Free State senior Jacob Pavlyak (20) drives to the basket for a basket late in a 6A sub-state game against Wichita Southeast on Wednesday, March 1, at FSHS.

With four seconds remaining, Free State junior Garrett Luinstra missed his first free throw in 10 attempts. Wichita Southeast got the ball to mid-court, and junior Johnny Murdock released a double-clutch heave just before the final buzzer.

“We’ve lost a couple of games on buzzer-beaters,” Luinstra said. “My heart dropped a little bit.”

Murdock’s desperation shot clanged off the backboard and Free State escaped with a 73-71 win over Wichita Southeast on Wednesday night at home.

Luinstra led the charge for the Firebirds (15-6) with 29 points, and they avenged their season-ending loss in overtime to the Golden Buffaloes from the sub-state championship game last season.

It wasn’t a perfect performance by any means for the Firebirds, who struggled to rebound and dug themselves a seven-point deficit with five turnovers in the first quarter.

But coach Sam Stroh knows all that matters this time of the year is the final score, and he was relived to escape with a win in the opening round of sub-state.

“Last year, we were one play away from winning,” Stroh said, “and we made one more play to find a way to win (this year). We found a way to survive and advance.”

After a sloppy first quarter, the Firebirds didn’t commit a single turnover in the second quarter and only four in the second half.

But Southeast junior Israel Barnes — who led the City League with 28.4 points per game — kept his team in the game. He scored a game-high 37 points, including a 30-footer to tie the game at halftime, 35-all.

“He’s a Div. I player,” senior Jay Dineen said of Barnes. “I think he’s the best in the state. He’s going to get his, but we had to limit the other guys, which we did for the most part.”

The Firebirds were able to limit Barnes for one quarter, and that turned out to be the difference. Dineen and fellow senior Jacob Pavlyak took turns face-guarding Barnes in the period, and he only scored five points on 1-of-3 shooting in the quarter.

Midway through the third quarter, junior Simon McCaffrey drilled a 3-pointer to give the Firebirds a 43-42 lead, and they never trailed again. On the next two possessions McCaffrey and Luinstra each made a three, and the Firebirds took a seven-point advantage, their largest of the game.

“Those were big for us,” Luinstra said. “If we don’t make those shots we could be down a couple of possessions. I think that’s what gave us the momentum.”

But the Firebirds missed eight free throws in the fourth quarter, and Barnes scored 15 points in the period. All of the sudden, a once comfortable lead turned into a 68-67 barnburner, in favor of the Firebirds.

Free State missed four free throws in the final 50 seconds, but forced Barnes to pass to Murdock on the final possession, who missed the shot.

Advancing to the sub-state championship was sweet, but Dineen admitted that doing it against the team that knocked the Firebirds out last season made it even better.

“We wanted another shot at them, whether it was this game, next game or state,” Dineen said. “We wanted them all year, and we finally got them.”

Free State will travel to second-seeded Derby (17-4) for the sub-state championship at 7 p.m. Friday in pursuit of its first state tournament appearance since 2013.

WICHITA SOUTHEAST (71)

Isreal Barnes 12-20 8-11 37, Richard Reed 3-5 0-0 6, Johnny Murdock 6-10 3-3 17, Bryce Eckels 1-1 0-0 2, Shawn Warrior 3-7 1-4 7, Tony Riley 0-3 0-0 0, Malik Perkins 0-2 2-2 2, Tarik Adkins 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-49 14-21 71.

FREE STATE (73)

Garrett Luinstra 8-16 9-10 29, Simon McCaffrey 2-4 0-0 6, Jacob Pavlyak 1-2 0-3 2, Shannon Cordes 3-7 4-5 12, Jay Dineen 2-3 5-9 9, Cameron Clark 4-6 3-7 11, Jalan Robinson 1-3 2-2 4. Totals: 21-41 23-36 73.

Southeast 21 14 14 22 — 71

Free State 16 19 20 18 — 73

Three point goals: Wichita Southeast 7-14 (Barnes 5, Murdock 2); Free State 8-18 (Luinstra 4, Cordes 2, McCaffrey 2). Turnovers: Wichita Southeast 6, Free State 9.