Lady Plainsmen Advance to 4A East Championship Game

"The third time's the charm," beamed Laramie junior Katie Kuhn after the Lady Plainsmen worked their way into the 4A East Regional Championship game, and she meant it in more ways than one. Not only is it the third consecutive year LHS will play for the 4A East title, it will also be the third time this season Laramie will face Gillette. The last two years Laramie has been the 4A East runners-up and they've lost to Gillette in overtime twice.

To make it to the championship game, the Lady Plainsmen picked up a come from behind win with a 42-33 victory over the Sheridan Lady Broncs at East High School in Cheyenne.

Laramie did not get out to a good start, with Sheridan getting out to a 12-2 lead as they broke the Lady Plainsmen pressure with their 1-2-2 three-quarter court trap. With 3:04 left in the first quarter LHS began to dig themselves out of the 10-point hole. Sheridan would not score for 14 1/2 minutes while Laramie went on a 23-0 run that went into the third quarter. The Lady Broncs were able to cut the Lady Plainsmen lead down to six point a couple of times in the second half, but Laramie always seemed to have an answer, eventually winning 42-33.

LHS was led by Regan Wilson with 11 points, Kuhn with 10, and Madison Legerski with 10 points and 9 boards. Sheridan was led by freshman Taylor Townsend with 11 points while their leading scorer, Hailey Ligocki, added 7 points before fouling out with 2:18 left in the game. The Lady Plainsmen committed 17 turnovers, but forced 19 from the Lady Broncs.

Now it's on to the title game, with a chance to start on the opposite side of the state bracket as undefeated Natrona on the line. While Laramie has lost to Gillette in both of their prior meetings this year, the Lady Plainsmen were shorthanded each time. In the first loss, Wilson was out with a sprained ankle and in the second loss Legerski rolled her ankle early in the third quarter and sat out the rest of the game. This time the Lady Plainsmen have everyone ready to go.

The game is set to tip around 1 p.m. at Cheyenne East High School. David Settle and Verdon Hoopes will begin their coverage at 12:15 p.m. on KOWB.