There were plenty of reasons for Free State’s boys basketball team to come out flat against Kansas City East on Friday. It was the first game back from winter break. The outcome was never in doubt, with the Firebirds leading by 14 after the first quarter.


But credit to the players, they never gave excuses after their 65-21 victory at FSHS. They know it has to improve and I’d be surprised if they didn’t play better against Shawnee Mission East on Tuesday.


It wasn’t that the Firebirds played terrible in the first half against East. There just wasn’t much intensity in their play and communication was at a minimum. They played well in stretches on both ends of the floor but it wasn’t a complete effort.


In three of the past four seasons, the Firebirds have played a tune-up game following winter break before entering league play. Every player I talked to was in agreement that it’s a good idea because they’ve only been through practices for the last two weeks and it’s an adjustment getting back into game mode.


“I think every team coming off a long break is going to be a little out of sync,” Law said. “It’s kind of what we talked about after the AC Prep game (season-opener), getting those first-game jitters out. This isn’t all that different from that. After a long break, you haven’t been on the court, you haven’t been in front of people awhile.”


In case you missed it, we’re copying one of the popular features of KUsports.com, “Keegan’s Ratings,” where Sports Editor Tom Keegan ranks KU football and men’s basketball players after every game he attends and I’m bringing back the high school ratings for this basketball season. These individual rankings are just one person’s opinion, but it’s a good way to look at how each person impacted each game.

Free State boys basketball

1. Justin Narcomey, sr. — He started the game off on a strong note with the first six points, and he played mistake-free ball for the remainder of the night. Narcomey scored a game-high 12 points, grabbed four rebounds and got one steal.


2. Weston Hack, sr. — Hack didn’t have his sharpest game of the year, but he was a big part of Free State’s 17-4 run in the third quarter. He struggled with his shot (2 of 6) but finished with seven points and a team-high seven rebounds. He also showed plenty of leadership, directing his teammates on where to go when they were running plays on offense.


3. Jay Dineen, so. — He entered off of the bench, and I thought he had the most energy on the team in the first half. Dineen ran into quick foul trouble, playing too aggressively in the passing lanes, but he scored five points, grabbed five rebounds and dished three assists.


4. Andrew Keating, sr. — Keating played a little tentative in the first half, but made up for it in the third quarter. After halftime, he opened with a three, dished an assist to Narcomey a few minutes later and grabbed a steal. He finished with seven points and three rebounds.


5. Caleb Holland, sr. — Holland brought some instant energy to the floor when he entered the game. He scored five points but his biggest contribution was grabbing three steals. He also dished an assist to Chrision Wilburn for a layup and snagged a rebound.


6. Hunter Gudde, jr. — He couldn’t get his shot to fall, no matter if he was in the paint or elsewhere (1 for 6 from the field), but he didn’t let that affect his passing, where he had two assists. He also played solid defense throughout the night.


7. Zion Bowlin, so. — Bowlin picked up some minutes in the first quarter, substituting at point guard as one of the first players off of the bench. He scored four points and added three rebounds.


8. Jacob Pavlyak, so. — He didn’t enter until garbage time but he still filled the stat sheet with four points, two rebounds and a nice block on a layup attempt.


9. Shannon Cordes, so. — Cordes scored six points, including a nice and-one bucket midway through the fourth quarter. He did a good job of running the offense in the fourth quarter.


10. Darian Lewis, jr. — Lewis hasn’t missed a free throw at the varsity level yet, improving to 8 for 8 this season. He finished with four points and four rebounds.


11. Chrision Wilburn, jr. — Scored eight points in the last 10 minutes of the game. Wilburn did a good job of finding space in the paint for layups. He also grabbed two rebounds.


12. Sloan Thomsen, so. — Grabbed four rebounds in the fourth quarter but didn’t attempt a shot.


13. Jack Raney, sr. — Left two minutes into the game with an injury after falling hard onto the court trying to grab a rebound. You can tell how valuable he is to the team by how the Firebirds played in the first half without him.


• Next up: 7 p.m. Tuesday vs. SM East. Record: 3-1.

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