A Little Laramie High School Gym Magic

The magic was in the air Thursday night. Laramie’s basketball teams went out with a bang in the final games at the LHS gym.

The Laramie Plainsmen upset the top-ranked Cheyenne Central Indians, and the Lady Plainsmen won a double overtime thriller over Central. For a facility that’s been in use since the fall on 1961, the two squads closed it out in style.

Laramie Plainsmen

A 17-3 run in the third quarter spurred Laramie onto a 66-58 victory over Central. The win snapped a seven-game losing streak for LHS.

Jake Aadland scored a game-high 20 points, 18 in the second half, to lead three Plainsmen in double figures. Nate Burman tied his career-high of 19 points, while Andrew Garcia added ten, all in the second half.

Laramie (7-13, 2-7) built a 20-10 lead early in the second quarter. Central closed the first half with a 19-5 run and took a 29-25 lead at the break. After the Indians scored the first basket of the second half, the Plainsmen responded behind Aadland and Garcia. They combined for 14 of the 17 points in the frame. Laramie wasn’t heavily threatened the rest of the game.

Head coach Ryan Puckett said,

"I saw a team that's going to go out there and fight, and see what's going to happen. A seven-game losing streak, we could've easily rolled over, but as a team, we came together, and we fought. The end result was great."

The Plainsmen shot 53 percent from the field, which included 56 percent in the second half.

Cheyenne Central (15-5, 7-2) was led by Dontel Ybarra and Jessen Reckling with 17 points apiece. The Indians shot 46 percent, but only 24 from beyond the arc.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

Career-highs of 12 points and six rebounds from Sekoya Romero propelled the Lady Plainsmen to a 59-56 victory over Central in double overtime.

Laramie trailed by ten in the fourth quarter, but rallied with a 15-2 run. That put them in front 45-42. Central forced OT when Claire Swanson made a left corner 3-pointer over two defenders right before the buzzer.

Romero made a key steal and lay-up that forced the second overtime. She also made the go-ahead lay-up with 2:55 left in the second OT that LHS up 55-54. Three free throws from Eliza Dickinson and one from Kade Setright closed the game out.

Romero said of the fourth quarter comeback,

"We drove; we made a ton of free throws; we made a lot of lay-ups; and that brought us back into the game."

Laramie (9-11, 2-7) shot only 35 percent from the field. They did go 21-of-38, 55 percent, at the foul line and forced 24 Indians turnovers.

"I can't say enough of how proud we are of how they played, and how different people turned it on," said Lady Plainsmen head coach Laura Pollard.

Cheyenne Central (9-9, 1-8) was led by Swanson, who scored a career-high 27 points. They shot 38 percent from the field, but got to the line only 10 times, and made just four.

Next Game

Both Laramie teams will conclude the regular season Friday night at Cheyenne East against the Thunderbirds. East won the first meetings with the Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen. The girl’s game is at 6 p.m. followed by the boy’s at 7:30 p.m. at East High School.

KOWB (AM 1290) will provide coverage of the doubleheader. David Settle and VerDon Hoopes will have the broadcast call starting at 5 p.m.