photo by: Gus Baylow/Special to the Journal-World

The Free State boys basketball team huddles Friday, Jan. 12, 2024, in Lawrence.

The Free State boys basketball team took a defeat against Olathe East Friday night, losing 64-46 at home in what is the team’s second straight loss after losing to Olathe North earlier in the week.

The Firebirds (3-5) could not complete a late comeback against the Hawks (4-4), who led from start to finish despite Free State’s second-half runs making the contest closer down the stretch.

“The fact that a lot of guys are playing hard but we have to have everyone plays hard,” FSHS head coach Dwayne Paul said. “All you can do at the time is keep your composure. The difference was they were finishing.”

In the first quarter, Hueston Saunders and Korbin Dowdell each scored five points to lead the Firebirds offense, but three 3-pointers from the Hawks helped the visitors take an 18-14 lead after the opening eight minutes of play.

The Hawks started to assert themselves in the paint and drew lots of fouls as a result, leading to nine free throws attempted with seven makes.

Despite four points from Devon Hamilton and a 3 from Bennett Negel, the Firebirds saw the deficit grow over the course of the entire second quarter as they trailed by as much as 18 heading into the closing moments of the first half.

Olathe East kept control heading into halftime with a 39-21 lead.

“We tried getting down to 10 in the fourth quarter,” Paul said. “When you’re 6-14 from the free throw line it’s going to hurt you. We were just trying to go in and draw fouls.”

Hamilton continued to lead the way in scoring into the third, and after a scoreless few minutes for both sides, five points from Nika Khosh cut the deficit to 15 late in the third, leading to an Olathe East timeout.

Two late free throws from Carter Gooding of Olathe East stretched the lead back to 15 heading into the fourth quarter, but the Firebirds started to gain momentum with just eight minutes to go.

A 3 from Dash Johnson cut the lead to just 13 with under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Following a second-straight 3-pointer from Johnson, Olathe East was forced to call another timeout with less than two minutes remaining.

Johnson knocked down another 3, but Gooding scored several late baskets in the final minutes to seal the deal for the Hawks, helping Olathe East cap a wire-to-wire road victory.

Free State now prepares to take part in the McPherson Invitational at McPherson High School. The Firebirds play Derby on Thursday at 6:10 p.m. with the tournament set to last through Saturday.

“I think we’re at the point where we are going to buy in or it’s going to snowball,” Paul said. “We’re going to see what we are made from a mentality standpoint and what it takes to win.”

Olathe East (64) Ryan Horsch 1-2 6-7 8; Micah Deaver 3-5 7-11 13; Devin Schmitt 3-6 5-7 11; Carter Gooding 4-6 4-4 13; Hudson Weikal 3-5 2-2 10, Jalen Grace 4-4 1-1 9, Landon Wadsworth 0-1 0-0 0, Totals: 18-29 25-32 64.

Free State (46) Devon Hamilton 3-7 2-6 9; Korbin Dowdell 2-2 0-0 5; AJ Eason 0-1 0-0; Bennett Negel 2-5 0-0 5; Everett Essman 1-1 0-0 2, Kyle Duncan 0-1 0-0 0, Nika Khosh 2-3 1-3 6, Dash Johnson 4-8 1-1 12, Hueston Saunders 2-8 2-4 7. Totals: 16-36 6-14 46.

Score by quarters

Olathe East 18 21 9 16 — 64

Free State 14 7 13 12 — 46

3-point goals: FSHS: 8-17 Devon Hamilton (1) Korbin Dowdell (1), Bennett Negel (1), Hueston Saunders (1), Dash Johnson (3), Nika Khosh (1); OEHS: 3-8 Carter Gooding (1), Hudson Weikal (2), Turnovers: FSHS 8, OEHS 10. Fouled Out: None.

Girls basketball

The young Free State girls basketball team fell to Olathe East 67-40 Friday night at Free State High School.

The Hawks (4-4) took an early 6-0 lead in the first 90 seconds of the contest and never looked back against the Firebirds (0-9), who despite cutting the lead to 12 late in the second quarter could not overtake the visitors down the stretch.

“I didn’t like our start at all tonight,” FSHS head coach Summer Frantz said. “To be able to hit shots is definitely promising and I’m proud we made shots but we have to defend better. We’ve been getting a lot of extra shots up in practice so it’s good to see that pay off.”

After the quick scoring run for Olathe East, Free State responded with four points the rest of the quarter, but two 3s from Meredith Reese led the way for the Hawks who took a 22-4 lead through one quarter of play.

However, Free State responded with great shooting from beyond the arc, finishing 5-7 from three-point range in the frame to trim the deficit to 12 right before halftime.

Chloe Clossen and Peyton Moore each finished with two 3s while Addie Fulscher knocked one in herself, helping her team score 19 points in the second quarter alone.

Despite trailing by 16 at halftime, the Firebirds outscored the Hawks 19-17 in the second quarter, giving them loads of confidence going into the second half at Free State High School.

The Hawks scored the first nine points of the third to extend their lead, but a basket by Anniston Clark followed by another 3 from Fulscher cut the deficit down to 20 midway through the frame.

Six points from Corrine Cole bumped Olathe East’s lead back to 25 for a score of 58-33 through three quarters. The Firebirds remained determined heading into the final eight minutes of play against the more experienced Hawks.

Clark chipped in seven points in the fourth quarter, helping keep her team composed down the stretch, but tough defense and timely shotmaking by Olathe East put the game out of reach. It was the fourth victory of the season for The Hawks.

The Firebirds will not play until Thursday, when they take on Sumner Academy at 7 p.m. at Free State HS.

“We have some games coming up that we want to be competitive in,” Frantz said. “We have to just keep getting better everyday and we can’t get complacent.”

Olathe East (67) Braylee Rogers 7-8 0-0 14; Logan Mispagel 0-3 0-0 -; Cate Whitehead 6-9 1-2 13; Corrine Cole 4-8 7-8 16; Meredith Reese 3-7 0-0 8, Millie Dermer 1-4 1-1 3, Mia Veatch 1-3 1-2 3, Graysyn Mills 0-3 0-0 0, Madison Sloan 3-3 0-2 8, Katie LeFever 1-3 0-0 2. Totals 26-51, 10-15 67.

Free State (40) Addie Fulscher 3-8 0-0 9; Hadley Lonnberg 0-1 0-0 -; Anniston Clark 7-11 2-3 16; Chloe Clossen 2-3 0-0 6; Peyton Moore 2-4 0-0 6, Aly Richardson 1-1 0-0 2, Cydnee Price 0-0 1-2 1 Totals: 15-28 3-5 40.

Score by quarters

Olathe East 22 17 19 9 — 67

Free State 4 19 10 7 — 40

3-point goals: OEHS: 5-19 Meredith Reese (2), Corrine Cole (1), Madison Sloan (2), FSHS: 7-14 Addie Fulscher (3), Peyton Moore (2), Chloe Clossen (2); Turnovers: FSHS 23, OEHS 9. Fouled Out: None.