Two of the Sunflower League’s best girls basketball players squared off Friday night at Free State High, and when the final buzzer sounded, Shawnee Mission Northwest senior forward Brenni Rose left the court smiling.

FSHS junior Madison Piper, on the other hand, exited in frustration, following a 33-29 defeat at the hands of SMNW.

The Firebirds’ leading scorer, Piper hit a floater in the first quarter and a jumper in the second, but couldn’t get another field goal to fall through the net on her 2-for-9 night. The Cougars, ranked No. 3 in Class 6A, never let Piper get open for more than a second or two, and when they did, they recovered defensively to make sure she could neither find her comfort level nor see the basket well enough to rise and fire.

“We just had a hard time getting her open, inside or out,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said, “and they did a pretty good job on defense.”

SMNW (12-2) limited Free State (10-4) to 7-for-25 shooting in the final three quarters by taking away Piper, who finished with five points and seven rebounds.

“I think they’re just a better team,” Duncan said. “They’re long. They face-guarded her, but everybody else was pretty good, too. I don’t think they did anything different than what we’ve seen all year. They just did it a lot better.”

The Firebirds, ranked No. 6 in 6A, made Rose work, but the 6-foot senior often outmaneuvered her defender with cross-over dribbles and spin moves, allowing her to get to the paint for baskets and assists. Rose scored a game-high 17 points on 5-for-12 shooting and made six of her seven free throws on a night the entire FSHS team went 1-for-7 at the foul line.

The Firebirds played well enough in the first quarter to get out to a 12-4 lead, thanks to timely three-pointers from Caiti Schlesener (eight points) and Jaelyn Two Hearts (10 points off the bench), who hit her bomb from the corner in the waning seconds of the period.

FSHS also stymied the Cougars’ offense early, limiting the visitors to 1-for-11 shooting in the first eight minutes. However, SMNW controlled the game for the majority of the final three quarters, seemingly flipping a switch after a dismal start.

“We knew they’d be coming back,” Duncan said, adding the Firebirds also expected both teams to scrap on defense — both shot 12-for-35 from the field. “We really thought the first team to 40 would win. It turned out the first team to 30 won.”

SM NORTHWEST (33)

Shelbie McLain 0-4 0-0 0, Emmalee Rose 1-7 0-0 2, Jordann Nachbar 3-5 0-0 6, Danielle Rehor 1-3 0-1 3, Brenni Rose 5-12 6-7 17, Melissa Schmidt 1-2 0-0 2, Gena Ojeda 0-0 0-0 0, Carson Vielhauer 1-1 0-0 3, Hannah Black 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 6-8 33.

FREE STATE (29)

Cameryn Thomas 2-10 0-0 4, Caiti Schlesener 3-5 0-3 8, Madison Piper 2-9 1-2 5, Hannah Walter 0-2 0-0 0, Peyton Brown 1-2 0-0 2, Jaelyn Two Hearts 4-6 0-0 10, Jaycie Bishop 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 12-35 1-7 29.

SMNW 4 12 12 5 — 33

Free State 12 4 6 7 — 29

Three-point goals: SMNW 3-11 (B. Rose, Rehor, Vielhauer); FSHS 4-12 (Two Hearts 2, Schlesener 2). Turnovers: SMNW 9; FSHS 10.