Free State High junior Madison Piper (14) gets free for a shot after driving past Shawnee Mission East junior Josie Clough during their game Tuesday evening in Prairie Village.

Prairie Village ? Free State High junior guard Madison Piper scored 28 points Tuesday night to lead the Firebirds to a 61-44 road win at Shawnee Mission East. But the most enjoyable stretch of the game for Piper came in the second quarter, when she took one shot.

After scoring 12 of the first 16 points for FSHS, which raced out to a 14-point lead after a quarter, Piper picked up her third foul early on in the second. However, when she went to the bench and became an observer, her teammates didn’t miss a beat.

Senior Hannah Walter, sophomore Jaelyn Two Hearts and senior Peyton Brown picked up the scoring slack, while senior Caiti Schlesener, junior Jaycie Bishop and sophomore Cameryn Thomas set things up.

“That was critical,” Free State coach Bryan Duncan said after his team improved to 5-1. “Madison had a great first quarter to get us going offensively and our defense was good. Then we showed that we have other people that can score, and more importantly, not even just score, but they played well together and didn’t panic and found ways to get to the open areas.”

Two Hearts’ driving and passing and Brown’s work on the boards made it easy for FSHS to keep building its lead. Two Hearts scored five points in the second quarter and Brown, who had three offensive rebounds in that stretch, added seven points.

“It was awesome,” Piper said, “because in years past whenever I picked up that fourth or third foul, our offense just didn’t flow like normal. But I think this team this year, we just have so many people that can run the offense and play their game.”

Brown finished the game with 17 points and 11 rebounds against an overmatched group of Lancers (0-4).

“She provides a great presence,” Piper said, “because our team’s not very big. We need someone strong like her to get those rebounds and get those put-backs or help us box out on the defensive end.”

Two Hearts distributed three assists to go with her five points, and oftentimes got Free State’s offense flowing with crafty drives and dishes.

“She makes those great passes that you’re like, ‘How’d that get there?'” Piper said. “She really helps us.”

FREE STATE (61)

Cameryn Thomas 1-4 1-2 3, Jaycie Bishop 1-3 0-1 2, Madison Piper 10-16 7-8 28, Hannah Walter 2-3 0-0 4, Jaelyn Two Hearts 2-3 1-2 5, Peyton Brown 6-11 5-9 17, Caiti Schlesener 1-7 0-0 2. Totals 23-47 14-22 61.

SM EAST (44)

Josie Clough 3-6 3-3 10, Toni Englund 1-5 0-0 2, Kyle Haverty 3-11 3-5 9, Sofia Stechschulte 1-4 0-0 2, Emma Linscott 3-6 2-5 8, Jordan Yowell 4-10 202 11, Katie Hise 0-0 0-0 0, Quincy Bair 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 16-44 10-15 44.

Free State 16 16 17 12–61

SM East 2 9 11 22–44

Three-point goals: FSHS 1-7 (Piper); SME 2-12 (Clough, Yowell). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: FSHS 13, SME 12.