Lady Plainsmen Comeback to Beat Green River

One rally produced a victory, while another fell short in Laramie’s home debut for high school basketball against Green River Thursday night.

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen fought back in the second half and beat the Wolves 52-45 for their first back-to-back wins this season. The news wasn’t as good for the Plainsmen, who led in the first half, gave-up the lead in the third quarter, rallied and tied it, but lost to Green River, 61-59.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

Jennifer Aadland scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Lady Plainsmen improve to 3-5 on the season.

Laramie rallied from a 16-point deficit in the first quarter. They trailed 18-2 at one time before a strong second quarter got them back in it. Aadland scored nine of her points in that period, as LHS pulled within 25-20 by halftime.

Green River (5-3) scored the first seven points in the second half. That made it 32-20, but Laramie responded with a 17-4 run that ended the quarter. There were three lead changes late in the period, but Sekoya Romero’s lay-up gave the Lady Plainsmen the lead for good.

Freshman Kylee Cox hit a key three and added a reverse lay-up that extended the Laramie lead. They pulled away for the victory.

Laramie shot 31 percent in the game. Cox scored a career-high nine points. Shyann Bastian added seven points and a team-high nine rebounds. Freshman DaiJane Giron contributed three points and career-best eight rebounds. The Lady Plainsmen also had only 14 turnovers.

The Wolves shot 35 percent from the field. Ashelynn Birch led the way with 20 points and 20 rebounds. Andri Dewey added 10 points. Green River held a 42-41 edge in rebounding.

The Laramie girls will return to action Friday in Cheyenne against No. 5 Evanston at 12:30 p.m. from South High School.

Laramie Plainsmen

Two free throws by Green River’s Chance Hofer with 4.9 seconds left gave the Wolves a two-point victory in Laramie.

The Plainsmen started fast behind Hudda Herrera. The junior scored 10 of Laramie’s first 12 points. LHS built an eight point lead in the second quarter, but the Wolves closed within four, at 29-25, by halftime.

Green River (7-0) took the lead early in the third quarter, as they opened the half on a 13-2 run. Their lead grew to eight before and 8-2 run by the Plainsmen closed the period. It was 44-42 Wolves, as the game went into the fourth.

The Wolves maintained their lead until an Asa Williams three-pointer, and a Frank Crum basket in the final 30 seconds tied it at 59.

Green River held for the last shot. Hofer got the ball at the high post and drove the right side of the lane. He was fouled and made both. A travelling violation against LHS gave the ball back to the Wolves. Gavin Heiser got fouled, but missed both free throws with 0.2 seconds left. Asa Williams quick shot it from three-quarter court and the ball nearly banked it at the buzzer.

Laramie (5-3) suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season. Herrera led the way with 21 points and 10 rebounds. Crum added 16 points and six rebounds. The Plainsmen shot 45 percent from the floor.

Green River also shot 45 percent in the game. They were led by Jake Angelovich with 17 points, while Hofer added 13. The Wolves out-rebounded the bigger Laramie team, 34-31.

The Plainsmen head to Cheyenne and face No. 4 Evanston at South High School Friday at 2 p.m.