photo by: Chance Parker

Free State junior guard Dash Cleveland attempts to shoot the ball over a Raytown South defender Friday night at Free State High School on Dec. 4, 2020. Cleveland finished with a game-high 23 points in Free State's 83-42 win over Raytown South.

Neither Free State senior Cole Wheeler nor junior Dash Cleveland started Friday night in the boys basketball team’s season opener, but that didn’t keep them from making the biggest impact in a 83-42 victory over Raytown South at FSHS.

Wheeler and Cleveland were the first two players off the bench in the first quarter, and the duo combined to score 23 of Free State’s 25 points in the second quarter, which led to a 16-point advantage for the Firebirds at halftime.

The second half was merely a formality after that, as Free State cruised to a 41-point win against a team that made it to the semifinals in the Missouri state tournament (Class 4) a year ago.

“That was the key to the game,” FSHS head coach Sam Stroh said of his bench pairing. “That’s the first thing I said after the game in the locker room. I thought Dash’s energy and Cole’s 3-point ability (was the key).”

Cleveland and Wheeler — along with senior starting guard Kris Daniels — were the only players to finish in double figures for the Firebirds. Cleveland ended up with a game-high 23 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Wheeler went 6-for-9 from the floor to pour in 16 points. Daniels added 10 points.

“That was my role, to just come off the bench and show some energy and get the team going,” Cleveland said. “It was our time to shine, really. We were tired of being the underdogs and so we needed to show what we were worth.”

Cleveland had 15 points in the second period alone. He scored the first 10 points of the quarter after starting off the frame with back-to-back 3-pointers within the first 100 seconds.

Cleveland then got consecutive layups off his own steals, including one off an errant pass by Raytown South where he simply beat everybody to the ball at midcourt. Cleveland was also an excellent facilitator as the high man of Free State’s zone offense.

Wheeler reaped the benefits of Cleveland’s pinpoint passing. Wheeler continued to be in the right place at the right time along the perimeter, knocking down four attempts from beyond the arc.

“I think we bring energy and intensiveness,” Wheeler said of the Firebirds’ bench. “I think we were moving the ball really well and executing our plays (in the second quarter), that’s what it came down to.”

On the final possession of the first half, Wheeler drained a 3-pointer from the corner off an assist by sophomore guard Dre Daniels to give FSHS a 36-20 lead at the half. Cleveland, who played the entire second quarter, was the first to congratulate Wheeler for making the shot as the team went into the locker room with all the momentum.

“We shot the ball really well and we played good team basketball,” Wheeler said.

Everybody got involved in the second half for the Firebirds, who ended up having 11 different players score in a lopsided season opener.

Junior Mozae Downing’s only 2 points of the game came on an emphatic fastbreak dunk late in the third quarter. Junior guard Jailen Thompson, who was the team’s tallest listed starter at 6-foot-4, finished with 8 points on the night. Fellow starters Andrew Piper, a senior, and Cooper Jackson, a junior, each added 6 points.

Junior Isaac Gonzales, senior Justin Hicks, junior Hobbs Herlihy and Dre Daniels ended up scoring off the bench in what was an unusual season opener because of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no fans in attendance, which could be the case until at least late January.

Both teams also took precautionary measures like wearing masks at all times and being socially distanced on the bench.

“We have been practicing it,” Stroh said of the precautionary measures. “We brought in refs on Tuesday night to adjust with the masks. The bench, we had a protocol with our managers and our coaches. I thought we did a pretty good job during timeouts. So we’ve been practicing it to get adjusted to it.”

Free State will have a quick turnaround ahead of Game 2, as it is slated to travel to Liberty at 2:30 p.m. today.

“The team we play is bigger than the team we just played tonight,” Cleveland said. “So we will have to be ready for that.”

Raytown South (42)

Jalen Koonce 2-5 0-0 5, Desman Bowls 1-5 6-12 8, Shawndale Ross 2-5 0-0 4, Kobe Shahib 3-9 0-0 6, Ja’Corey Thompson 4-6 4-4 13, Michael Davis 1-1 0-0 2, Many Burnett 1-5 1-2 4, GeShawn Harper 0-1 0-0 0, Ryan Pratt 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-38 FG 11-18 FT 42 points.

Free State (83)

Kris Daniels 4-7 2-3 10, Mozae Downing 1-2 0-0 2, Jailen Thompson 4-7 0-0 8, Andrew Piper 3-4 0-0 6, Cooper Jackson 2-7 2-3 6, Dash Cleveland 7-10 5-9 23, Cole Wheeler 6-9 0-0 16, Isaac Gonzales 1-2 0-0 2, Justin Hicks 0-2 1-2 1, Hobbs Herlihy 2-4 1-2 5, Dre Daniels 1-1 2-2 4. Totals: 31-55 FG 13-21 FT 83 points.

Raytown S 8 12 11 11 — 42

Free State 11 25 25 22 — 83

3-point goals: RS 3-14 (Koonce, Thompson, Burnett); FSHS 8-18 (Cleveland 4, Wheeler 4). Turnovers: RS 15; FSHS 7. Fouled out: None.