OVERLAND PARK — Erin Cushing wasn’t having her best game. That didn’t stop the senior from making the biggest play of the night.

Clinging to a three-point lead in an eventual overtime win at Shawnee Mission North, 64-59, the Firebirds needed a stop. Cushing never even gave the Indians — or the player she was guarding — a chance.

“I saw her starting to run, and then I was like, ‘Oh shoot, I should probably go after her,'” Cushing said after the game. “I came up behind her. I just didn’t stop and I got the ball.”

Cushing was fouled and knocked down a pair at the line. Thanks to two more big defensive plays — a block on a 3-pointer by CK Kesten and a steal by Sam Lawrence — they held on to improve to 4-14 on the year and 4-7 in Sunflower League play.

“I just knew I had to go out, and, even if my shot wasn’t falling, work hard,” Kesten said.

Fact of the matter was, it probably shouldn’t have come to that.

First, at the end of regulation, the Firebirds secured possession in a tie game with about five seconds left. Three different players called for timeouts — most emphatically, Haley Hippe — as did the Free State bench, but it wasn’t granted.

Three seconds later, the Firebirds were called for a travel.

“I thought maybe we’d feel a little bad about that, but nothing fazed us then,” said FSHS coach Ted Juneau. “And then we kept coming.”

Even more than that sequence, though, Juneau was unhappy with the way the Firebirds approached the first half.

“I think we just came out flat as a pancake. I knew we weren’t ready to play,” Juneau said. “We made a little adjustment at halftime. It had nothing to do with Xs and Os.”

Defensively, the Firebirds held up well early. After forcing the Indians into seven first-quarter turnovers, they forced seven more in the second, all while holding their opponent to 2-for-10 shooting on 2-pointers. Three-point shooting, though, was a different story.

Shawnee Mission North’s Hannah Redick knocked down three deep 3-pointers in the first half and Kylie Dunn added two more. The Firebirds didn’t make a 3-pointer in the first half, shooting a combined 0 for 8.

As a team, they shot 5 for 12 at the line and 5 for 24 from the field in the first 16 minutes.

“He definitely yelled at us a lot,” Cushing said of the halftime speech. “But I think it worked. We definitely came out and played a lot harder, played a lot smarter. I think that’s what we needed and he gave it to us.”

Free State began the third quarter on a 14-3 run, first relying on Sam Lawrence, who knocked down two 3s and scored eight points in the period.

Then Keston came to life, scoring eight points in the third quarter and at one point making seven baskets in a row in the second half.

Kesten finished with a game-high 24 points, making her final seven shots from the field and six from the line.

“She never has an off day,” Cushing said. “She just steps up and makes plays happen. I don’t know how. I have no idea.”

Lawrence (12 points), Hippe (12) and Shannon Clarke (11) rounded out Free State’s other double-digit scorers.

The Firebirds will return to action Tuesday, Feb. 20, taking on Shawnee Mission Northwest in their penultimate Sunflower League game.

Free State (64)

Sam Lawrence 5-11 0-0 12, Caely Kesten 8-14 8-10 24, Shannon Clarke 2-7 7-10 11, Haley Hippe 6-10 0-5 12, Erin Cushing 0-3 2-2 2, Mayela Edwards 0-4 3-4 3, Liliana Keathley 0-0 0-0 0, Joy Nunoo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-49 20-31 64.

Shawnee Mission North (59)

Kylie Dunn 5-10 5-9 17, Mackenzie Vielhaurer 0-2 0-0 0, Kiara Williams 3-10 1-2 9, Hannah Redick 5-12 1-3 16, LeLe Love 3-15 9-18 15, Keagan Stiers 0-2 0-0 0, Noel Watkins 0-0 0-1 0, Madison Koller 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 16-51 18-35 59.

Free State 5 10 22 14 13–64

SM North 6 18 13 14 8–59

3-point goals: Free State 2-10 (Lawrence 2); SM North 9-24 (Redick 5, Dunn, Williams 2). Fouled out: Love, Stiers, Hippe. Turnovers: Free State 18, SM North 24.