After a three week break, the Laramie Plainsmen and Lady Plainsmen are back on the court Friday and Saturday.

Laramie takes part in the Cabela's Holiday Shootout in Sidney, Nebraska. This year's event has been shortened to only two days because of when the New Year's holiday fell. Thus, it's an eight team tournament, but divided into a pair of four team brackets.

LHS is in the "Hunters" bracket with three Nebraska schools, Central City, Gering and Hershey.

The other bracket is the "Anglers" and features the host Sidney, Chase County and Gothenburg, NE. The final team is Wheatland.

Laramie Plainsmen

The Laramie Plainsmen haven't played a game since a 1-2 start at the Strannigan East-West Challenge in Riverton December 11-13.

Plainsmen head coach Chuck Kern said that practice has gone better the last few weeks than what they had going into Riverton.

"The guys really felt like they knew what they wanted to work on. The intensity's been raised a lot... the kids are really working on the things we need to work on. It's been exciting. I think their ready to play some games."

Laramie will open play against the Central City Bison Friday at 7:15 p.m.

Kern adds, "It gives us an opportunity to play against different teams... I like going to Colorado and Nebraska... getting a different feel; we're gonna see different styles (of play), too." He also said all three of the teams in Laramie's bracket are really talented.

The Plainsmen beat Hershey, but lost to Gering in last year's tournament.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

The Laramie Lady Plainsmen struggled in their opening weekend of action, as they went 0-3 in Riverton.

Head coach Kyle Stucky said our focus has been on rebounding.

"We see that as being our biggest deficiency; unable to secure the ball defensively; just giving teams too many opportunities with second and third chance shots." He added that they've gone through every rebounding drill he could come up with; good news is kids are stepping up.

A year ago in Sidney, Laramie faced all three of the teams in their bracket this year. They defeated Hershey and Central City, but lost to Gering in overtime in the championship game.

Stucky also said, "I really enjoy this holiday tournament... it's a varsity only tournament; get to spend a lot of time with each other; kind of build those bonds. It is a tournament we had success in last year."

The Lady Plainsmen will also face Central City in their opening game at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

You will be able to listen to live coverage of all four games involving Laramie High School basketball this weekend on KOWB (AM 1290) and online by clicking here. David Settle and VerDon Hoopes will call the action from the middle school in Sidney, NE.

Friday's broadcast will start at 4:45 p.m. Saturday's game time and opponent is determined after Friday's games are final.

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