The Lady Plainsmen won by blowout, while the Plainsmen blew a big lead, in Laramie’s split at Cheyenne South in high school basketball last Friday night.

The Laramie girl’s dominated the second and third quarters in route to a 60-34 victory over South, as LHS completed the regular season sweep against the Bison.

The Laramie boy’s lost on a free throw with 2.4 seconds left. The final was 59-58 in favor of the No. 5 ranked Bison, who completed a big comeback for the victory.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

Lexi Pulley scored 15 points to lead three Lady Plainsmen in double figures for the 26-point win.

LHS head coach Laura Pollard said they talked about a stronger start before the game.

“We gotta come out of the chute better. We haven’t done that since Gothenburg in Nebraska, so yeah, they did it.”

Laramie (13-4, 4-2) led by only eight after the first quarter. They broke it open with a 16-5 second quarter and were ahead 29-10 by halftime. South cut the Lady Plainsmen 15 on two occasions in the third quarter. Laramie responded with a 14-1 run for a 50-21 lead. That was the biggest margin of the game. Both teams scored 10 points in the fourth quarter.

Pollard also said they got past their third quarter blues. In reference to a timeout she took in the third quarter, Pollard was using it to get her squad going again.

“I said I’m not going to say it, and they said, yeah, third quarter. That was it; they knew what they needed to do.”

Jennifer Aadland contributed 12 points and nine rebounds, while Kade Setright added 10 points. Laramie shot 40 percent from the field and went 21-30, 70 percent, at the foul line.  They also had a 47-41 edge on the glass.

Cheyenne South (2-15, 0-6) shot only 21 percent for the game. They went 12-33, 36 percent, on free throws. Gabby Turano led the Bison with 11 points before she fouled out midway through the fourth quarter.

Laramie Plainsmen

The Plainsmen looked like they were on their way to a sweep of the South Bison midway through the third quarter. Laramie held an 18-point lead, at 43-25, but blew that and lost by one.

LHS head coach Travis Brown reflected on the difficult loss.

“We competed for three quarters, or two and three-quarters of a quarter. You’ve gotta compete for four to win it. Unfortunately, we just gotta keep learning how to finish games out.”

After a pair of early lead changes and ties, LHS managed an 11-7 lead at the end of the first quarter. In the second, the Plainsmen got going behind Asa Williams and Frank Crum, who combined for 13 points, and Laramie out-scored South 22-15 in the period. That had LHS in front 33-22 at halftime.

The Plainsmen opened the second half on a 10-3 run and opened up their biggest lead, 43-25. The Bison answered with nine straight to close the quarter. That run for South eventually was an 18-0 surge, as the Bison tied the game at 49. LHS failed to score in the fourth until the 3:42 mark. The game was tied four more times.

Onyx Jackson made a lay-up for a 58-56 lead, but Laramie’s Nate Burman made a 12-foot runner in the paint that tied the game with 40 seconds left. South held for one shot, and Jackson was fouled with 2.4 seconds left. He missed the first, but made the second free throw for a 59-58 lead. After an in-bound violation by the Plainsmen, South got it back. Their in-bound pass was tipped and after a scramble for the ball ensued, and Laramie couldn’t grab it to get a shot off.

Cheyenne South (11-6, 3-3) was led by Jackson with 16 points. The Bison shot 42 percent from the field, but went only 17-of-39, 44 percent, at the free throw line.

Laramie (4-13, 1-5) shot just 37 percent in the game. They were led by Burman’s 21 points, while Crum added 15 points and 14 rebounds. The Plainsmen committed 11 turnovers in the fourth quarter and had 19 for the game.

Up Next

Laramie embarks on their longest road trip of the season next weekend. They head to Sheridan and Gillette for games against the Broncs on Friday night and the Camels on Saturday afternoon. Friday’s doubleheader is girls at 5:30 and boys at 7 p.m. Saturday is also a girls-boys doubleheader at 2 and 4 p.m.

Just a heads up for Laramie fans. Friday’s game will be on the radio, on-line and available through our radioPup app. Saturday from Gillette is a “streaming-only” broadcast that will air only through the stream from www.network1sports.com/station/kowbnetnet.

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