Free State senior Jacob Pavlyak tries to draw a charge against Blue Valley Northwest's Jamicheal Morgan in the first half of the Firebirds' 67-40 loss to the Huskies on Friday in the semifinals of the Class 6A tournament at Wichita State's Charles Koch Arena.

Wichita ? At the end of the first quarter Friday, Blue Valley Northwest senior Darien Jackson swished a 3-pointer at the buzzer and held his shooting hand in the air for an extra second.

Facing Free State in the Class 6A state semifinals, the top-seeded Huskies rushed up the court in 2.8 seconds to set up Jackson’s buzzer-beating shot and they had absolutely no plans on slowing down.

The Firebirds trailed by 27 points in the second quarter and couldn’t keep up with BVNW’s relentless transition offense in a 67-40 loss at Wichita State’s Koch Arena.

Free State (17-7) will meet Blue Valley North in the third-place game at 2 p.m. today.

“They are the best team I’ve ever seen,” Free State senior Shannon Cordes said. “The best team I’ve ever played. A big credit to them. Our strategy was to make them shoot jump shots and limit their transition points. They hit jump shots and hit just about everything they put up.”

The Huskies (21-3) made six of their 10 3-point attempts in the first half, which only opened up driving lanes for their lightning-quick guards and athletic big men. Four of their starters scored at least 10 points.

Blue Valley Northwest scored the first six points of the game and followed with a 7-0 run in a three-minute stretch for a double-digit lead. And that was before Jackson, a 6-foot-3 Tulsa commit, drilled the 3-pointer at the buzzer in front of Free State’s bench.

“I mean, it’s kind of what we wanted to give them because they can get to the basket so easily,” Free State coach Sam Stroh said. “That was tough.”

Each time the Firebirds tried to find a rhythm on offense, the Huskies always had an answer. After Cordes converted on a layup-and-the-foul bucket and senior forward Cameron Clark (eight points, 10 rebounds) added an alley-oop layup on a pass from senior Jay Dineen, BVNW went on a 16-2 run over the next five minutes.

Facing BV Northwest’s full-court pressure, the Firebirds only shot 6-for-24 in the first two quarters (25 percent).

“Our coach drew up a great game plan and we played our hearts out,” said Cordes, who scored seven points on three shots. “It just wasn’t good enough. Just a huge credit to Blue Valley Northwest because they did everything right and they are a great, great team.”

In the third quarter, the Firebirds tried to chip away at their 25-point halftime deficit. Junior guard Garrett Luinstra scored five points in the first three minutes and Dineen added a spinning layup.

But the Huskies proved why they are the No. 1 seed in the tournament, answering with seven straight points, including a two-handed slam on an inbounds play by 6-3 Oral Roberts commit Jamicheal Morgan.

“I liked the way we battled in the second half,” Stroh said. “We competed. But when that team shoots the ball that way, it’s pick your poison in terms of inside, outside.”

Both schools emptied the benches for the final four minutes, which included points from FSHS sophomore Jake Baker, junior Avant Edwards and freshman Turner Corcoran.

When the Huskies were dribbling out the clock in the final minute, Free State’s student section chanted, “Thank you seniors!”

The Firebirds, who advanced to the Final Four for the second time in school history, want an opportunity to play better in Saturday’s third-place game against Blue Valley North. Stroh was a junior-varsity coach at BV North for seven seasons prior to becoming head coach at Free State.

“I told them, only two teams end with a ‘W,’ so we want to be one of them,” Stroh said. “It was a good effort to get down here and we have one more to keep fighting for.”

FREE STATE (40)

Garrett Luinstra 2-7 3-4 8, Simon McCaffrey 0-3 0-0 0, Jay Dineen 1-8 0-0 2, Shannon Cordes 2-3 3-3 7, Cameron Clark 3-6 2-2 8, Jalan Robinson 1-5 1-4 3, Jacob Pavlyak 1-3 2-2 4, Sloan Thomsen 1-3 0-0 2, Avant Edwards 0-5 3-6 3, Jared Hicks 0-1 0-0 0, Jake Baker 1-2 0-0 2, Turner Corcoran 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 12-46 15-23 40.

BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST (67)

Anthony Pleasant 0-2 0-0 0, Jamicheal Morgan 5-8 0-0 12, Parker Braun 4-9 1-1 10, Darien Jackson 4-12 5-10 14, Joseph Pleasant 6-9 1-1 14, Sam Ward 3-8 1-2 9, Will Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Jacob Clark 0-1 2-2 2, Jackson Heath 2-2 0-0 4, Willy Pegues 0-3 0-0 0, Matthew Chapman 0-0 2-2 2. Totals 24-55 12-18 67.

Free State 8 9 14 9 — 40

BVNW 20 22 12 13 — 67

Three-point goals: Free State 1-11 (Luinstra); BVNW 7-19 (Morgan 2, Ward 2, Braun, Jackson, J. Pleasant). Fouled out: None. Turnovers: Free State 9, BVNW 8.