Richard Anderson photo
Laramie's Mason Orcutt looks to drive the lane against Sheridan Saturday at Plainsman Gym.
By Richard Anderson
Wyoming Sports.org
Trailing by 10 at halftime, it appeared as if the five Laramie High school seniors were going to close their home careers with another disappointing night.
A big third quarter gave them some life and a strong finish rewarded them some hope, as the Plainsmen rallied to down Sheridan 46-40 Saturday at Plainsman Gym.
It was the final home game for five Plainsmen seniors and after a tough second quarter, it appeared that it would be another disappointing night.
The Plainsmen, 2-5 in the 4A East Conference, 6-12 overall, stayed in the locker room at halftime for about as long as possible, and came out with a new focus.
“We just talked about that it was the last time in front of our home fans and how we wanted to be remembered, and we didn’t want to be remembered as a losing team; we wanted to go out with a win,” Laramie senior guard Dan Nachtigal said. “We just had to try to pump each other up, try to play for our fans and for ourselves, to see what we are made of.”
Laramie head coach Jason Mountain told the team at halftime that they needed to play hard for a reason.
“Despite any discrepancies they have with the program or with myself, they needed to play for something, and I didn’t feel that they were playing for much of anything in that first half, let alone the last couple of games,” Mountain said. “It must have lit a fire under them in the second half, because they came out intense and aggressive.”
With seniors Mason Orcutt (six points) and Jordan Rhodine (eight points) taking control in the paint in the third quarter, the Plainsmen made a big run and chipped away, cutting the lead to 31-30 going into the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer by junior Cameron Fry to open the fourth quarter gave the Plainsmen their first lead since 1-0. Laramie never trailed again, although the game wasn’t decided until the final seconds.
Leading 41-40, Orcutt hit 3-of-4 free throws and Nachtigal hit 2-of-2 from the line to close the game. Orcutt had a big block in the final seconds to preserve a four-point lead.
The four Laramie seniors who played in the game (Karsten Hiser was injured), scored 24 of the team’s 32 points in the second half. Playing the final home games of their LHS careers were Nachtigal, Orcutt, Rhodine and Allen West.
“I thought that was going to be motivation enough in itself, the fact that it was Senior Night,” Mountain said. “I played all of my seniors a lot of minutes and I started all the seniors that I had with the exception of Karsten, who, of course, was hurt. They played very, very well and they led the charge in the third quarter when we needed to the most.”
Orcutt led the Plainsmen with 13 points, with Fry and Rhodine adding 11 and nine respectively.
Austin Woodward led the Broncs, 2-5, 8-10, with 15 points.
It not only was the home finale, but it was a much-needed win for the Plainsmen, who were thumped 84-43 by second-ranked Gillette on Friday night.
“After such a tough loss to Gillette (Friday night), I’m glad we rebounded back. Collectively, we played very, very well,” Mountain said.
What the win does for the team, Mountain added, is it lets them know exactly where they need to go.
“I hope we continue to stay on that path and we continue to push forward,” Mountain said. “We need more wins under our belt for conference, we’re still in contention for a good seeding. We’re just hoping to stay optimistic now and we’ll focus on the Cheyenne schools.”
The Plainsmen play at Cheyenne Central Friday night and Cheyenne East on Saturday.
“It’s going to be a dogfight for that two, three, four, five seed, it really is,” Mountain said. “We know who we want to play at regionals, we know who we don’t want to play. It’s just about jockeying for position and trying to get the best seed possible.”
Added Nachtigal: “Gillette is up there, but the rest of the teams are pretty even. If we keep winning, we’ll get a good seed at (regionals).”
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