Laramie is Set to Play the Two Gillette Schools

After having last Saturday canceled and more snow and travel concerns, Laramie is hoping to face the Gillette schools on the basketball this weekend.

Laramie is set to host the Campbell County Camels on Friday night with the girls’ game at 6 p.m. and the boys’ at 7:30 p.m. Then on Saturday, the Thunder Basin Bolts are scheduled to visit for games at 1 and 2:30 p.m.

The games last Saturday against Rock Springs were canceled for the second time this season due to road conditions and closures. Those will not be rescheduled. This weekend in the first crossover quadrant action, where LHS faces teams they will see at the regional tournament next month in Gillette.

Laramie Plainsmen

The Plainsmen snapped their five-game skid with a 69-49 victory last Friday night over Cheyenne South. They are 8-5 on the season. They will host the Camels (6-8) and the fourth-ranked Bolts (12-3) this weekend.

Coming off the win last week, head coach Jim Shaffer has noticed something different with his team.

“We came back with some belief in what we’re trying to do. We’ve had a really good week of practice. Last week was good and we get a great win out of it, so I think that reinforced a lot of things we’re trying to do.”

He says it will be different playing the two Gillette schools because they play differently than anyone else does.

“Both teams shoot a ton more 3’s than they do 2’s, especially Thunder Basin. The discrepancy between 3’s to 2’s, it’s almost unbelievable when you look at it, and it’s really similar for the Camels. They shoot the three and everybody on the floor will, so we’ve got to be there on the catch and make them shoot the basketball off the dribble. They present some unique challenges in terms of how they play.”

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

The Laramie girls have dropped three straight games. LHS fell 41-30 to Cheyenne South last week. They are 3-10 on the season. The Lady Plainsmen will host Campbell County (4-10) and defending 4A champion and third-ranked Thunder Basin (10-5) today and tomorrow.

Head coach Rod Tyson will finally return after serving his two-game suspension for being ejected from the Cheyenne East game on Jan. 22 for two technical. He knows these two games aren’t quite as crucial as a conference game but will prepare his squad for what to expect in about a month.

“It will definitely be one of these schools (we match up with at regionals), I would imagine, or maybe Natrona, as they are playing pretty well. We’re going to have to be ready to play, that’s just how it is. We’ll learn from these games. We’ve been watching film, working hard on beating the press, now we just have to take it into the game.”

Tyson says these two play very similarly.

“They put a lot of pressure on you. Campbell County does some of the same things they’re known for. Thunder Basin does a few different things. They have different kinds of presses, so they go in and out of different ones, as opposed to one that Campbell County does. It’s still going to be a lot of pressure, and we’re going to have to play the whole game and keep our turnovers down.”

Broadcast Coverage

KOWB (AM 1290) will have Friday’s games versus Campbell County. David Settle will call the action starting at 5:30 p.m. You can also listen online or through the KOWB app.

Saturday is a “streaming only” broadcast through a different platform from KOWB. There is no radio or KOWB app. The only way to listen is via www.network1sports.com/station/kowbnet.

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