It took most of the first half for Free State High’s girls basketball players to adjust to Shawnee Mission South’s full-court press defense and an offense that can knock down threes.


But once the Firebirds adjusted, there was no holding them back. Free State picked up a road victory, 59-48, and the Firebirds are proving that they can adjust their style of play on the fly.


Without freshman point guard Cameryn Thomas, the Firebirds have been forced to adjust their offense. They couldn’t get into the offensive sets they used to and they’ve had some problems avoiding traps when bringing the ball up the court.


But now, it looks like they’re getting more comfortable. If they can get Thomas back to playing the way she was before her knee injury, the Firebirds should become a better team because of it.


“I think it was more just a focus,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said of the slow start. “Nobody got upset. No one freaked out. I think we just knew we had to adjust to their style a little bit. I think more than anything, it was just settling in and getting to used to their style of play. … The biggest thing was also just handling their pressure. We adjusted a little on our press break. We controlled the tempo after the first quarter.”


Free State’s boys basketball team rebounded from a tough loss last week with one of its best performances of the year.


The Firebirds shot a ridiculous 17-for-27 from the field to pull away in a 50-30 road victory at Shawnee Mission South. They also played great defense in a 2-3 zone, holding SM South’s top scorers to bad shooting nights.


“I think we had a wakeup call from Friday night,” FSHS coach Chuck Law said. “Olathe South shredded us. Olathe South shot 63 percent from the field, 80-plus percent from the foul line. We talked about that. This needed to be a game where we stayed discipline and kept the other team under control.


“As porous as we were defensively on Friday, I expected a better effort tonight, and we got it.”


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 and I’m bringing back the high school ratings for this basketball season. 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, so. — It’s impressive to see how much Piper has improved from last year, when she was a first-team All-Sunflower League player. She’s asked to do a lot more this year and she delivers game after game. She had a game-high 25 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and five steals.


“We’re playing her 32 minutes and she’s guarding a good player on the defensive end, she’s scoring, she’s taking it to the basket,” FSHS coach Bryan Duncan said. “Now we’re saying you need to handle the ball against 80 feet of pressure, and she does it and does it well. So I think it’s making her a complete player and I thought she was extra aggressive tonight getting to the basket. That’s changing our game.”


2. Sarah Coversup, sr. — With opposing teams playing full-court defense against the Firebirds, Coversup hasn’t been able to make as big of an impact in the post, as she tried to help bring the ball up the court. She went to the back of the press on Tuesday, and it helped her get back into a rhythm offensively. She scored 21 points, nine of 10 at the free throw line, to go along with six rebounds and two blocks.


3. Hannah Walter, jr. — Walter did a great job bringing the ball up the court and playing solid defense. She fouled out with 2:19 left, but finished with two points and three rebounds.


4. Adriana Jadlow, sr. — Jadlow didn’t end up with a steal, but tipped at least a few passes on defense. Offensively, she scored six points on 3 of 6 shooting and she grabbed one rebound.


5. Jaycie Bishop, so. — After missing a pair of games because of a leg injury, Bishop returned and knocked down a three in her first few seconds on the court. She played solid defense and did a good job making the extra pass on offense.


“We thought Jaycie had an excellent game tonight on both ends of the floor,” Duncan said. “She played smart and she just made good decisions. She hit a shot but more importantly, she made a couple of great passes. She’s just steady on defense.”


6. Hannah Shoemaker, sr. — Shoemaker played great defense off of the bench and did a good job setting screens on offense. She scored two points on a layup, grabbed three rebounds and had an assist.


7. Morgan Gantz, sr. — Gantz was strong with the ball against full-court pressure. She didn’t attempt a shot, but had a rebound and an assist.


• Next up: 5:30 p.m. Friday vs. Olathe East. Record: 13-4.

Free State boys basketball

1. Weston Hack, sr. — Hack did a little bit of everything to help the Firebirds on Tuesday, though the Raiders were focused on stopping him. The senior guard finished with a game-high 13 points on 5 of 6 shooting to go along with nine rebounds, two assists and two steals. He did a great job handling the ball against SM South’s full-court press.


2. Justin Narcomey, sr. — The 6-foot-1 guard has struggled from behind the three-point arc at times this season, but he knocked down his first attempt and didn’t look back on Tuesday. He had 10 points, 2 of 4 from three, to go along with three rebounds and an assist. Defensively, he drew a charge and did a good job forcing bad passes with his length.


3. Hunter Gudde, jr. — Gudde always does a good job stuffing stat sheets and it was no different on Tuesday. He had 11 points, six rebounds and two assists. He did an excellent job driving the ball and moving the ball along the perimeter.


4. Andrew Keating, sr. — Keating made a big impact on both ends of the court on Tuesday. He finished with eight points, scoring four points in a 6-0 run to open the second half, and he added two assists and two steals. He didn’t do anything flashy but was really consistent and he did a good job defensively at the top of the Firebirds’ 2-3 zone.


5. Sloan Thomsen, so. — The 6-foot-5 sophomore drilled a three before the buzzer in the first quater, but perhaps his best sequence was blocking two SM South layup attempts within 15 seconds of each other.


6. Jay Dineen, so. — Dineen brought a lot of energy off of the bench and did a good job moving the ball around on offense. He scored three points, dropping in a wide-open layup when he snuck behind the defense, and he had two rebounds.


7. Jack Raney, sr. — Raney missed his only shot, a three in the first quarter, but he played hard-nosed defense in the post and provided good spacing on offense.


8. Chrision Wilburn, jr. — Wilburn was the first player off of the bench, and played well defensively. He scored two points late in the fourth quarter at the free throw line.


9. Shannon Cordes (so.), Darian Lewis (jr.), Kristian Rawls (jr.) and Caleb Holland (sr.) — All four of them entered with 1:45 remaining as the Firebirds were running out the clock.


• Next up: 7 p.m. Friday vs. #5 Olathe East. Record: 9-7.
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