Plainsmen Face Key Trip, While Lady Plainsmen Finish at Home with Two Special Events

The second-ranked Laramie Plainsmen boys basketball team will head out on one of the toughest road swings each season, as they take on the Broncs in Sheridan and the #1 Camels in Gillette. The fifth-ranked Laramie Lady Plainsmen basketball team will host the same two teams, with Friday night being Senior Night, and Saturday is a cancer awareness game with fundraising efforts for "Cakes for Cancer."

Laramie (14-3, 4-1) split the first go-round at home against Sheridan and Gillette. They lost to the Camels by 21 points (79-58) and beat the Broncs (62-44). This has never been an easy test, but the Plainsmen won in Gillette in a triple overtime thriller last season. If LHS takes care of business on Friday night in Sheridan, then the Saturday match-up versus the Camels would possibly be for the 4A East Conference title.

Laramie coach Chuck Kern says, "Gillette and Sheridan are probably two of the premiere teams in the league. If we could get a couple of wins up there, that would be huge."

Both Plainsmen games will be on KOWB (AM 1290). Coverage on Friday night will start at 6:45 p.m., while Saturday's broadcast will begin at 12:45 p.m. David Settle and VerDon Hoopes will call all the action.

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen (12-5, 2-3) host #4 Sheridan and #2 Gillette in their final two homes games of the season Friday night and Saturday morning. Laramie lost to both teams by 20-plus points on the road last month at the start of conference play.

Friday night will be "Senior Night," with Katie Kuhn, Madison Legerski, Jamie Rhodine and LaShelle Shakespeare being honored before the varsity game, which is slated to begin at 7:30 p.m.

Laramie coach Rod Tyson said, "It's going to be a tough day. Hopefully, emotionally that won't set them back. I think they're pretty solid enough, that it won't, because we went through it last year with another big group of ours, so hopefully they'll be ready to play.

Saturday sees LHS and Gillette combining forces with Denver Broncos Pro Bowl guard Zane Beadles in a fundraising event called "Cakes for Cancer." Beadles will be in the lobby an hour prior to the 11:45 a.m. game time on Saturday to sign unlimited autographs. Fans can bring their own merchandise, or for $2.00, can purchase an 8X10 photo of Zane to be signed. You can also get involved in two separate raffles. Visit the table in the lobby Friday night or up through half time of Saturday's game. One winner of the raffle will get a signed Denver Broncos football. Also, five other raffle winners will receive merchandise signed by Beadles. There's also other contests that will take place during and after the game.

Prior to tip-off, Zane will introduce some families from Laramie who have stayed at Brent's place in Denver, Colorado while their children received treatment in their battle with cancer.

Tyson said, "Anytime we can bring awareness, it's a great thing. One of my buddies, that played with me in college (Oliver Wilson), passed away from cancer, so it's always on my mind. Anything we can do to help would be great."

The Lady Plainsmen varsity game against Sheridan will tip-off at 7:30 Friday night at the LHS gym. Their game versus Gillette has been moved up to an 11:45 a.m. start.