Nate Burman made a floater in the paint as time expired, and that gave the Laramie Plainsmen a 66-65 victory over the Gillette Camels Friday night.

Burman said it felt really good; really, really good. He described what he saw unfold on the play.

“Since we had a little bit of an overload on that right side (of the floor), I just wanted to get left. I started out right, just crossed-over, get to the left, and just got the ball up there. It’s all I can do.”

Plainsmen head coach Travis Brown said I think our kids just responded really well.

“I feel like we’re a team that’s gone through a lot of adversity, so we’re built for some things like this at the end of games. When you got some special players out there, Chad, he’s been in attack mode the last few weeks. It’s been fun to watch. Getting Nate healthy, obviously, makes your team a lot better.”

Burman finished with 15 points and 11 rebounds, while Chad Browning scored a career-high 24 points, as the Plainsmen won their third straight conference game.

Laramie (10-11, 4-5) gave up the lead when the Camels Trey Hladky knocked down an open three that gave Gillette a 65-64 lead with just under 10 seconds left.

The Plainsmen called timeout to set up a play, but the Camels countered with their own timeout. LHS changed its play, and Burman hit the basket that gave Laramie the victory.

Brown added, “Credit to them (our kids) though. Five seconds left we could’ve cried about it. We came back to the bench, we drew a play up. They called a timeout. We drew a counter play after the timeout. First option was Chad off the wheel from the screen from Nate, and I said hey Nate, you’re gonna be the guy open in the back court, and we’re gonna put the ball in your hands… if they just play it straight up, I don’t think there’s anyone who can guard you in this league.”

The game had nine lead changes and five ties. Six of those lead changes occurred in the third quarter. The last two came in the last 10 seconds.

Laramie shot 49 percent for the game. They knocked down eight three’s and had a 34-30 edge on the glass.

Gillette (12-8, 5-4) dropped its third straight league game. The Camels shot 40 percent from the field, but went 7-of-30, 23 percent, from beyond the arc. Dawson Miessler led the way with 21 points. Hladky was held to 15, and his only three of the game was the one with less than 10 seconds remaining. He finished 1-12 from deep.

The Plainsmen will host No. 2 Sheridan at 1 p.m. Saturday in their next game.

Laramie Lady Plainsmen

The top-ranked Gillette Lady Camels proved too much for Laramie to handle again, as they dominated LHS 76-32 Friday night in the Gem City.

Gillette (16-5, 9-0) jumped to an 18-7 lead in the first quarter and never trailed. The lead steadily grew throughout the game with the biggest margin being the final score. The Camels held the Lady Plainsmen to single digit points over the first three quarters. They also forced 37 turnovers by LHS.

LHS head coach Laura Pollard I thought we’d do a better job against their pressure.

“We had a combination of people not getting set in the press breaker, and just kind of all that young people jitters.”

Pollard also admitted that players being under the weather didn’t help either.

Maddie Hieb scored a game-high 17 points, and all 11 Gillette players scored in the contest. The Camels shot 48 percent for the game.

Laramie (8-13, 3-6) was held to 30 percent from the field. Jennifer Aadland led the way with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Gillette has won every 4A East Conference game by at least 31 points.

The Lady Plainsmen will try to bounce back Saturday against Sheridan. Game time is at 11:30 a.m.

Broadcast Coverage

KOWB (AM 1290) will provide live coverage of Saturday’s doubleheader. Coverage will begin at 10:40 a.m. with David Settle and VerDon Hoopes on the call. You can also listen on KOWB’s live stream or take the game mobile with the KOWB app.

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