(Lyman, WY) – Lander basketball teams played their final regular season game against Lyman which saw multiple scheduling changes due to the winter storm that moved across the entire state of Wyoming. The Lady Tigers were locked into the fourth seed from the south heading into the contest but wanted to enter the regional tournament with momentum after winning their last two games. The boy’s game had a number one seed on the line with Lander’s line loss of the quad season entering the game against the Eagles.
The Lady Tigers would score until Hayden Googles nailed a buzzer-beater to trail 14-3 after one. The Lady Tigers had one of their highest-scoring quarter of the season notching in 21 points including 12 from Brena Lincoln which led the scoring for the Lady Tigers to make it a 33-24 lead for Lyman heading into the half. In the end, though Lyman scored 26 points in the second half and Lander was in foul trouble throughout the game and fell 59-43. With Lyman winning, they clinched a number two seed in the southwest. Lander was stuck at the fourth seed.
The Lander boys have been in many close games during the season and Friday proved to be no different. No lead was bigger than seven throughout the entire game and Lander had that lead. At the half, it was 28 all. Heading to the fourth, Lander had a 42-40 lead and was 8 minutes away from winning the 3A southwest quad. Lyman’s free throws and Lander’s foul trouble proved to be a factor with the Eagles scoring eight free throws in the fourth. Lyman outscored Lander 19-11 in the fourth quarter to win 59-53 and knock Lander down to the number two seed in the southwest. Caleb Bartoni scored 17 points to lead the Tigers.
With the regular season over, Lander will head back down to the Bridger Valley for the 3A West Regional Tournament. The Lady Tigers will take on Powell to kick off the tournament for the girls’ side at 9 a.m. The Lander boys will have the nightcap against Lovell at 8:30. County 10 will have coverage of the regional tournament live on KOVE 1330 A.M. 107.7 F.M. and streaming video on the NFHS Network. NFHS post-season coverage does require a subscription.