After chatting with his team in the locker room Friday, Free State High girls basketball coach Bryan Duncan said, “We learned a lot about ourselves tonight.”


He was speaking about his team, but the same thing applied the boys basketball team, after both of the Free State squads earned comeback victories against ranked Mill Valley teams.


The FSHS girls won 55-46 over Mill Valley in their home debut, making a big charge in the third quarter. The Firebirds were “embarrassed” by their play in the first half, so they came out of the locker room at halftime angry, and that helped fuel them for the second half.


The Firebirds have a lot of speed with their guards and can score in a hurry. They also proved they can take over games on the defensive end when their offense isn’t in rhythm.


Free State’s boys basketball team fought back from a 10-point deficit with six minutes left in a 68-63 victory against Mill Valley. It was hard to learn much about this team after FSHS rolled to a huge win over AC Prep in its season opener.


But following Friday’s comeback, the Firebirds proved they can compete with top teams. They have some guys in big roles without much varsity experience, and they played with poise down the stretch. Heading into a road game against their crosstown rivals next week, I think the Firebirds have shown they’ll be ready to play.


Lawrence High’s boys basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, 77-68, to Lee’s Summit in the Blue Valley Shootout championship game. The Lions lost to a tough Lee’s Summit team (3-0, ranked No. 6 in Missouri’s Class 5), but have really shown they can slow down athletic guards with their zone defense. Justin Roberts and Fred Brou were named to the All-Tournament team.


Meanwhile, Lawrence’s girls basketball team lost, 70-51, to Shawnee Heights on Friday. Fortunately, the Lions won’t have much time to dwell on the loss. They have three games this week, starting with Topeka West at 7 p.m. Monday in their home opener.
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In case you missed it, we’re copying one of the popular features of KUsports.com, “Keegan’s Ratings,” where Sports Editor Tom Keegan ranks KU football and men’s basketball players after every game he attends. These individual rankings are just one person’s opinion, but it’s a good way to look at how each person impacted each game.

Free State girls basketball

1. Madison Piper, jr. — It’s nothing new, but when Piper finds her rhythm on offense, the Firebirds become such a dangerous team. After scoring five points on 2-of-9 shooting in the first half, Piper scored 13 points in the third quarter while making five straight shots including a buzzer-beater. She had a game-high 25 points, but was also big on the defensive end, guarding Mill Valley’s Catie Kaifes (19 points), who was a first-team All-Kaw Valley League pick last year.


2. Cameryn Thomas, soph. — After the Firebirds’ comeback victory, everyone was crediting Thomas for sparking her team with her defense in the second half. A three-sport athlete, Thomas wore down Mill Valley guards with her speed and aggressive defense. She also had a huge and-one layup in the third quarter. Thomas had five points and three steals.


3. Hannah Walter, sr. — One of those glue players that does a little bit of everything, Walter was huge for the Firebirds on Friday. She had six points, six rebounds and five assists, doing a great job of making the extra pass on offense.


4. Peyton Brown, sr. — Brown has the athletic ability to frustrate opposing players. Brown finished with six points, four rebounds and three steals, including four points in the second quarter when Free State struggled to create offense.


5. Caiti Schlesener, sr. — In the first half, Schlesener struggled with her shot and was in foul trouble. After she took off the wrap on her right hand, she made some huge plays in the second half using her speed. She scored six points, including back-to-back layups through traffic in the fourth quarter. She added two rebounds, an assist and a steal.


6. Jaelyn Two Hearts, soph. — Two Hearts gave the Firebirds their first lead in the second half when she drilled a three-pointer from the corner. In the fourth quarter, she grabbed a steal and passed the ball up to Schlesener for a layup. Two Hearts was active defensively and had two rebounds, two assists and two steals.


7. Jaycie Bishop, jr. — Bishop was huge in the first quarter when the Firebirds were struggling for offense. She scored four of her team’s eight points, scoring on a layup and knocking down a jumper. As usual, she played solid defense on the perimeter.


• Next up: 5:30 p.m. Friday at Lawrence. Record: 3-0.

Free State boys basketball

1. Chrision Wilburn, sr. — Wilburn might be the most improved player in the city this season. He can score in a variety of ways: knocking down jumpers, posting up or scoring in one-on-one matchups. On defense, Wilburn can guard anybody. He lined up against Mill Valley point guard Logan Koch in the first half and moved to 6-foot-8 center Clayton Holmberg down the stretch. Wilburn ended up with 19 points, six rebounds and two steals.


2. Kristian Rawls, sr. — It’s hard to believe it was only the second varsity start of Rawls’ career. He was the driving force behind the Firebirds’ comeback, scoring nine of his team-high 21 points in the fourth quarter. He added three rebounds and an assist.


3. Hunter Gudde, sr. — In the first half, Gudde was face-guarded by Koch and was held to four points. Credit to Gudde for not trying to force anything on offense, especially when the Firebirds fell behind in the second quarter. In the second half, Gudde found his rhythm and finished with 12 points and five rebounds with two and-one buckets in the fourth quarter.


4. Jay Dineen, jr. — Dineen didn’t attempt any shots, but he stepped up on the defensive end. He guarded Koch in the fourth quarter, forcing the Eastern Illinois signee to pass the ball down the stretch instead of firing away from three. Dineen finished with four rebounds, one assist and a steal.


5. Jacob Pavlyak, jr. — On the stat sheet, Pavlyak only had two points, two rebounds, an assist and a steal. But he provided much more than that for the Firebirds. He was one of their top defenders during crunch time, helping slow down the Jaguars in the fourth quarter. His two points (free throws) also gave the Firebirds a four-point lead in the final 30 seconds.


6. Shannon Cordes, jr. — Not many players step up bigger in the final 90 seconds of quarters like Cordes has in the first two games. In the first quarter, he scored five points, including a layup with 0:54 left. He added a layup-and-the-foul with 1:22 left in the second quarter. He finished with eight points, a rebound and a steal.


7. Sloan Thomsen, jr. — Second straight game Thomsen has opened the scoring for the Firebirds. He drilled two triples and grabbed three rebounds.


8. Drew Tochtrop, sr. — Tochtrop didn’t record any stats, but was tasked with some tough defensive assignments when he was on the court.


9. Darian Lewis, sr. — Lewis was a defensive sub at moments in the fourth quarter. He missed his only shot attempt.


10. Simon McCaffrey, soph. — He played for about one minute in the second quarter, spelling Rawls at point guard. He grabbed a rebound and missed a three-pointer.


• Next up: 7 p.m. Friday at Lawrence. Record: 2-0.
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