Laramie Plainsmen Championship Dreams Dashed in Overtime Loss

The thought of possibly winning the school's first ever boys basketball title in 28 years was crushed Thursday afternoon in Casper. The Laramie Plainsmen lost their first round 4A State Tournament game to Evanston 64-54 in overtime. The Red Devils closed out the game on a 20-2 run, which included a 10-0 scoring edge during the extra period.

Laramie (19-6) held a 52-44 lead, but failed to overcome seven 4th quarter turnovers. Evanston rallied with a 10-2 run which tied the game at 54. With 4.9 seconds left, the Red Devils Alek Johnson had a shot to win it at the foul line, but he missed the front end of the bonus. LHS got the rebound, but Tyler Loose's half court shot was no good. Evanston then controlled the 4 extra minutes of action, as the Plainsmen failed to score.

Laramie head coach Chuck Kern said, "We couldn't quite make the plays we needed to make in regulation. Of course, once it got into overtime, things fell apart rather quickly."

The game featured 10 lead changes and 10 ties. It was tight early on, but the Plainsmen grabbed a 16-11 lead after the 1st quarter. They pulled out to an 8-point edge, at 27-19, in the 2nd before the Red Devils closed the 1st half on a 9-1 run and tied it at 28.

In the third, Evanston jumped out to a 35-32 lead, but LHS roared back and pushed in front 45-42 going to the 4th. The Plainsmen used a 10-2 spurt at the start of the final period for the 52-44 lead before it fell apart.

Kern added, "When you get a chance to put people away in the post-season, if you don't do it, these types of things can happen. For whatever reason, missed box-out, missed lay-up, muffed ball, I think there were two or three turnovers that we had there. I felt like I could ride it out and didn't take a time-out, so I need to shoulder a lot of responsibility. It was kind of a muff by everybody."

The Plainsmen were led by Loose with 19 points, while Abel Casas and Sam Feldman added 12 apiece. Laramie was 21-52 (40%) from the field, 6-24 (25%) from beyond the arc and 6-11 (55%) at the foul line. They out-rebounded the Red Devils 30-27.

Evanston (16-10) got a game-high 24 points and 8 rebounds from Matt Johnson. Jemini Leckie added 16 and Kade Lym 10. They were 19-40 (48%) on field goals, 4-11 (36%) on 3's and 22-31 (71%) from the charity stripe.

Laramie drops into the consolation part of the bracket. Friday they will face the Cheyenne Central Indians for a fourth time this season. They are 3-0 against Central. Game time is at Noon at the Casper Events Center. You can listen to Plainsmen basketball on KOWB. Broadcast coverage will follow the Laramie Lady Plainsmen. David Settle and VerDon Hoopes will call the action from Casper.