Once Free State High girls basketball players look back upon their season, they will be proud of their accomplishments. They had the most regular season wins in school history.


But on Saturday night, it was just too painful to put a positive spin on anything. The Firebirds lost 49-45 to Shawnee Mission West in the sub-state championship game.


Free State led for just 70 seconds in the fourth quarter, but there was always that sense that the Firebirds would find a way to pull out a victory. With the Vikings focused on stopping Madison Piper and Sarah Coversup, they had several players step up with Cameryn Thomas, Jaycie Bishop and Adriana Jadlow all scoring at least five points.


“It’s really hard to take,” Piper said afterward. “It’s just like last year’s Manhattan game (in the sub-state finals), but this is worse because I really felt like we could have made it to state. It’s tough.”


Lawrence High’s girls basketball team had its season end with a 46-23 loss to Shawnee Mission Northwest. The Lions had a few scoring droughts that prevented them from keeping up with the top-seeded Cougars.


“I’m incredibly proud of our season,” senior Marissa Pope said. “People didn’t expect us to get as far as we did. They didn’t expect us to get seven wins or win a sub-state game.”


I think it’s safe to say both Free State and LHS girls basketball programs took big strides in a positive direction this season.


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 girls basketball

1. Cameryn Thomas, fr. — With SM West focused on stopping Madison Piper and Sarah Coversup, the Firebirds’ 5-foot-6 point guard made them pay for not placing more attention on her. Thomas had one of her best games of the season, scoring 10 points and grabbing a team-high nine rebounds. She also had three steals and an assist. She crashed the offensive glass for some key rebounds, especially in the fourth quarter, and she moved the ball well on offense, committing just one turnover.


2. Madison Piper, so. — Piper was the focal point of the Vikings’ defense, and they did a good job of throwing her off her rhythm, as she shot 3-for-10 from the field. But Piper couldn’t be stopped completely, turning into a distributor and picking up four assists to go along with seven points, three rebounds and two blocks.


3. Sarah Coversup, sr. — For the first half, SM West did a good job of keeping Coversup contained on offense. But in the final 16 minutes, the 6-foot-1 forward used her strength to score 10 of her team-high 13 points. She muscled inside for space, did a good job catching her teammates’ passes and finished through contact. She finished with four rebounds.


4. Jaycie Bishop, so. — Bishop was a big reason the Firebirds kept the score close in the second quarter. The Vikings scored on five straight possessions at one point, but Bishop answered with two triples on back-to-back possessions, one three from the right corner and another from the wing. Two minutes later, she also scored off an inbounds pass with a close jump shot. She added four assists, two steals and two rebounds.


“It was really nice to finally be able to make them,” Bishop said of her threes, “because I know my coaches have been really telling me to work on them and have more confidence in myself and my shot. So I have to give a big thanks to them because in the game, I just set it up and it went in.”


5. Adriana Jadlow, sr. — Jadlow had some nice stretches, but SM West’s zone kept her from attacking the basket with her usual tenacity. She scored four of her five points in the first five minutes of the second half. She also had two rebounds, two assists and a steal.


6. Hannah Shoemaker, sr. — At the end of the first quarter, Piper found Shoemaker on the low block and the 5-foot-11 forward and star discus thrower (7th at state last year) scored right before the buzzer on her only shot. She also played good defense in the low post.


7. Peyton Brown, jr. — The 5-foot-8 forward played good defense off of the bench and kept the ball moving on offense. She didn’t attempt a shot.


8. Morgan Gantz, sr. — The senior point guard came off of the bench in the second quarter, but didn’t attempt a shot from the field.


• Record: 17-5.
*
As always, feel free to comment, email me, or find me on Twitter @nightengalejr.