Laramie Welcomes Central for Conference Doubleheader

Coming off last Friday’s split in Gillette, both Laramie High School basketball teams return to the home court tonight in a boys-girls doubleheader.

The Plainsmen are looking for a second straight conference win after they broke through last Friday against Thunder Basin, 62-59. They face No. 5 Cheyenne Central at 5:30 p.m.

The Lady Plainsmen are looking to bounce back after a tough loss to No. 1 Thunder Basin, 61-56. They take on Central at 7 p.m.

Laramie Plainsmen

Laramie (7-9, 1-3) seeks back-to-back wins for the first time in just over a month, as they host a Central team coming off an upset against No. 1 Sheridan in their last game last Saturday.

Plainsmen head coach Travis Brown knows his squad must stick together and stick to the game-plan to have success versus the Indians.

“They’re a very versatile team. They had a really good win against Sheridan. They’re not necessarily a “lights-out” shooting team, but they are definitely going to go to the hoop. They’re going to crash the boards hard. They do a nice 1-2-2 three-quarter court press. We’ve got to be ready. They’re disciplined, we’ve got to make sure we try to match that discipline.”

Brown also spoke about protecting home court, after Laramie lost their conference home debut last Thursday against South. He said it’s an advantage being at home with the crowd and energy and something they can’t take for granted.

Central (2-2, 7-8) has wins over the Broncs and Thunder Basin, but losses to No. 2 East and No. 4 Gillette in league play. The Indians beat Laramie three times last season, which included a win at the regional tournament against the Plainsmen.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

The Laramie girl’s (6-10, 1-3) will also face a Central squad that enters off a victory over Sheridan last Saturday.

Lady Plainsmen head coach Laura Pollard said she looked at that film quite a bit in preparation for tonight’s game.

“I think their (Central) two big girls, (Sammy) Geyer and (Bri) Roybal play well. Geyer does a good job of handling the press breaker; comes to the middle and handles the ball… they pass the ball around very well and try to get the best open shot.”

Pollard said they’ve worked on a new defense that the Indians haven’t been able to scout. She also said they need the win to get to regionals, so it’s a game they must protect home court in.

Central (8-8, 1-3) has their only victory against the Broncs. They have lost to No. 2 Gillette, No. 2 East and No. 1 Thunder Basin.

Laramie won two of the three meetings last season. The Indians lone victory came in the third place game at the regional tournament in Gillette.

Looking Ahead

Laramie will conclude the first half of 4A East Conference play with a game in Cheyenne against East on Friday night. The girls’ varsity contest is at 6 p.m. followed by the boys’ at 7:30 p.m.