Shawnee ? For a half Friday night at Shawnee Mission Northwest High, Free State’s girls basketball team executed the way coach Bryan Duncan thought it would need to in a matchup of two of Class 6A’s top five teams.

But a two-point lead early in the third quarter for the No. 5 Firebirds morphed into a double-digit deficit quickly, as the No. 4 Cougars forced the pace, wrecking the visitors’ chances in what became a 63-38 SMNW rout.

Free State (11-3) first ran into problems early in the third quarter, turning the ball over four times in the first 31/2 minutes. On the other end, the Cougars (10-3) began attacking the paint and drawing fouls, establishing themselves as the aggressors.

Though sophomore guard Madison Piper hit a pair of free throws in the opening minute of the second half to give the Firebirds a 21-19 lead, six-plus minutes passed before FSHS hit its first field goal of the second half. A three-pointer from senior Sarah Coversup ended a devastating 21-1 Cougars run.

Duncan first noticed things trending downward for FSHS with his team trailing by five points, midway through the third quarter.

“Our demeanor just seemed different,” the coach said, “including my own, probably. It just didn’t feel good.”

Indeed, when Piper, responsible for six of Free State’s first seven field goals, was whistled for her fourth personal foul less than five minutes into the third quarter, Duncan drew a technical foul arguing the call.

SMNW junior Brenni Rose, who drew the call inside versus Piper, hit three of four free throws to put Free State in an eight-point hole. Then senior Tatum Graves knocked down a jumper to make it 10 with 3:21 left in the quarter.

“I shouldn’t have got a technical,” Duncan said. “But none of that stuff cost us the game. It was the run after that, really.”

The coach said the Cougars sped FSHS up on both ends of the floor in that game-changing stretch, and the Firebirds didn’t handle it well.

Scoring issues also caught up with Free State in the second half. Senior Adriana Jadlow, who scored in transition in the second quarter, was the only Firebird besides Piper to make a field goal in the first 22 minutes.

Piper finished with 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, with three three-pointers, but Coversup (2-for-7) was the only other FSHS player with more than one field goal.

Free State again missed injured freshman point guard Cameryn Thomas. Without their offensive creator, the Firebirds lacked the dynamics to keep up with one of the best teams in 6A. Duncan said she is “week-to-week.”

“The truth is, we’re pretty limited scoring the ball after Madion and Sarah, as far as being able to create,” Duncan said.

FSHS will play host to Shawnee Mission North on Tuesday.

Free State (38)

Jaycie Bishop 0-3 0-0 0, Adriana Jadlow 1-6 3-4 5, Madison Piper 8-14 2-2 21, Hannah Walter 0-0 0-0 0, Sarah Coversup 2-7 3-4 8, Morgan Gantz 1-1 0-0 2, Hannah Shoemaker 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 13-32 8-10 38.

SM Northwest (63)

Brooklyn Wagler 1-5 2-3 4, Arielle Jackson 2-4 0-0 6, Tatum Graves 4-7 3-4 11, Brenni Rose 4-6 6-8 15, Tracy Monahan 2-2 3-4 7, Danielle Rehor 1-3 0-0 2, Sydney Thompson 3-3 0-0 6, Shelbie McLain 2-5 2-2 8, Emalee Rose 0-3 0-0 0, Emma Van Donselaar 0-0 1-2 1, Gena Ojeda 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 20-38 17-23 63

Free State 11 8 9 10 — 38

SM Northwest 11 8 27 17 — 63

Three-point goals: FSHS 4-10 (Piper 3, Coversup); SMNW 6-13 (Jackson 2, McLain 2, B. Rose, Ojeda). Turnovers: FSHS 12, SMNW 6.