Preview: East Thunderbirds vs. Laramie Plainsmen
East has enjoyed the comforts of home their last five games, but now they'll head out on the road. They will face off against the Laramie Plainsmen at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday. The matchup should be an exciting one, as these teams are ranked near one another in Wyoming (East is ranked third, while Laramie is ranked fourth).
On Saturday, East came up short against Scottsbluff and fell 63-51.
Meanwhile, Laramie had already won three in a row (a stretch where they outscored their opponents by an average of 19 points), and they went ahead and made it four on Friday. They walked away with a 72-65 victory over Rawlins. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Laramie relied on the efforts of Jaden Smith, who scored 16 points along with seven rebounds and six assists, and Neil Summers, who dropped a double-double on 26 points and 15 rebounds. Summers is on a roll when it comes to rebounds, as he's now pulled down eight or more in the last eight games he's played. Another player making a difference was Max Alexander, who scored 11 points.
East's loss ended a 12-game streak of wins at home dating back to last season and dropped them to 11-2. As for Laramie, their victory was their fourth straight on the road dating back to last season, which pushed their record up to 9-1.
East beat Laramie 68-59 when the teams last played back in March of 2023. One of the biggest obstacles trying to stand in the way of that victory was Laramie's Levi Brown, who scored 26 points along with five rebounds. Now that he won't be playing on Wednesday, will it be that much easier for East to walk away with another win? Check MaxPreps.com after the match to find out.
