Olathe — The Free State boys basketball team lost its second straight game Tuesday night, falling to Olathe Northwest 58-50 at Olathe Northwest High School.

Despite 20 points from Dash Johnson, the Firebirds (5-8) could not mount a late comeback against the Ravens (8-5) who led wire-to-wire to win their second straight game.

“They made more than we did tonight,” FSHS head coach Dwayne Paul said. “It’s the same thing that we talked about over the course of time. That’s a good team we played against.”

To start out the game, both teams traded baskets back and forth, but it was the Ravens who edged out a slight lead thanks to eight points from Gavin Popik.

Despite a late 3-pointer from Wesley Edison, the visitors found themselves down by four going into the second quarter with the score at 13-9 in favor of the Ravens.

Devon Hamilton and Johnson led the Firebirds offense in the second quarter, scoring all the Firebirds 14 points in the period and combining for three 3-pointers.

However, JJ Lee proved to be too much in the paint for the Firebirds defense, scoring 11 of his 13 first-half points in the second quarter to help his team take a near double digit lead late.

The Firebirds responded, trimming their deficit to just six going into halftime at 29-23.

Another 3 from Johnson brought the deficit to one early into the third quarter, but the Ravens used seven points from Popik and a late basket from Merak Greinert to push their lead to nine at 44-35 heading into the fourth.

“The thing that I’m most proud of with Dash is what people don’t see,” Paul said. “Every time I challenge him in practice he comes back. I thought defensively he did some decent things and he came in and had some success.”

Johnson led the Firebirds with 12 points through the first 24 minutes, but the Ravens’ balanced scoring attack helped the team control the momentum going into the final eight minutes of play.

Even after two 3s from the Firebirds early in the fourth quarter, Greinert sealed the deal for the home team with six fourth-quarter points to help his team pull away late.

From there, Caden Campbell nailed four straight free throws to help the Ravens close it out, defeating Free State 58-50.

Free State now turns the page to Olathe West, who they will host Friday night at 7 p.m. at Free State HS.

“It’s going to be a battle Friday,” Paul said. “Olathe West plays really good defense and they fly around. The biggest thing for us is to stay together.”

Olathe Northwest (58) Logan Burnett 1-2 0-0 3; Caden Campbell 0-1 4-4 4; Gavin Popik 7-12 4-6 19; Merak Greinert 4-7 1-1 12; JJ Lee 8-10 3-6 19, Derryl Jean 0-1 0-0 0, Amare Johnson 0-0 1-2 1. Totals: 20-33 13-19 58

Free State (50) Devon Hamilton 3-4 2-4 9; Korbin Dowdell 4-6 0-2 9; Wesley Edison 2-5 2-7 7; Dash Johnson 6-11 3-5 20; Hueston Saunders 0-4 0-0 0, Bennett Nagel 0-1 0-0 0, Ethan Prescott 1-1 0-0 2, Nika Khosh 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 17-33 7-18 50

Score by quarters

Olathe Northwest 13 16 15 14 — 58

Free State 9 14 15 12 — 50

3-point goals: FSHS: 9-17 Devon Hamilton (1) Korbin Dowdell (1), Dash Johnson (5), Nika Khosh (1), Wesley Edison (1); ONWHS: 5-11 Logan Burnett (1), Merak Greinert (3), Gavin Popik (1), Turnovers: FSHS 8, ONWHS 9. Fouled Out: None.

Olathe Northwest girls 53, Free State 22

The young Free State girls basketball team dropped a battle with Olathe Northwest 53-22 Tuesday night at Olathe Northwest High School.

The Ravens (6-7) took control early, leading from the opening tip to earn their sixth win of the season.

Anniston Clark led the Firebirds (1-13) early on with four points in the first quarter and finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds, helping keep her team in the game in the opening moments.

“The way we came out in the third quarter was positive for us,” Free State head coach Summer Frantz said. “It all comes down to the same sort of general ideas. We just have to keep doing the little things.”

Despite aggressive defense from FSHS forcing seven Ravens turnovers, the home team put together a late scoring run, taking a 10-point lead heading into the second quarter with the score at 14-4.

Olathe Northwest continued scoring baskets inside. The Ravens’ Bella Nadeau nailed the first 3 of the game, but the Firebirds remained determined and continued to force tough shots at the rim heading into halftime.

Three more points from Clark rounded out the scoring for the visiting Firebirds, bringing the score to a 25-7 lead for the Ravens going into the second half.

The Firebirds started out strong and scored the first 10 points of the second half, including knocking down two 3-pointers from Addie Fulscher and Cydnee Price.

The Ravens responded with a small run of their own to bring their lead closer to 20, but the third quarter remained competitive with ONW out-scoring FSHS by just one point in the period, bringing the score to 36-17 heading into the fourth.

Despite Clark scoring five immediate points for the Firebirds, Olathe Northwest used one more run to pull farther away from the Firebirds, securing the 53-22 victory.

The Firebirds will return home to host Olathe West on Friday, with tip-off set for 5:30 p.m.

“We have an extremely tough stretch coming up in our next three games,” Frantz said. “We have to come ready to practice tomorrow.”

Box score:

Olathe Northwest (53) Kyra Clark 6-12 2-3 15; Ava Karnatz 0-1 0-2 -; Bella Nadeau 1-7 1-2 4; Reese Haverkamp 2-3 3-4 7; Ashlyn Miller 0-0 2-2 2. Ava Ashley 1-1 0-0 2, Jillian Huckabey 8-9 1-1 17, Taylor Foxworthy 1-5 3-6 5, Natalie Stirling 0-1 0-0 0, Jacy Hackler 1-2 1-1 1. Totals: 19-49 13-22 53.

Free State (22) Addie Fulscher 1-4 0-0 3; Hadley Lonnberg 0-1 0-0 -; Anniston Clark 7-13 2-7 16; Chloe Clossen 0-4 0-0 -; Cydnee Price 1-3 0-0 3 Peyton Moore 0-3 0-0 0, Libby Easter 0-1 0-0 0, Sarai Preston 0-2 0-0 0, Totals: 9-31 2-7 22.

Score by quarters

Olathe NW 14 11 11 17 — 53

Free State 4 3 10 5 — 22

3-point goals: ONWHS: 2-20 Bella Nadeau (1), Kyra Clark (1), FSHS: 2-13 Addie Fulscher (1), Cydnee Price (1); Turnovers: FSHS 26, ONWHS 18. Fouled Out: None.