FSHS girls score season-high 63 points in win over Olathe West

Free State sophmore Shannon Clarke (3) battles with Olathe West's Bailey Coller (30) in a game Tuesday night on Feb. 12, 2019 at Olathe West High School.

OLATHE – Against the Sunflower League’s highest-scoring offense, Free State hit a season high in its own scoring efforts to defeat Olathe West by a 63-53 margin Tuesday night.

“We knew it had the possibility to be a high-scoring game,” FSHS coach Ted Juneau said. “We had a lot of people contributing tonight and we felt, like, good about that.”

Free State (9-9, 4-6 Sunflower League) jumped out to a lead with a basket to open up the game on its first possession. The Firebirds never surrendered their advantage, and they did not allow the game to be tied, either.

Coming off a night where the team won with 44 points on offense against Lawrence High, Free State had 36 by just the end of the first half. Trading baskets through the third quarter, FSHS let Olathe West (6-10, 1-7) back in the game.

Neither team missed a shot attempt three minutes into the fourth quarter, but Free State was able to use its 13-point halftime lead to slow down offensively and hold on to finish the game and win.

Free State was able to limit Olathe West’s second-chance shots by grabbing key offensive rebounds in the paint with Caely Kesten and Joy Nunoo contributing to the second-straight strong effort on the offensive glass.

Four different Firebirds sank shots from beyond the arc — Evy Harrell, Sam Lawrence, Shannon Clarke and Kesten all buried looks from deep. Clarke scored a game-high 24 points, and Kesten registered 15.

“They’re all grinding in and they’re starting to understand things,” Juneau said. “We just got to continue to work on little things, but I thought Shannon really played well and strong. When she starts stroking her 3 a little bit, it really helps her game and it helps us.”

Free State will play host to Shawnee Mission North at 5:30 p.m. Friday

FREE STATE (63)

Evy Harrell 3-5 0-2 7; Shannon Clarke 10-15 1-2 24; Sam Lawrence 2-7 3-6 9; Caely Kesten 6-12 5-5 18; Haley Hippe 2-5 0-0 4; Joy Nunoo 0-1 1-2 1. Totals: 23-45 10-17 63.

OLATHE WEST (53)

Kenzie Hart 2-7 3-6 7; 4 Michelle Anderson 1-5 3-4 5; 30 Bailey Collar 6-10 0-0 15; 32 Ayeanna Yoodee 0-1 0-0 0; 34 Macy Glover 2-2 0-0 5; Anyeuh Yoodee 3-4 0-0 8; Alyssa Moore 1-3 0-0 2; Sydney Loveless 0-1 0-0 0; Kendall Starecevich 2-2 0-0 5; Ashley Gibson 3-5 0-0 6. Totals: 20-40 6-10 53.

Free State 16 20 12 15 – 63

Olathe West 12 11 17 13 – 53

3-point goals: Free State: 7-16 (Clarke 3, Lawrence 2, Harrell, Kesten); Olathe West: 7-13 (Collar 3, An. Yoodee 2, Starcevich). Turnovers: Free State 13, Olathe West 9. Fouled Out: None.

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