Free State forward Cameryn Thomas (10) dribbles the ball against Washburn Rural defenders Friday night in Topeka.

Topeka ? Shots weren’t falling for Free State High’s girls basketball players on Friday, and they couldn’t get consistent stops on defense. That’s a deadly combination in the postseason.

The Firebirds couldn’t fight back from a double-digit deficit in the second half against Washburn Rural and suffered a season-ending 58-38 loss at Washburn Rural in the sub-state finals. The Junior Blues will play in the Class 6A state tournament for the fourth straight year.

For Free State, it was just the wrong day to have an off game, ending the season with a 14-8 record.

“Our defense wasn’t there tonight, and they have amazing players that we just didn’t stop,” FSHS junior Madison Piper said. “We just didn’t get it done tonight.”

From the beginning, the Firebirds made some uncharacteristic mistakes against a team they beat in January. Some passes flew through the hands of the intended target. Other typical chest passes were aimed at knees.

In the first 31?2 minutes, the Firebirds missed their first seven shots and turned the ball over twice. By the end of the first half, they were shooting 22 percent (5-of-23) from the floor and trailed by eight points.

“I think what happened was we came out and we were way too sped up,” said Piper, who had a game-high 19 points and eight rebounds. “We were way too excited to play.”

Free State finally found some rhythm offensively in the first quarter when Piper swished a three-pointer, assisted by senior Hannah Walter, starting a 7-0 run for a one-point lead. Piper added a putback and senior forward Peyton Brown made a short floater.

But Washburn Rural freshman forward Carly Bachelor responded with a buzzer-beating putback at the end of the first quarter, giving the Junior Blues an 8-7 lead, and they never trailed again.

In the final four minutes of the second quarter, Bachelor, a 5-foot-11 stretch forward, went on a personal 7-0 run to end the first half. Bachelor scored nine of her 15 points in the period.

Meanwhile, the Firebirds were held scoreless for the final 5:41 of the first half, missing six straight shots after sophomore point guard Cameryn Thomas made a short jumper in the paint.

“I think they were just aggressive and we lost our composure a little bit defensively,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said.

After the second-seeded Junior Blues (17-5) opened the third quarter with points on their first three possessions, Duncan called a timeout following a layup from Thomas, doing his best to raise the intensity with a fiery speech.

Duncan’s timeout paid off initially with five straight points from senior guard Caiti Schlesener, a 5-4 spark plug, who drained a three-pointer and scored on a fast-break layup after Thomas grabbed a steal on the perimeter. Schlesener scored all 12 of her points in the second half.

But the Firebirds couldn’t stop the Junior Blues from scoring. Washburn Rural scored on eight straight possessions midway through the third quarter — almost exclusively at the free-throw line — for an 11-2 spurt. Senior guard Jordyn Musselman, who lived up to her last name by fighting through Free State’s full-court pressure, made 11 free throws in the second half on her way to a team-high 18 points.

Piper and Schlesener drilled threes at the end of the period, both assisted by Walter, but there was too much ground to make up in too little time. Free State never pulled any closer than 12 points in the fourth quarter.

“It hurts,” Schlesener said. “But they are a great group of girls. There’s no one else I’d rather be playing with or leave it all on the court with.”

FREE STATE (38)

Cameryn Thomas 2-9 0-0 4, Caiti Schlesener 5-13 0-1 12, Madison Piper 8-15 0-0 19, Hannah Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Peyton Brown 1-6 1-2 3, Jaycie Bishop 0-2 0-0 0, Erin Cushing 0-2 0-0 0, Taylor Mosher 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 16-47 1-3 38.

WASHBURN RURAL (58)

Megan Lucas 1-1 1-2 4, Carly Bachelor 5-11 4-6 15, Jordyn Musselman 4-8 11-14 18, Lauren Biggs 3-7 6-6 12, Mercedes Parker 2-6 1-2 5, Kendall Michalski 0-0 4-4 4, Sydney Houser 0-0 0-0 0, Britt Woolington 0-0 0-0 0, Jessie Cummings 0-0 0-0 0, Inyesa Lutz 0-0 0-0 0, Baylie Sigmund 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 15-34 27-36 58.

Free State 7 4 14 13 — 38

W-Rural 8 11 20 19 — 58

Three-point goals: Free State 5-19 (Piper 3, Schlesener 2); Washburn Rural 1-5 (Lucas). Fouled out: Walter, Bishop. Turnovers: Free State 13, Washburn Rural 8.