Preparing to play in the McPherson Invitational Tournament over the next three days, Free State senior Simon McCaffrey said the Firebirds are planning to treat it as a business trip.

There’s the obvious excitement for an out-of-town trip, but Free State’s boys basketball players raised the intensity in practice this week. They’ve heard all about the tough tournament field that awaits them. The Firebirds will face Junction City (3-6) in the first round at 4:45 p.m. today.

“The arena is real cool,” McCaffrey said. “McPherson, all the fans — the whole city it feels like — go to the games so it’s a good environment.”

Seniors Garrett Luinstra, Reece White-Downing and McCaffrey all played when the Firebirds made their last trip to McPherson in 2016. Free State took runner-up in the tournament, losing to host McPherson in the championship game.

As far as the talent level of other teams, the Firebirds believe it will only help them improve. The winner of Free State-Junction City will play Derby (5-3, ranked No. 7 in 6A) or Bishop Carroll (5-4) on Friday in the tournament semifinals.

On the other side of the bracket includes McPherson (10-1, ranked No. 2 in 4A-I) and Shawnee Mission East (5-3).

“This is one of those things where it’s going to be a test for us,” Free State coach Sam Stroh said. “There’s no time for a ton of scouting reports. You’re back-to-back-to-back and we’ll see how we do.”

The Firebirds (5-1) were ranked No. 1 in 6A in the latest coaches poll. It’s something that players and coaches say doesn’t have any value. They’ve won their last three games following winter break and are just trying to keep a next-game mentality.

“Rankings mean nothing,” Stroh said. “I mean, no offense to the coaches associations or polls. We don’t talk about them. I don’t look at rankings unless it was like they used to do the BCS for football or now we’ve got the (College Football Playoff). But for us, it means nothing.”

The Firebirds enjoy the change of pace that tournament weeks provide. Many of them play in AAU tournaments in the summer and they are used to playing several games in a short amount of time.

The travel and fun atmosphere are bonuses in McPherson, but the Firebirds are hopeful they can make the most out of it.

“Yeah, it’s real fun,” McCaffrey said. “I like it a lot. I think the whole team is excited going to a tournament because we haven’t played in a tournament in a while. … It’s fun to go down there and play games, but it’s a business trip at the same time.”