Free State’s Shannon Cordes (22) goes up for a shot while being heavily defended by Wichita South’s D’Andre Adkism (1) and Chance Scott (21) on Wednesday evening in the Class 6A state tournament opener in Koch Arena. Free State beat Wichita South 48-42.

Wichita ? When Free State senior Jacob Pavlyak secured a steal in the final seconds of Wednesday’s 48-42 victory over Wichita South, senior Jay Dineen raised both his arms in the air as he walked toward the bench.

For the second time in school history, and the first time since 2007, Free State’s boys basketball team advanced to the Class 6A state semifinals.

The Firebirds were far from flawless in their first-round win at Wichita State’s Koch Arena, but they don’t panic in close games.

Despite seven turnovers in the fourth quarter, Free State never allowed the fifth-seeded Titans (16-7) to score a game-tying basket.

“It wasn’t pretty,” Free State coach Sam Stroh said. “It was ugly at times. But that’s kind of who we are. We grinded it out.”

Free State (17-6) will play top-seeded Blue Valley Northwest (20-3) in the semifinals at 8:15 p.m. Friday.

Fifth-seeded Wichita South pulled within three points on a transition dunk from 6-foot-8 junior Remy Lemovou with 5:25 remaining. But in the next three minutes, the Firebirds forced five straight missed shots and didn’t allow any offensive rebounds.

After a put-back score by Free State junior Jalan Robinson, the Firebirds converted on eight of nine free throws in the last 75 seconds to seal the win.

“We’ve never been here before, so obviously it’s a great feeling,” said junior guard Garrett Luinstra, who scored a game-high 16 points on 4-of-9 shooting. “We’re all really excited.”

The 6-4 Robinson, who played limited minutes in the sub-state final against Derby last week, gave the plenty of power in the paint against a tall opponent. He finished with seven points and six rebounds, while his front-court teammate senior Cameron Clark had a double-double with 10 points and 10 boards.

Free State owned a 37-21 rebounding advantage over South, picking up six rebounds apiece from Luinstra and Dineen.

“Oh, he was big,” Luinstra said of Robinson. “There were a few big guys on their team and we needed him tonight.”

After trailing by a point at halftime — South senior Malcolm Tate drilled a 3-pointer before the buzzer — the fourth-seeded Firebirds opened the second half with four straight points from senior Shannon Cordes (12 points), and they never trailed again.

Free State added a 7-0 run at the end of the third quarter, leading by as many as eight, after goaltending baskets from Cordes and Robinson. Clark added two free throws.

Clark had a put-back dunk in the first quarter that Stroh said helped calm the team down in a new atmosphere, along with a 3-pointer from senior Sloan Thomsen.

“For some reason, we always like to keep it close,” Robinson said. “Once it hits the second half, we like to start working.”

WICHITA SOUTH (42)

D’Andre Adkism 2-6 0-0 5, Jariah Taylor 1-5 1-3 3, Malcolm Tate 4-10 2-3 12, Deahvian Manning 2-6 0-0 5, Remy Lemovou 6-14 0-0 12, DJ Jones 1-4 1-1 3, Matthew Papamie 1-3 0-0 2, Chance Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Rayqua Cunningham 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 17-48 4-7 42.

FREE STATE (48)

Garrett Luinstra 4-9 7-7 16, Simon McCaffrey 0-1 0-0 0, Jay Dineen 0-2 0-0 0, Shannon Cordes 3-7 6-8 12, Cameron Clark 3-9 4-6 10, Jacob Pavlyak 0-2 0-0 0, Jalan Robinson 2-3 3-3 7, Sloan Thomsen 1-1 0-0 3, Avant Edwards 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 13-34 20-24 42.

South 11 13 7 11 — 42

Free State 14 9 13 12 — 48

Three-point goals: Wichita South 4-15 (Tate 2, Adkism, Manning); Free State 2-9 (Luinstra, Thomsen). Fouled out: Taylor. Turnovers: Wichita South 9, Free State 15.