Another Good Weekend for Laramie High School Basketball

It was three wins in four games at home for the two Laramie High School basketball teams over the weekend.

The Laramie girls split their action with a tough, 56-55 loss to Kelly Walsh on Friday. They bounced back with a 51-40 win over Rock Springs on Saturday.

As for the Plainsmen, they remain undefeated with two close victories. LHS beat Kelly Walsh, 62-61, in overtime and followed that up with a 43-39 victory over Rock Springs on Saturday afternoon.

Laramie Plainsmen

Laramie survived two major challenges to stay perfect on the season. They fought back from deficits in both contests.

On Friday against Kelly Walsh, the Plainsmen jumped out to a 15-8 lead after the first quarter. The Trojans fought back and tied it at 22-22 and then pulled away for a 35-26 lead at halftime. Laramie cut the deficit to two points early in the third quarter but Kelly Walsh managed to stay in front. It wasn’t until late in regulation that LHS regained the lead at 56-54 on a Jaedyn Brown jumper in the paint with 1:10 left. On the next possession, the Trojans tied it with 39 seconds left. Laramie failed to get a shot off in the last 12.6 seconds left after a timeout.

In the overtime period, there were four lead changes. The last was a Trey Enzi lay-up with about a minute left in the extra period. Kelly Walsh got four shots and three offensive rebounds in a flurry inside the last 30 seconds. Collin Boroz made the first free throw with 5.8 seconds left but missed the second. After another offensive rebound for KW, an air-ball was grabbed by Enzi. He missed the free throw with 1.2 seconds left at the other end. A three-quarter court shot fell short at the buzzer.

LHS head coach Jim Shaffer said I thought they (Kelly Walsh) played really well.

“They shot the heck out of it in the first half. I think they were 9-13 from three in the first half, and some of it wasn’t great defense, but there were a lot of contested shots, and they made shots. The thing I’m proud of the most is, we’re down 9 and have some adversity for the first time all year, and we battled back. We hung in there, we made plays, and we made enough plays to win a basketball game.”

Enzi finished with 15 points and 13 rebounds. Mahlon Morris had 18 points, while Brown added 14 points. Boroz led the Trojans with 14 points.

On Saturday, Laramie battled back for a second straight game for the four-point win.

They shot just 26 percent in the first half and trailed 18-16 at halftime. The second half featured 13 lead changes and four ties. A three-pointer by Jaedyn Brown gave LHS the lead, at 38-35, in the fourth quarter. Brown made two free throws and a Morris got a breakaway layup against the full-court press that sealed Laramie’s victory.

Morris led LHS with 19 points and five rebounds.

Shaffer said, “An ugly win’s better than an ugly loss. We talked to the kids about, let’s not get in a habit of winning ugly. We need to be better offensively. Obviously, you hold a team to 39 (points), that’s pretty good, but we sure struggled offensively.”

This is the second straight 6-0 start for Laramie.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

Laramie suffered a heart-breaking loss to Kelly Walsh on Friday night. The Lady Plainsmen had two chances in the final 50 seconds to win the game but fell short.

LHS trailed early but fought back and took a 26-20 lead by halftime. Laramie built their lead to 14 points early in the second half before the Trojans rallied for the victory.

It was 38-24 LHS in the third quarter, but KW rallied within three points. Laramie held off the Trojans with three-pointers from Emily Gardner and Kylee Cox. It was 46-39 as the game entered the final quarter.

Kelly Walsh took the lead back 49-48 on a Logan Alvar basket with about three-and-a-half minutes left. The Lady Plainsmen fought back and took a 55-54 lead on two free throws from Cox with one minute remaining. Barrett Lloyd answered quickly with a lay-up with nearly 50 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner.

Laramie turned the ball over on their next possession. Then, Addie Forry drew a charge on Kelly Walsh’s Paige Hill with 12.9 seconds left. A potential game-winning layup for LHS was no good with five seconds left. The Trojans grabbed the loose-ball rebound and time ran out.

Head coach Nick Darling said he was a little frustrated with what happened.

“Proud of the girls in that they play hard, from start to finish. Obviously, the execution was lacking in the fourth quarter, for sure, and parts of the third. Really the whole game, there were execution issues. We talked about not having a few kids, and that’s a big deal with our rotations (getting) off a little bit.”

Forry led Laramie with 17 points, while Cox added 15.

Saturday was the bounce-back that Laramie needed. They held off the Tigers for an 11-point win.

The Lady Plainsmen took the lead on an early triple and never trailed the rest of the game. The lead was pushed to 26-10 in the second quarter. At halftime, it was 32-21 Laramie.

Rock Springs rallied behind Brenli Jenkins, who scored all of their points in the third, as it trimmed the LHS advantage to 39-33. In the fourth quarter, the Lady Plainsmen went to a four-corner approach with just a four-point lead, at 39-35. Laramie finished the game on a 12-5 run.

Darling said, “It showed a lot of poise in the fourth quarter, running ‘zip,’ which is just kind of a slower, patient offense. They really figured some stuff out today, and how to work with each other, and really pull out that win.”

Kayla Vasquez led LHS with 18 points.

The victory pushed the Laramie girls’ record to 4-2. That equals last season’s entire win total in just six games this year.

Darling added, “It’s inspiring. They go out and play for each other because they weren’t satisfied with last year’s win total, at all… It’s a big deal for them.”

Both Laramie teams stay at home this weekend, as they host Rawlins on Friday and Douglas on Saturday.