Heartbreak City for Laramie Lady Plainsmen at State Tournament

It was a game plan that was executed perfectly for 35 minutes and 47 seconds. It was the last 13 seconds that went awry, as the Laramie Lady Plainsmen nearly pulled off a David versus Goliath upset in the first round of the 4A State Tournament in Casper Thursday night. They lost in overtime to the Natrona County Fillies, 39-36.

Natrona's Lexie Switzer hit only the fourth 3-point field goal of the night for the Fillies with 12.1 seconds left in overtime. It gave NC their first lead of the extra period at 37-36. Laramie had a chance to win it, but a steal at mid-court by Veronique Gallegos and eventual lay-up sealed an improbable 3-point victory for the Fillies.

LHS head coach Rod Tyson said, "The girls really played their hearts out. We had everything going our way. We were doing everything we needed to do. We worked on it hard in practice. The girls followed through, followed the game-plan, and things just happen. We had two turnovers at the end, the 5-second call and the one at the end, that was huge."

The Lady Plainsmen held a 36-32 lead late in OT, but NC ended the game on a 7-0 run. After the Fillies pulled within 36-34, LHS used their final time-out to avoid a 10-second call in back-court. On the ensuing inbound play, they were called for a 5-second violation with 22 seconds left. That gave the ball back to NC and led to the events in the final 13 seconds of the Fillies victory.

Laramie (15-11) utilized a packed in 1-2-2 zone defense, where most of the time defenders stayed within 12-to-15 feet of the basket. They dared Natrona to shoot from outside, and the Fillies ended the game just 4-of-34 from beyond the arc. Switzer hit the biggest shot of all.

Tyson discussed their defensive strategy and execution, saying, "It was just our '12-defense,' where we just don't let them get anything in the middle. Anything has to be outside, because most of their offense is all inside. So, if we could shut that down or slow it down, that would give us an opportunity to win the game, and we had an opportunity to win."

The Lady Plainsmen jumped out to a 10-3 edge after the first and led 16-11 at half. NC rallied within 26-25 at the end of the 3rd. The Fillies had a chance to win it in regulation, but missed a jumper and Megan Dooley secured the rebound for LHS that led to overtime.

LHS was led by Katie Kuhn with a game-high 17 points and 7 rebounds. Madison Legerski added 10 points.

Natrona (22-3) got 12 points from Kaylee Johnson. The Fillies utilized a 52-35 edge on the glass to overcome the zone by Laramie.

Laramie has now fallen into the consolation portion of the bracket at the 4A State Tournament. They will face the Evanston Lady Red Devils for the third time this season in a loser out game Friday at 10:30 a.m. You can listen to Lady Plainsmen basketball on KOWB. Radio coverage will begin at 9:45 a.m. with David Settle and VerDon Hoopes calling the action from the Casper Events Center.