A tough road trip to Gillette was highlighted by the Laramie Plainsmen taking down No. 5 Campbell County, 67-62, on Saturday.

Laramie (8-2) rallied from a nine-point deficit in the second quarter. They regained the lead in the fourth quarter and made clutch free throws to snap their two-game skid.

Plainsmen head coach Jim Shaffer was very proud of his team for their road breakthrough.

“After the game I said, you’ve really got to enjoy this because it doesn’t happen very often here. I just thought we executed down the stretch and made free throws, and got to the rim. Everybody made really smart basketball plays to win a basketball game against a really good team.”

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Laramie scored 27 points in the fourth quarter. They were sparked by senior Camden Shipman. He scored a career-high 11 points, all in the final frame. Shipman knocked down a pair of triples, plus had a lay-up and three throws. Mahlon Morris scored 12 of his team-high 18 in the last period. Jayden Brown added 14 points, which included three from deep in the third quarter.

Shaffer added, “We got it back to seven at half, 31-24, and the second half, I just thought we played exceptionally well.”

The victory came on the heels of a blowout loss at No. 2 Thunder Basin the night before (Friday).

LHS started very slowly and lost 64-39. The Bolts made six of their first 10 from 3-point range and buried the Plainsmen early. It was 11-0 before Laramie scored their first point. The margin grew to 26 in the second quarter. The two were even in the second half.

Brown scored 12 and Morris added 10 in the loss.

The Plainsmen are back on the court on Tuesday for their first conference quadrant game. They play one of their three rescheduled games. LHS is at Cheyenne South. The boys’ varsity game starts at 6 p.m.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

The Laramie girls endured a tough return from their hiatus with a pair of losses, which extended their losing skid to three.

Last Friday night, Laramie played a terrific first half against No. 1 Thunder Basin, but the game got away from them in the second half. They lost 72-46. Saturday, LHS struggled from the start in a blowout defeat at the hands of Campbell County, 65-32.

The Lady Plainsmen went right at the Bolts in the first half. An 8-0 run at the end of the first and start of the second put Laramie in front 17-14. They pushed their lead to 26-20 before the game was tied at 29-29 at halftime.

Head coach Nick Darling said, “They came out and executed the way I assumed they were going to in the first half, and then the second half decided to show up, and we got color blind and decided to give them the ball a bunch.”

The second half was all Thunder Basin, as the Bolts outscored LHS 43-17.

Kayla Vasquez led three players in double figures for the Lady Plainsmen with 12 points, three rebounds, and several blocked shots.

Laramie (5-5) was buried early by the Camels, who started the game on a 17-1 run.

Darling said, “We lost a little composure, for sure, at the beginning. There were some open shots, and we’re used to seeing those go in early, and it just wasn’t there.”

LHS trailed 33-6 and went on a 10-0 run to cut the deficit to 33-16. Campbell County responded with an 11-1 run to end the first half and led 44-17 at the break. The 40-point running clock rule came into play late in the third quarter, when the Camels made it 63-23.

Kylin Shipman led the Lady Plainsmen with nine points off the bench.

LHS has a quick turnaround and opens conference quadrant play at Cheyenne South on Tuesday. The girls’ varsity game time is at 7:30 p.m.

Darling added, “They’ve got some size, and they’re athletic. They’ve got some guards that are athletic and quick. Besides that, we have to play as a team. I think that was where we went wrong yesterday and today (Friday and Saturday). We didn’t play as a team for six quarters now. That’s a big problem, and we’re going to fix that.”

KOWB will broadcast both games live on Tuesday. The broadcast will start at 5:30 p.m. with David Settle calling the action. You can listen on the radio (AM 1290), on the KOWB app, online, and through smart speakers.

 

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