Free State coach Ted Juneau instructs his team in the huddle during the second-half of the Firebirds loss against Olathe Northwest Tuesday, Jan. 31.

When Free State High’s girls basketball team is playing at its best, coach Ted Juneau said it looks like “a million dollars.”

That’s one of the reasons he was frustrated at the defensive inconsistency Tuesday in a 69-58 loss to Olathe Northwest at Free State.

The Ravens scored on six straight possessions at the end of the first half, finishing on a 14-1 run to turn a seven-point deficit into a 36-30 lead.

When the Firebirds needed stops in the second half, they couldn’t string them together for multiple possessions. Free State pulled within five points midway through the third quarter and the Ravens simply drilled two straight 3-pointers.

Olathe Northwest made 11 of 17 shots from the 3-point line (65 percent).

“That’s probably the thing I’m most disappointed in is our defensive effort,” Juneau said. “It wasn’t very good. We have seven more games against teams just like this. I told the girls we can go 0-7 or 7-0, it depends on what they want to do defensively. It’s not about points. We can score points. It’s about stopping people.”

For most of the first half, it was the Firebirds (8-5, 2-2 in Sunflower League) outracing the Ferrari. All five starters scored in the first quarter, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from junior guard Jaelyn Two Hearts, who finished with 10 points.

The Ravens (9-4, 3-1) were making shots, but the Firebirds were just making more of them. Two Hearts and senior forward Madison Piper were drilling threes. Guards Cameryn Thomas, Caely Kesten and Sam Lawrence found driving lanes to the rim.

But eventually the Firebirds slowed down. After Free State senior Jaycie Bishop scored on a fast-break layup with 4:37 left in the second quarter, they missed five straight shots with three turnovers mixed in.

And that jump-started Olathe Northwest. The Ravens started feeding off their defense by driving inside and kicking back out for triples. Sami Marks led the Ravens with 19 points (five 3-pointers) while Macy Reiber added 13 points (two 3’s).

“We need to defend,” Juneau said. “We don’t defend very well. Obviously they have to make the shots, but you get wide-open threes. We knew who their shooters were. We knew who had to cover, but didn’t do a very good job.”

Attempting to claw back in the second half, the Firebirds turned to 5-foot-11 Piper, the Santa Clara signee who finished with a game-high 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. She added a game-high 12 rebounds and four assists.

Piper scored five straight points to open the fourth quarter, pulling Free State within five. But the Ravens went on a 6-0 run and made nearly all of the free throws in the final minutes.

“I feel badly because we ride Madison so much that she obviously gets tired at the end,” Juneau said. “I do a poor job of getting her off the floor for a few minutes and we have to work on that. I’ll take full responsibility for that.”

Free State will travel to Shawnee Mission Northwest at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

OLATHE NORTHWEST (69)

Maddi Hesie 2-9 6-6 11, Sami Marks 7-11 0-0 19, Erika Boeh 0-1 1-2 1, Sarah Beth Gueldner 3-11 5-6 12, Christen Curry 4-12 1-1 10, Mary Reiber 3-3 5-6 13, Kaylie Kappelmann 1-1 0-0 3, Taylor Cass 0-0 0-0 0, Shayna Espy 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-48 18-21 69.

FREE STATE (58)

Sam Lawrence 3-6 0-0 7, Cameryn Thomas 2-5 1-2 5, Caely Kesten 2-2 0-0 5, Madison Piper 9-18 4-4 25, Jaelyn Two Hearts 4-9 0-0 10, Jaycie Bishop 1-2 0-0 2, Erin Cushing 1-2 0-0 3, Haley Hippe 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-44 6-8 58.

Northwest 15 21 18 15 — 69

Free State 16 14 15 13 — 58

Three-point goals: Olathe NW 11-17 (Marks 5, Reiber 2, Heise, Gueldner, Curry, Kappelmann); Free State 8-22 (Piper 3, Two Hearts 2, Lawrence, Kesten, Cushing). Turnovers: Olathe NW 8, Free State 16.