MANHATTAN – The No. 13-seeded Free State girls basketball team’s season ended on Tuesday in the first round of the Class 6A substate playoffs, as the Firebirds fell to No. 4 Manhattan 67-21.

The Indians (19-5) dictated the pace from the jump, forcing 20 total turnovers and holding the Firebirds to just six made field goals.

“It was a little disappointing, I didn’t think we matched their physicality, and we talked about how they were going to be really physical on defense,” Free State head coach Summer Frantz said. “Keeping the bigger picture in mind, we just talked about how proud we are of our seniors (Addie Fulscher and Libby Easter) and just how much better they’ve left the program than when they found it.”

The Indians took an early 6-0 lead thanks to a pair of 3-pointers by Evie Banks, while forcing three Firebird turnovers on their first three possessions. The Firebirds got on the board at the 5:26 mark of the first quarter thanks to a pair of free throws by junior Sarai Preston.

Preston’s free throws were the only points of the quarter for Free State as Manhattan forced 11 turnovers and converted in transition often, finishing the quarter on a 12-0 run to take an 18-2 lead.

“We did OK in the full court,” Frantz said. “It was when we got into the halfcourt — we were still really sped up.”

The first field goal for the Firebirds came 14 seconds into the second quarter on a 3-pointer by Easter, and was quickly followed by a midrange shot by freshman Morgan McClorey before the team got held scoreless for the remainder of the quarter.

During the scoreless stretch for Free State that lasted nearly seven minutes, Manhattan scored 14 points, continuing to work the ball in the post and run in transition, en route to taking a 34-7 lead into the locker room.

“We wanted to limit their transition offense,” Frantz said. “I thought for the most part we did OK, (but) we had a little spurt there in the second quarter where they kind of got going in their transition.”

Out of the locker room, the lead only grew for the Indians, who started the third quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 43-10 lead. The two points in that stretch for the Firebirds came from Quinlynn Vail at the 6:18 mark.

While Manhattan continued to dictate the pace of the game, scoring 13 points the rest of the quarter, Free State got a spark from McClorey, who scored the final five points of the period, including a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

McClorey finished with a team-high 13 points, with 11 of those coming in the second half.

“It was good to see her looking for her shot, looking to score,” Frantz said. “If there’s anybody that can attack a hip and get downhill and get a paint touch, it’s Morgan.”

McClorey scored all six points in the fourth quarter for the Firebirds, including the final four at the free-throw line, while the Indians cruised through the final eight minutes, advancing to the substate championship game.

In a season of ups and downs, Free State finished with a 7-17 record while tallying the most wins since the 2019-20 season, and the team will return a plethora of contributors, including Preston, Vail, McClorey, and freshman Taylor Hulcher, while losing senior starters Easter and Fulscher.

“I’m really proud of the strides we have made this season, but I also don’t think anybody is satisfied,” Frantz said. “We shouldn’t be satisfied. We still have a lot of work to do to be competitive in the Sunflower League, so I hope that it leaves our underclassmen and our core returning group just hungry to stay together and come back and achieve more next year.”