photo by: Contributed photo

Free State head coach Sam Stroh points to the scoreboard as he coaches up his team for a late possession during a basketball game Saturday, Dec. 5 at Liberty High School in Liberty, Mo. (Photo courtesy of Mac Moore of the Courier Tribune)

Free State’s boys basketball team will have one more day of zoom meetings before being able to return to practice, but it will be much longer until the team is able to play a competitive game again.

FSHS has been in quarantine since Dec. 7 after one of the team’s players tested positive for COVID-19. The Firebirds will be able to return to practice on Wednesday, and they plan to have a few practices before winter break.

Free State’s next game is a home meeting with Gardner Edgerton on Friday Jan. 8. The Firebirds have started the year 1-1, with a win over Raytown South and a loss to Liberty on back-to-back days before their quarantine.

“That was kind of like a preseason now considering that we’ve had 10 days off,” FSHS head coach Sam Stroh said. “We’ve had some good meetings over zoom, just talking about the game and talking about how their break has been in terms of quarantine.”

“I know our guys want to play and practice,” Stroh added. “But we just want to be safe and I think they are being smart with how we handle the quarantine.”

Free State had to reschedule two of its games because of this quarantine. Free State’s road matchup with Shawnee Mission South, which was slated to take place on Dec. 8, will now be the regular-season finale on Feb. 26.

The second postponement was a decision by the FSHS staff. Free State was set to host Shawnee Mission Northwest on Friday. Rather than give the Firebirds just two days to prepare for that game after over a week off, though, both teams agreed to move that Sunflower League matchup to a date after winter break.

“We’ve got plenty of time in January and February to find an open date,” Stroh said. “From a safety standpoint, I don’t think it’s good to take 10 days off and then only go for a couple days and try to play a game.”

As a result, the Firebirds will have up to four days of practice when they return to the floor on Wednesday. Per KSHSAA’s official rules, this year’s moratorium of no practice will be from Dec. 23 through Jan. 3. So Free State will have a few more days of practice in January before its next game.

“I think (we) just need to get back in shape,” Stroh said of his plan when the team returns this week. “There is game shape, and then there is taking 10 days off shape. We need to get their legs back underneath them and find a rhythm again.”

But the Firebirds have still been able to accomplish something while in quarantine. For one, players and coaches took the opportunity to focus on their health. Stroh said that it was just one positive test, and that the player who tested positive only had symptoms for a few days.

“Everyone else was negative, including myself. It wasn’t a wide-spread program thing,” Stroh said. “Everyone is dealing with this at all levels (of sports). We knew we were going to have to deal with it. I think our guys have done a good job of adjusting, moving forward and trying to get better from it.”

Free State also spent the time rewatching its loss to Liberty, which took place on Dec. 5. The 72-67 road loss to Liberty came one day after Free State cruised to a 41-point win over Raytown South in the season opener.

“I think it was good for us to watch it and learn from it,” Stroh said. “We lost to a really good team and I think our guys can benefit from losing a game in terms of we have a long way to go. A lot of our season is still in front of us.”

In just two games, the Firebirds have had six different players score in double figures. Junior Cooper Jackson led the team with 21 points against Liberty. Junior Mozae Downing finished with 14 points in that game, while junior Jailen Thompson added 12 points.

Dash Cleveland, Cole Wheeler and Kris Daniels all reached double figures against Raytown South.