Free State senior Reece White-Downing (10), right, celebrates with Free State junior Noah Butler (24) after Butler scored in the Firebirds’ 68-57 semifinal win against Topeka High Friday, March 9, 2018 at Charles Koch Arena in Wichita.

WICHITA — Hours before their Class 6A state semifinal game against Topeka High on Friday, Free State’s boys basketball players joked during a walkthrough that they couldn’t shoot any worse than they did in the first round.

More confident than the day before, Free State blitzed Topeka with efficient 3-point shooting and scored 33 points in the first 12 minutes.

Sprinting out to a 23-point lead at halftime, the Firebirds coasted to a 68-57 victory at Wichita State’s Koch Arena, earning their first trip to the state championship game in school history. Junior wing Noah Butler punched the air and let out a yell as the final buzzer sounded. Senior guard Garrett Luinstra let out a smile and slapped hands with assistant coach DC Paige.

The Firebirds (19-5) will face top-seeded Blue Valley Northwest (20-4) in the state title game at 6:15 p.m. Saturday.

“Last year we got third and we didn’t want to play in that game again,” Luinstra said. “We knew we had to take care of business.”

After scoring a season-low 42 points Thursday, the Firebirds proved how dangerous their offense can be when they are shooting well. Topeka senior guard Larry White (23 points, 12 rebounds) scored seven of the game’s first nine points. Then Free State responded with an incredible 31-2 run, including 14 straight points in the first quarter.

In the final minute of the first quarter, Luinstra streaked down the middle of the floor and dished a no-look pass to Reece White-Downing. Playing against his former school, White-Downing scored through contact for a layup-and-the-foul, then yelled, “Let’s go!” in the middle of the lane. Luinstra let out his own scream, slapping his teammate on the chest.

“It was amazing,” said White-Downing, who had 10 points and four rebounds. “Everyone was just hitting shots, playing D, communicating on defense, just sharing the ball.”

Free State opened the second quarter with a 13-0 run, taking a 24-point lead when Butler escaped his defender on a backdoor cut, caught a pass from Luinstra in stride and dropped a big two-handed slam.

Before the Firebirds left their team hotel, Free State coach Sam Stroh had a one-on-one chat with Luinstra because he didn’t think he looked like himself in their first-round game. Luinstra finished with a team-high 20 points and four assists.

“No one can stop us when we get rolling,” said Butler, who scored 10 points.

When everybody has the hot hand, the Firebirds were more than happy to make the extra pass. In the second quarter, Luinstra hit a step-back 3 curling off of a screen. Senior Bansi King drilled a triple on a pass from forward Jalan Robinson, then King found Simon McCaffrey for another 3 on the next possession.

The Firebirds made five of their first eight attempts from the 3-point line, which only helped them play harder on defense. King (12 points) swished all three of his shots from behind the arc.

“Bansi was huge,” Stroh said. “That’s what we need from him. We had 24 points off the bench, so that was kind of the difference at the start of the game.”

In the second half, the Firebirds said they talked about staying aggressive. It was easier said than done but they never allowed the Trojans (17-7) to pull any closer than nine points.

Despite some uncharacteristic turnovers in its own backcourt, Free State made 14 of its 20 attempts at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.

“That’s what coach preaches: senior leaders,” Luinstra said. “Even when things get down at some times, we just have to stay together and lead the team.”

The Firebirds could be without a senior starter in the state title game. Robinson injured his ankle with less than three minutes remaining and never returned. In visible pain on the bench as his ankle swelled up, Robinson needed crutches to walk afterward.

In the locker room before the start of Friday’s game, Stroh said the first thing he mentioned was how much time the team has spent together over the last three years: the 6:30 a.m. practices in the summer; all the trips to team camps; working on their conditioning in the fall.

Their reward was back-to-back Sunflower League titles, a third-place plaque last season and a chance to play one more game together for a state championship.

“We always say, ‘Success is not an accident; you have to work for it,'” Stroh said. “I was proud of our kids, not only tonight, but for everything they’ve done in the last two or three years.”

Topeka (57)

Larry White 9-19 4-5 23, Da’Vonshai Harden 2-8 5-5 9, Marques Hidalgo 0-1 0-0 0, Kee’Andre Smith 1-2 0-0 2, Ky Thomas 3-8 4-6 10, King Sutton 0-3 0-0 0, Carlos Esquibel 1-3 1-2 3, Darren Canty 4-5 2-4 10, Marvelle Yates 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-49 16-22 57.

Free State (68)

Garrett Luinstra 5-14 8-10 20, Simon McCaffrey 1-2 2-2 5, Noah Butler 4-5 2-6 10, Zach McDermott 2-6 0-0 4, Jalan Robinson 2-5 1-3 5, Reece White-Downing 4-6 1-3 10, Bansi King 3-3 3-5 12, DK Middleton 0-0 2-2 2, Turner Corcoran 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-41 19-31 68.

Topeka 9 7 19 22–57

Free State 20 19 11 18–68

3-point goals: Topeka 1-8 (White); Free State 7-14 (King 3, Luinstra 2, McCaffrey, White-Downing). Fouled out: Smith, THS; White-Downing, FS. Turnovers: Topeka 15, Free State 12.