Cameron Clark goes up top to jam the ball for two as Free State's boys basketball team played Mill Valley Friday in Shawnee.

Shawnee ? After scoring a combined 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting in the Free State High boys basketball team’s first two games, senior Sloan Thomsen busted out of his slump in a big way Friday in the Firebirds’ 68-60 win over Mill Valley.

Thomsen scored a team-high 20 points, and drilled two of his four 3-pointers in the third quarter to give the momentum back to the Firebirds (2-1) after the Jaguars had taken their first lead.

“Sloan did what we need Sloan to do. He made some big shots, and he rebounded well,” said Free State coach Sam Stroh of Thomsen. “We all struggled Tuesday night (53-49 loss to Blue Valley West) shooting the ball, but Sloan was able to separate us there in the third and the start of the fourth. That was huge for us, and big for him.”

Thomsen said that Tuesday’s loss to BV West in Free State’s home opener did not sit well with the Firebirds, and they were eager to get back on the court to make amends for it. The FSHS senior made six of his 11 shots from the field, and all four of his free throws.

“It meant a lot to the seniors especially because we played terrible Tuesday with dumb turnovers,” Thomsen said. “We still had a few tonight, but we cleaned it up and went out and competed.”

Free State led 30-26 at the break, but the Jaguars jumped on the Firebirds with a 10-4 run to start the second half — taking their lone lead at 36-34 after a Mason Little 3-pointer. The Firebirds grabbed the lead right back with back-to-back buckets from Jacob Pavlyak and Cameron Clark, before Thomsen gave Free State a little bit of a cushion. Thomsen hit a trey from his sweet spot right in front of the Firebirds’ bench to push their lead to five. Mill Valley guard Cooper Kaifes ended the Firebirds’ 7-0 run with a free throw, but Thomsen answered with another triple to put Free State up by seven.

Thomsen had plenty of help, as Shannon Cordes and Jay Dineen joined him in double figures with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Cordes scored the game’s first four points, and Stroh said he gave the Firebirds that spark that his team needed.

“Same thing with Shannon as with Sloan. Shannon didn’t play his best game on Tuesday, and he bounced back,” Stroh said. “I thought he did a good job, especially when Pav fouled out. He had to come in and play some defense, and help us out defensively.”

Dineen finished off the Jaguars at the free-throw line to fend off a late charge for Kaifes and Mill Valley. Dineen knocked down 7 of his 10 free-throw attempts in the fourth.

“It feels great,” Dineen said. “Coming in against a team that won state last year 5A and beating them on their home field, uh, court not field — I’m so used to football — just beating them on their home court and having a win going into LHS week is huge.”

Dineen and the Firebirds are fired up to play cross-town rival Lawrence High Friday in Allen Fieldhouse, and feels like the first three games have prepared them well to face the Lions.

Free State has faced a prolific scorer in each game in Barstow’s Jacob Gilyard, BV West’s Mikey Chalupa and Kaifes — who poured in 33 points.

“That helps us a lot,” Dineen said. “It shows us what we need to work on also. We need to help a little better, and stop the direct drive because he (Kaifes) got to the hole pretty good.”

FREE STATE (68)

Simon McCaffrey 0-1 1-2 1, Jay Dineen 3-4 8-12 14, Sloan Thomsen 6-11 4-4 20, Jacob Pavlyak 2-4 0-0 4, Shannon Cordes 5-10 5-6 16, Cameron Clark 4-8 0-4 8, Jalan Robinson 2-4 1-4 5, Avant Edwards 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-43 19-32 68.

MILL VALLEY (60)

Cooper Kaifes 10-18 9-10 33, Blake Montgomery 0-5 0-0 0, Darius McLemore 2-3 0-0 4, Brody Flaming 0-1 2-2 2, Ike Valencia 5-8 0-0 10, Jansen McCabe 1-1 0-0 3, Jack Cooper 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Little 2-6 0-0 5,Tanner Moore 1-6 0-0 3. Totals: 21-49 11-12 60.

Free State 15 15 16 22 — 68

Mill Valley 9 17 13 21 — 60

3-point goals: Free State 5-14 (Thomsen 4, Cordes); Mill Valley 7-22 (Kaifes 4, Little, McCabe, Moore) Turnovers: Free State 9, Mill Valley 10. Fouled out: Pavlyak.