Richard Anderson photos
At top, Laramie's Ariela Schreibeis, 11, and Kylee Anderson, 20, run the ball up the court against Skyline. At bottom, Amber Vandiver takes the ball strong to the basket.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
The Laramie High School girls’ basketball team never rests. Halftime might be the toughest time for them … they have to sit still.
The Lady Plainsmen revved up their RPMs for 32 minutes in stopping Skyline (Longmont, Colo.) 68-41 Friday night in the Laramie Girls Basketball Invite at Plainsman Gym.
Laramie (3-2) started and finished strong in winning its home opener. The Lady Plainsmen will close the two-day invitational on Saturday when they host Niwot (Colo.) at 10:30 a.m. and Lander Valley at 2 p.m. Niwot thumped Lander 61-32 in the first game on Friday.
The Lady Plainsmen put pressure on the Falcons from start to finish, regardless of the score. Although mistakes can happen when they move a little too fast, they say it is the only way they know how to play.
“That’s our game plan this year,” Laramie junior guard Alyssa Schmidt said. “We try to get in their space and cause turnovers. When we’re flustered, they are even more flustered. We just try to keep up the pressure all game long and good things happen.”
Walking the ball up the court might get a player a seat next to first-year head coach Rod Tyson, who is not afraid to substitute. In fact, a few times in the game, Tyson used the old hockey line shift, putting in five players at a time.
“The way we play, we have to (substitute) because we are a really fast-tempo team,” Schmidt said. “Obviously, we run out of energy pretty fast.”
Tyson played 15 players on Friday night, including 10 in all four quarters.
“It helps because our bench is so deep,” he said. “We can keep putting pressure on … apply pressure, apply pressure. I have been working with them for quite a while now and they know what I want and they know how to rotate. We actually had some poor rotations, but they make up for that with their speed.”
The game appears to be just an extension of practice, regardless of the player’s age. Freshman Ragen Wilson was one of even freshmen or sophomores to play in the game.
“We practice very hard and we just go out to do our best and know not to quit,” Wilson said. “We go out with the mindset to win and hopefully that is how it turns out. But we never stop. We don’t like to quit.”
Wilson played in the third and fourth quarters and gave the Lady Plainsmen a lift after Laramie struggled in the final half of the second quarter. Wilson scored 13 points, either finishing a break or using her quickness to beat her opponent with the drive.
“I go out and do my best. I try to block everybody out and just go for the shot when it is open,” Wilson said.
While Tyson isn’t afraid to play his bench, it really doesn’t matter what time of the game he does it; if they can keep the energy going, they’ll be in there.
“I trust everyone on the team. There is a lot of things they can do,” he said. “As the year progresses, hopefully, they will get a little more confidence in themselves and it will show even more.”
Schmidt had the hot hand, especially early with a pair of 3-pointers. She led all scorers with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Along with Wilson’s 13 points, junior Kylee Anderson added 12. Ten of the 15 Lady Plainsmen who played got in the score column.
“I think everyone is meshing together really well,” Schmidt said. “A lot of younger girls, including the freshmen, are stepping up and that is always nice to see. Whenever we step up, it’s a fun game.”
Laramie broke a 6-6 tie in the first quarter with 10 unanswered points and led by as much as 22-9 midway through the second before hitting a cold spell. The Lady Plainsmen actually missed all nine free throws attempted in the second quarter, but still led by 10 at halftime.
If the pace was fast in the first half, it only picked up in the final two quarters. The aggressive Lady Plainsmen defense never let Skyline get back in the game and wore the Falcons out down the stretch. Laramie outscored Skyline 43-26 in the second half.
“We’re really proud of our game tonight. There were a few things that we could have done better, but that game is over with and we’ll just go out and play well tomorrow,” Wilson said.
On area of struggle for Laramie came at the free-throw line. The Lady Plainsmen were just 17-of-38
“We have to do a better job of boxing out and obviously still make our free throws,” Tyson said.
Even when mistakes are made, the Lady Plainsmen’s aggressiveness and quickness have the ability to overshadow those miscues.
“A couple of plays there, one of the girls would have a turnover but go back and steal it,” Tyson said. “In the stats, it is a turnover and a steal, which sort of balances it out. We’ll take it. I think both teams got a little sloppy there, but a win is a win.”
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