Free State senior Jacob Pavlyak battles for a loose ball against Olathe North senior Kenny Byers during the Firebirds' 56-44 road win Friday against the Eagles.

Olathe ? Free State High’s boys basketball team did not have one of its better shooting nights, but the Firebirds took care of business on the defensive end to come away with a 56-44 road win Friday over Olathe North.

The Firebirds (4-2) limited the Eagles to just six second-half field goals en route to their second straight victory coming out of winter break.

“I thought defensively at times tonight that we were really good,” Free State coach Sam Stroh said. “A couple of loose balls got away from us, a couple of long rebounds, but I thought collectively we did a pretty good job of making their scorers earn their points.”

Olathe North senior Kenny Byers sparked the Eagles in the opening minutes to build a 7-0 lead, but the Firebirds were able to weather the storm early. Byers went on to score a game-high 25 points, but no other Eagle scored more than seven.

“We stopped the drive pretty well, so we let them shoot the three. We even stopped that pretty well,” senior Jay Dineen, who was one of three Firebirds in double figures with 13 points, said. “Then rebounding was a big key in the game. I think we out-rebounded them by a lot, so that helps.”

The Eagles didn’t have an answer for Free State 6-foot-7 senior Cameron Clark, who scored 14 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

“Cam was effective,” Stroh said. “He did a good job rebounding — defense, kind of clogging up the lane. He did a good job.”

Despite the Eagles’ shooting woes — 16 of 45 from the field, good for 35 percent — the Firebirds still only led, 42-38, with four minutes remaining. Stroh called a timeout with the Firebirds still looking for the first field goal of the fourth quarter. The Firebirds went to their best offensive weapon from their win Tuesday over Shawnee Mission East in junior Garrett Luinstra, and he knocked down a 3-pointer to push their lead to seven.

“My teammates just keep telling me to shoot, so I’ve got to make them happy,” Luinstra said.

Luinstra did just that, as he knocked down seven of his 14 shots from the field to lead the Firebirds with 18 points. Stroh said that the X-factor for Luinstra since winter break has been his confidence, and being 100 percent after battling mononucleosis and a foot injury in the early stages of the season.

“He’s finally healthy and I think he knows and we know what type of player he can be,” Stroh said. “The key for him I think is his consistency night-in, night-out and day-in and day-out in practice. We’re going to need him down the stretch.”

Luinstra and the Firebirds will try to push their winning streak to three when they square off against Leavenworth.

OLATHE NORTH (44)

Ishmael Moys 0-1 0-0 0, Tymer Jackson 2-6 0-0 5, Shaun Freeman 0-1 0-0 0, Elijah Williams 2-7 1-2 7, Kaleb Watson 1-4 0-0 3, Kenny Byers 9-21 4-5 25, Adam Coffman 1-1 0-0 2, Lukas Milner 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 16-45 5-7 44.

FREE STATE (56)

Jay Dineen 3-7 7-10 13, Sloan Thomsen 0-3 0-0 0, Shannon Cordes 1-1 1-2 4, Jacob Pavlyak 2-5 0-0 5, Cameron Clark 5-13 4-7 14, Garrett Luinstra 7-14 1-2 18, Jalan Robinson 1-5 0-0 2, Simon McCaffrey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 19-50 13-21 56.

Olathe North 15 10 11 8 — 44

Free State 13 13 15 15 — 56

Three-point goals: Olathe North 7-23 (Byers 3, Williams 2, Watson, Jackson); Free State 5-14 (Luinstra 3, Cordes, Pavlyak). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Olathe North 9, Free State 10.