photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State freshman Taylor Hulcher (left) and Morgan McClorey (right) help up teammate Addie Fulscher from the floor during the Firebirds' game against Junction City on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

After tallying just four wins in their first three seasons, Free State girls basketball seniors Addie Fulscher and Libby Easter knew the program needed to shift its culture for their senior year.

Along with Fulscher and Easter, the Firebirds returned junior forward Sarai Preston to the lineup, leaving two vacant spots among the starting five.

Enter freshmen Morgan McClorey and Quinlynn Vail to fill the final two starting spots, along with key rotational piece and fellow freshman Taylor Hulcher. They have quickly settled in with their new teammates and have helped the team to a seven-win season thus far, the most the program has had since an eight-win season in the 2019-20 campaign.

“Having these good players, these basketball-minded players come in and listen to the stuff that is most important to us, listen to our coaches’ goals for the year, goals for the culture was really nice,” Easter said.

While Easter and Fulscher have built a connection of their own over time, the freshman trio had its own connections from playing middle-school ball together, which McClorey said only helped strengthen their bonds through time, and allowed for an easy transition to the high-school level.

With a mix of returning veterans and incoming freshmen, the summer before the season proved to be a vital experience for the team in not only learning each other’s tendencies on the court, but also being able to connect with one another.

“It was really nice to get the culture together in the summer before our season, and get to know everyone (and) get to play with everyone before this season started,” Easter said.

Added Fulscher: “That was great, just being able to learn their characteristics, what they’re like, how they are even outside of basketball.”

Those offseason experiences allowed Fulscher and Easter even more opportunities to step into leadership roles and prepare their younger teammates for the season ahead.

“I don’t think we could have had anyone better for it,” Vail said. “They were just so welcoming to the team and they just brought us under their wings like we’ve been there all the years they were.”

On the court, the offseason particularly helped establish roles, specifically with regard to who would handle the primary ball-handling responsibilities.

In her first three years, Fulscher led the offense at the point guard position, but after many conversations with her coaches and experiences playing off the ball during the AAU season, she knew she wanted a change her senior year.

That’s where McClorey came into play, and while the two split time at the point-guard position during the summer, McClorey took hold of the point-guard responsibilities at the start of the season, allowing more opportunities for Fulscher to come off the ball and serve as a shooter.

“It’s something that we kind of have always talked about,” Fulscher said. “Freshman season, I was the main ball handler and throughout the next couple years, but we knew the freshmen we had coming in this year would play a big part, and being able to get off the ball more would be something to really look forward to.”

Added McClorey: “I think Addie wanted to shoot more and have someone else handle the ball, So I think she was kind of happy and I love taking up that responsibility and taking up all that pressure to handle the ball, because I just love that part of basketball.”

The change paid dividends for both, as McClorey is a natural driver and is comfortable playing downhill and getting to the paint, which created opportunities for Fulscher to have open shots on the perimeter, shown most notably when Fulscher set a single-game school record with eight 3-pointers on Jan. 27, in a win over Blue Valley West.

Unfortunately for the Firebirds, they encountered a significant setback when Fulscher suffered a torn ACL on senior night, ending her high school career in the process.

Without one of its senior leaders, Free State has had to ask even more from their youthful freshmen, especially on the offensive end in taking on increased scoring production. On Tuesday against Shawnee Mission Northwest, McClorey answered the bell by scoring 25 points while leading Free State back from down 17 points, even though the Firebirds lost 47-44.

“I just try to think about it like there are other shoes to fill,” McClorey said. “Addie is not here to help us get points on the board, so someone else has to take that responsibility.”

As the season has progressed, the freshmen have been able to find their voices as leaders, something that will be of importance throughout the remainder of their career, and especially in the near future as Fulscher and Easter depart due to graduation.

“They really have grown a lot, just seeing them be able to be a little more comfortable as we’ve gone through the season,” Fulscher said. “They’ve been able to handle the situations that we go through, and even those tough games, they’ve learned to stick through them and stay together.”

For now, the team still has one more regular season game on Friday at Mill Valley, before beginning sub-state play next week.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State freshman Morgan McClorey (30) chats with senior Libby Easter during the Firebirds’ game against Shawnee Mission West on Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, at Free State High School in Lawrence.

photo by: Kahner Sampson/Special to the Journal-World

Free State freshman Quinlynn Vail is helped up by teammates during the City Showdown basketball game on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026, at Free State High School in Lawrence.