,” Duncan said. “We wanted to try to slow them down a little bit and make them take some time of the clock. And maybe make them uncomfortable.”

The zone accomplished both goals. The Lions turned it over after being unable to find an open look after more than 25 seconds with the ball.

Free State sophomore Kennedy Kirkpatrick hit two free throws to seal the victory.

Duncan was impressed with the Lions’ ability to hit tough shots.

“That’s a quality win in a very difficult environment,” Duncan said. “That speaks volumes for our players to be able to beat a team that played that well on their home court tonight.”

Free State travels to Shawnee Mission Northwest for a game on Monday at 7 p.m. The Lions play Emporia at LHS on Friday at 7 p.m.