For most of Friday night at Free State High, boys basketball coach Chuck Law thought his team worked to get quality looks on offense and forced No. 7-ranked Olathe Northwest into difficult shots on the opposite end of the court.

Such was the case in the final minute of the fourth quarter. However, Ravens senior guard Evan Reid drilled a three-pointer with 38 seconds to play, and FSHS junior Hunter Gudde missed a potential game-tying layup just before the buzzer in a 36-34 ONW victory.

After Law called a timeout with 13 seconds remaining and the Firebirds (4-4) in a two-point hole in the methodically paced game, Free State hoped to get senior Weston Hack a look off a slipped screen, but the Ravens (7-2) took away the initial action. Sophomore Jacob Pavlyak swung the ball to the right side for Gudde, who drove all the way into the paint for a lay-in that misfired strong off the backboard.

“Our guys, to their credit, they kept their heads about them,” Law said. “And Hunter made a beautiful drive to the basket. I thought we were looking at 36-36 and going to overtime. But it just didn’t fall.”

Afterward, both Law and Hack (15 points, six rebounds, two steals) recalled the high-percentage looks that wouldn’t drop throughout the game — not just the last miss by Gudde, who scored 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

“We were getting what we wanted,” Hack said. “We missed a ton of easy layups, a ton of open threes. To be quite honest, we should’ve won that game by 15 points. There’s no excuse, no reason for it to even come down to a play like that at the end. We’ve got to be better throughout the game at finishing and taking control of the game when we have the opportunity to.”

Free State hit just 13 of its 31 shots and only connected on two of 11 three-pointers. Still, the Firebirds held ONW to 12-for-27 shooting.

In a low-scoring game, with longer possessions and fewer shots, Hack, who scored all seven of Free State’s fourth-quarter points, said that magnifies the last few minutes. Hack’s three-pointer with 2:11 to play gave FSHS a 34-33 advantage before Reid later came up with an answer.

“It’s a big shot. You’ve gotta give credit to him,” Hack said. “We had plenty of time down the stretch for us to get a look, too. We should’ve won the game.”

Law agreed, and walked away from the loss shaking his head.

“I didn’t think the better team won the game tonight,” the coach said. “We really had a good game plan. I thought we outplayed them, for the most part. We just didn’t make enough plays to win.”

Reid hit four of his team’s five three-pointers, none bigger than the game-winner in the final minute.

Said Law: “They bang a 24-foot three to take the lead, and we miss a two-footer to tie. That’s kind of how the whole game went. I thought they made tougher shots, for the most part. I thought we got, for the most part, what we wanted.”

The Firebirds play at the St. Thomas Aquinas Tournament beginning Thursday.

OLATHE NORTHWEST (36)

Evan Reid 5-10 0-0 14, Curtis Hoover 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Harter 1-1 0-2 2, Devin Anctil 3-4 3-4 9, Jaymond Kelly 3-7 2-2 9, Charlie Holmgren 0-2 2-2 2, Tony Omazic 0-0 0-0 0, Luke Waters 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 12-27 7-10 36.

FREE STATE (34)

Andrew Keating 1-1 0-0 2, Weston Hack 6-12 2-2 15, Justin Narcomey 1-7 0-0 3, Hunter Gudde 5-8 3-3 13, Jack Raney 0-0 0-0 0, Chrision Wilburn 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Pavlyak 0-2 1-2 1, Jay Dineen 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-31 6-7 34.

Olathe NW 12 5 9 10 — 36

Free State 11 6 10 7 — 34

Three-point goals: ONW 5-14 (Reid 4, Kelly); FSHS 2-11 (Hack, Narcomey). Turnovers: ONW 5, FSHS 6.