A little over 13 hours after nearly pulling off an upset bid over the top team in the state, Wichita South, the Free State girls basketball team had to regroup against a very tough Kansas City (Kan.) Schlagle team.

Rather than fall victim to the quick turnaround, Free State handed Schlagle its second loss in as many days, with a 67-59 victory in the third-place game of the Firebirds Winter Classic on Saturday at FSHS. It was certainly no easy task, considering the Stallions entered the tournament boasting a 9-0 record.

“It gave us a lot of motivation that we lost to a great team by five,” FSHS senior Madison Piper said. “We just had to get our legs back, which I’m really surprised we got our legs back that quickly. I think we played really well today.”

For the second straight day, Piper saw a gimmick defense in attempt to slow her down. After being held to seven points on four shots in Friday’s loss, Piper notched a team-high 15 points on 11 attempts from the floor.

But eight of those 15 points came in the first quarter alone, when Schlagle matched up on the defensive end. As a result, FSHS (8-4) jumped out to a 14-7 advantage, and never trailed for one second in the opening period.

Then the Stallions started the second quarter with a box-and-one look, following Piper everywhere she went, which stymied their offensive attack. Moments later, junior Riana Lawson bottomed a 3-pointer at the 3:32 mark, to give Schlagle its first lead of the contest.

“We know teams are going to target Madison,” Free State coach Ted Juneau said. “I guarantee you Madison will do everything she can to help the team. People may look at her numbers and go, ‘Gosh Madison isn’t scoring.’ But basketball isn’t about scoring. She will have her nights.”

The Firebirds responded well to their first and only deficit of the afternoon, going on a 13-2 run to close out the half. Jaelyn Two Hearts, Cameryn Thomas, Caely Kesten and Sam Lawrence all spearheaded the team’s statement run.

At one point during the stretch, Schlagle (10-2) even attempted a triangle-and-two with a defender chasing Two Hearts, who had 24 points on Friday night.

But whatever defensive set the Stallions threw at them, the Firebirds had an answer. Five different players reached double figures in Saturday’s win.

“Everyone shared the ball pretty well,” Juneau said. “(But) I challenged Cameryn. I told her ‘They are ignoring you.’ We have enough tools that junk defenses shouldn’t really do too much. The more they junk it up the better it is for us.”

Thomas responded to the challenge netting 11 points, including seven in the second half, as Free State held a comfortable lead for much of the second half.

Thomas knocked down five of her 12 shots from the floor. Lawrence posted 14 points as she went 6-of-8 for the game. Two Hearts added 13 points on 12 attempts, while Kesten rounded out the unit with 11 points.

“We always want to get everyone involved, if everyone is scoring then we know we are doing something right,” Thomas said.

Free State will play host to Olathe Northwest at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

KC SCHLAGLE (59)

Riana Lawson 1-6 0-0 3, Ashley Daniels 3-6 0-0 6, Ishante Suttington 1-9 0-0 2, Kiara Brown 3-19 6-7 12, Virja Walker 4-7 0-0 8, Sa’Mone Springsteen 8-10 0-0 23, Kiara Walker 0-3 0-0 0, Quaniesha Davis 2-2 0-0 5, Diarra Searcy 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 22-63 6-7 59.

FREE STATE (67)

Sam Lawrence 6-8 0-0 14, Cameryn Thomas 5-12 1-2 11, Caely Kesten 2-4 7-8 11, Madison Piper 4-11 5-5 15, Jaelyn Two Hearts 6-12 0-0 13, Jaycie Bishop 1-4 0-0 3, Erin Cushing 0-1 0-0 0, Haley Hippe 0-2 0-2 0. Totals 24-54 13-17 67.

Schlagle 7 12 17 23 — 59

Free State 14 15 16 22 — 67

Three-point goals: Schlagle 9-28 (Springsteen 7, Laweson, Davis); Free State 6-17 (Lawrence 2, Piper 2, Two Hearts, Bishop). Turnovers: Schlagle 14, Free State 11.