Laramie Lady Plainsmen go 2-1 at Flaming Gorge Classic

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen finished up play in the 17th annual Flaming Gorge Classic Invitational Basketball Tournament with a win over a tough team from American Fork High School to go 2-1 over the the weekend.

Laramie began the tournament with a 62-41 win over the Rich County Lady Rebels on Thursday night. The Lady Plainsmen trailed 24-26 at halftime, with Rich County's Courtney Lamborn putting up 16 points in the first half. But Laramie would not allow Lamborn to score a single point in the second half of play as they took the lead in third quarter and then rattled off 24 points in the fourth quarter on their way to the win. LHS forced 31 turnovers from the Lady Rebels while only committing 12 against the Utah team. Ali Beckler had 15 points in the effort, Ragen Wilson put up 13 points and Kyleigh Hiser had 12 points. Katie Kuhn and Madison Legerski both scored 9 points, with Legerski also pulling down 6 rebounds.

Friday morning would see the Lady Plainsmen suffer their second loss of the season as they shot just 36 percent (8-22) from the free throw line and got out-rebounded by Star Valley 32-20 in the 44-47 loss. Two starters found themselves in foul trouble as Madison Legerski sat out the third quarter with three fouls and Katie Kuhn sat out some minutes after picking up her fourth foul early in the fourth quarter. There were 7 ties and 6 lead changes in the back and forth game, but Laramie was unable to take the lead back from the Lady Brave once they took the lead with 3:30 left to play in the fourth quarter. Hiser led LHS with 17 points while Wilson had 9 points and 6 rebounds.

A big 46-39 win over the Lady Cavemen from American Fork High School in Utah would close out the tournament for Laramie. The Lady Plainsmen led for most of the game, which had just 1 lead change and 2 ties. LHS had as much as a 12 point lead in the third quarter at 31-19 before the Lady Cavemen began a big push to tie the game at 34 early in the fourth quarter. Ali Beckler would hit a 3 on Laramie's next possession and the Lady Plainsmen would clinch the win at free thrown line, shooting 67 percent (12-18) from the charity stripe. Beckler hit three 3's on her way to 14 points, she was followed by Hiser with 13 points and Wilson with 9 points.

The Lady Plainsmen (5-2) will participate in the LHS Alumni games on Friday, December 23 at Laramie High School. After Christmas break, they will return to action at the East-West Classic in Riverton on January 5-7.