Pulley Shines in Lady Plainsmen Win at Green River

Lexi Pulley’s career-high 25 points led the Laramie Lady Plainsmen to a dominant 66-47 win at Green River Saturday afternoon.

Laramie (5-7) got off to a fast start thanks to Pulley. The Lady Plainsmen led 23-1 early, and Pulley scored 10 of those points. The lead reached 26 in the first half before it was 37-15 at halftime. Laramie’s biggest lead came in the third quarter, at 47-20. The Wolves closed the gap a little in the fourth before LHS won by 19.

Laramie head coach Laura Pollard it was absolutely nice to win a game like that.

“I think we needed today (Saturday) just because we made some adjustments. Coach Woodford, my JV coach, said we’re setting up in the motion, but we’ve got to get into the motion better, so we did that better. The girls loved it. In fact, that’s what they said at the end of the game that made the difference for them.”

After just one in the second quarter, Pulley scored six in the third and eight in the final frame. She finished 8-11 from the field and 9-11 at the free throw line.

Jennifer Aadland added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Laramie shot 42 percent in the game.

Pollard said her two captains, Pulley and Aadland, looked like they had in the past.

“Looking for each other; trusting each other, which again when you have that leadership, then that tells the rest of the team, that you’re trusted, too.”

Green River (6-6) was led by Tayana Crowder with 13 points and five rebounds. The Wolves shot 28 percent in the game. They were also 16-34, 47 percent, at the charity stripe.

At the mid-point of the season and before conference play starts, Pollard said it’s been tough sledding in class 4A to this point.

“Like I said before, there’s a lot of parody this year. It’s what you want as a coach (to be challenged)… This is fun, and yet, we’ve got to get stronger and stronger to make that regional tournament.”

Laramie hosts the 4A East Regional March 1-3, but with seven teams in the conference, only the top six will qualify for the regional tournament.

Laramie Plainsmen

Green River used a 17-3 run at the start of the second quarter and rolled past the Plainsmen 69-41 Saturday afternoon at Wolves Gym.

The first quarter was close throughout, and the lead changed hands three times with a pair of ties. The Wolves held a 13-10 lead. Six turnovers and missed shots led to the Green River run, where they took control. The Wolves pulled away even more in the second half, as they out-scored Laramie 15-6 in the third quarter. The Green River lead reached 31 in the fourth before the final margin of 28 points.

Plainsmen head coach Travis Brown said once senior guard Chad Browning got in foul trouble, it was tough.

“We just didn’t have a whole lot of guys with experience out there (in the backcourt). It showed. Although, I’ve got to be honest, I was very proud of Reston Morehouse. I though, for a freshman, he stepped up when we needed him and handled the ball really well.”

Laramie (6-6) was led by Frank Crum with 17 points and eight rebounds. LHS shot only 33 percent for the game.

Green River (10-1) shot 57 percent from the field and took advantage of 22 Laramie turnovers. Chance Hofer led the Wolves with 19 points.

As for the defensive effort, Brown said, “It’s a re-occurring thing, our defense is our Achilles heel. Back to the drawing board, if we don’t get that fixed, nothing else will matter.”

The Plainsmen have gone 3-5 since a 3-1 start, and now at the mid-point of the season are at .500 overall record-wise. They start 4A East Conference play on the road next weekend.

Brown said,

“I’m hoping we can get healthy and get everybody back. It’d be nice to see what our team would do full speed. It feels like we’re very hodge-podge night-to-night, trying to guess who’s going to be available to play. Some of that’s self-inflicted things, and some things, injuries, those happen, but the other things, we’ve got to be a little bit better on the things that we can control.”

Both teams head to Sheridan and Gillette next Friday and Saturday to play the Broncs and Camels for their first two conference games. The girls-boys doubleheader varsity games are at 5:30 and 7 p.m. Friday, and then they will play at 1 and 2:30 p.m. Saturday.