The 1-2 punch of sophomore Madison Piper and senior Sarah Coversup powered the Free State High girls basketball team to a 61-44 victory over Topeka on Friday in the Firebirds’ season opener at FSHS.

The Firebirds and Trojans were deadlocked at 17 early in the second quarter before Free State went on a 12-0 run and never looked back.

“You never had a feeling like we showed any signs of going down in the dumps or even a lull, and we just kept playing,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said. “I think that was the key. I think we really played 32 consecutive minutes tonight.”

While Piper and Coversup scored 23 and 20 points, respectively, they both deflected the credit for the season-opening win to the team’s performance as a whole.

“As long as my team is doing good, I’ll do good,” Coversup simply put it. Coversup, a transfer from Horton High, said she wished she had made the move to Free State sooner, but her teammates could not be more excited to have her.

“She is a huge addition. She really won the game for us with her presence on and off the court,” Piper said of Coversup. “She gave us energy and made us want to play and made it more fun.”

Coversup wasted little time making an impact, scoring the first six points of the game on her way to knocking down eight of 11 shots from the field and four of five from the charity stripe.

The only thing that could keep Coversup from piling up more points was foul trouble. She picked up her fourth foul with 6:44 to go in the third quarter, but the Firebirds continued to keep the Trojans at arm’s length.

“One of the highlights of the game was our bench play,” Duncan said. “I don’t know if their stats were very impressive, but our Nos. 6, 7 and 8 were really good tonight. (They were) steady, playing a lot of different roles.”

Duncan knew coming into the season opener that the Trojans would put up a good fight behind guard Adrianna Henderson. Henderson scored 17 points and knocked down all three of Topeka’s three-point makes, but Duncan was pleased with how Piper and Cameryn Thomas contained the Trojans’ sharp-shooter.

“She’s just too good to try to, say, face-guard her and not let her do her thing,” Duncan said of Henderson. “We did know that she kind of likes to float up top a little bit and either drive it or shoot it.”

The Firebirds will look to build off Friday’s win when they hit the road to take on Central Academy at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

FREE STATE (61)

Cameryn Thomas 3-6 0-0 6, Jaycie Bishop 2-4 0-2 5, Adriana Jadlow 2-6 1-5 5, Madison Piper 8-14 4-5 23, Sarah Coversup 8-11 4-5 20, Hannah Shoemaker 0-1 0-0 0, Jaelyn McKay 0-2 2-2 2, Totals: 23-44 11-19 61.

TOPEKA (44)

Jasmine Wheeler 0-1 0-0 0, Rylee Burris 0-1 0-0 0, Adrianna Henderson 6-10 2-2 17, Precious Posey 1-1 0-1 2, Corieann Emanuel 3-5 2-2 6, Imani Simmons 3-6 2-3 8, Ke’Shawn Wright 0-1 0-0 0, Dey’Chelle Claiborne 1-5 0-0 2, Jhailyn Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Erica Birch 1-1 3-4 5, Totals: 15-29 10-14 44.

Free State 17 14 15 15 — 61

Topeka 13 8 13 10 — 44

Three-point goals: Free State 4-10 (Piper 3, Bishop); Topeka 3-12 (Henderson 3, Emanuel). Turnovers: Free State 13, Topeka 22. Fouled out: Henderson (Topeka).