Thunderbirds Prove Too Much For Laramie

Poor shooting in the second half led to a pair of losses to begin conference play for Laramie at Cheyenne East Wednesday night.

Both the Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen shot less than 20 percent from the floor in defeat. The Laramie girls lost 62-36 to No. 2 Cheyenne East, while the Laramie boys lost 70-41 to No. 2 Cheyenne East.

Laramie Plainsmen

Cheyenne East broke the game open with an 11-0 run to start the second half and pull away from the Plainsmen. LHS had their three-game win streak ended.

Laramie (6-5, 0-1) shot only 32 percent in the first half but found themselves down only 34-22. The burst by the Thunderbirds pushed their lead to 45-22, and the rout was on. The Plainsmen struggled and shot just 19 percent in the second half, as East built their lead to as much as 33 points, before the final margin of 29.

Hudda Herrera led LHS with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Cheyenne East (11-1, 1-0) was led by Erik Oliver with a game-high 21 points. They shot 49 percent for the game, and that included 63 percent in the second half.

Laramie head coach Travis Brown said to be down by only 12 at the break as bad as they shot, he was okay with that.

“The second half, I think it’s just natural psyche’ of some high school kids, we had a good bunny (easy shot) there to start the second half, we miss it, and instead of it going to 10 (point deficit), they get it and run out in transition, and you could see our heads drop a little bit.”

Brown admitted they may have pressed offensively as they fell behind even more.

“We had some looks, and then we try to play hero ball at times, and when you try and play hero ball, and try and make 19-point shots (don’t exist), it can go ugly in a hurry.”

Still Brown was very positive about the locker room after the game, saying, “Those senior guys, they stepped up. They’re not done, that was just the beginning of their season in their mind, so they’re ready to go.”

The Plainsmen host No. 4 Cheyenne Central at 7 p.m. Friday in Laramie.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

A 9-2 run by Cheyenne East broke open a nine-point game at halftime, and the Lady Plainsmen never recovered in their 26-point loss. It was the fifth straight loss for the LHS.

Laramie (3-8, 0-1) scored only three points in the first quarter. Despite that, they fought back behind four triples in the second. Jennifer Aadland made two, while Lauren Sylvestre and Kayla Vasquez each knocked down one. It helped LHS stay within striking distance, down 26-17 at halftime.

The Thunderbirds run put them ahead by 16 points, and Laramie struggled with just three made field goals in the second half. The rest of their points came from the free throw line.

Aadland led the Lady Plainsmen with 16 points and nine rebounds, while Vasquez added 12 points and three boards. LHS shot 26 percent in the game, but only 18 in the second half.

Cheyenne East (13-1, 1-0) shot 32 percent for the game. They were led by Ky Buell with 18 points.

Even with the loss, Laramie head coach Rod Tyson was pleased with his squad’s first-half play.

“They actually took stuff from the gym that we worked on in practice. How to beat their pressure, and they did that, and it was working really well for the first half. Second half, we got a little rushed, took some bad shots, and weren’t patient.”

Tyson still feels they made some progress against good pressure put on by Cheyenne East but admitted they got beat badly on the glass. Laramie was out-rebounded by the Thunderbirds, 46-35.

The Lady Plainsmen return home Friday to face No. 3 Cheyenne Central. The game starts at 5:30 p.m. from Laramie High School.