New faces set to lead Free State boys basketball

After earning a trip to the state tournament in 2013, Free State High’s boys basketball team returned a lot of seniors and familiar faces last season. It’s quite the change this year, without the many recognizable faces that were on the court for last year’s team that lost in the sub-state title game.


But now the keys of the team belong to seniors Weston Hack and Justin Narcomey, both who were in the varsity rotation last year. Both players were sharpshooters last year, known for the catch-and-shoot from three point land. This season, they’ll be asked to do a lot more and lead some of the more inexperienced varsity players.


When most teams lose that many seniors, there’s an expected drop off. But there’s a chance the Firebirds could surprise some people this winter. The key will be how fast some varsity newcomers such as senior Andrew Keating, junior Hunter Gudde and senior Jack Raney can adjust to the varsity level. Then they will have to make up for their lack of interior size with strong team defense.


There’s a lot of questions marks now, but it’ll be interesting to see how they look when league play really gets going in January.


I shot video of them during a practice last Friday, as they did a defensive drill then worked on their transition offense. The video can be seen below:


http://www2.ljworld.com/videos/2014/dec/02/36017/
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A lot of honors and rankings were released on Monday. If you missed any, you can find them below:


•Lawrence High’s boys basketball team will open the season as the top-ranked team in 6A, while Free State’s girls basketball team is No. 10. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/dec/02/lhs-basketball-no-1-first-poll/?sports


•Lawrence High football players JD Woods, Amani Bledsoe and Price Morgan, and Free State’s Scott Frantz and Shane Hofer picked up first-team All-Sunflower League honors. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/dec/02/city-players-make-all-league-football/?sports


•Lawrence High soccer players Piper Hubbell and Ellis Springe earned All-State honors from the Kansas Soccer Coaches Association. http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2014/dec/02/soccer-coaches-tap-all-staters/?sports


Also, if anyone’s curious, the boys and girls basketball, along with wrestling, sub-state assignments were released Tuesday.


Lawrence High and FSHS will be in the same sub-state grouping, and the full list of teams is: Kansas City-Wyandotte, Lawrence, Lawrence-Free State, Shawnee Mission-East, Shawnee Mission-North, Shawnee Mission Northwest, Shawnee Mission South, Shawnee Mission West.


Last year, Free State was paired with the west side of the state, so they’re back with familiar Sunflower League foes this year.
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If you’ve missed any previous winter sports blog posts, including videos of their practices, you can find them below:


Lawrence High girls basketball: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dividing_line/2014/nov/26/a-new-era-for-lawrence-high-girls-basket/


Free State boys swimming: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dividing_line/2014/nov/27/free-state-boys-swimming/


Free State wrestling: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dividing_line/2014/nov/28/plenty-of-youth-and-enthusiasm-for-free-/


Lawrence High boys basketball: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dividing_line/2014/nov/30/big-expectations-and-talent-for-lawrence/


Free State girls basketball: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/dividing_line/2014/dec/1/free-state-girls-basketball-reloads-for-/
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As always, feel free to comment, email me, or find me on Twitter @nightengalejr.