PINE BLUFFS – The Lingle-Fort Laramie boys’ basketball team fell to two 2A schools over the weekend, loosing to Burns Friday at home, 52-42, and Pine Bluffs on the road Saturday, 72-31.
“The good side is that we were able to suit up everyone this weekend,” Coach Steve Zimmerman said. “The bad side is we aren’t over the sickness bug so we haven’t really been able to practice as a team.”

Burns 52, LFL 42
The Doggers got off to a good start against Burns on Friday, holding an 11-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. By halftime, the Broncs had turned the tables, taking the lead, 19-18. Burns grew their lead to 11 points in the third quarter, but the Doggers clawed their way back to face a 36-30 deficit at the start of the final quarter of play.
The Broncs continued to chip away at the Doggers in the fourth. Two three-pointers in a row by LFL brought the score to 43-38, but two straight turnovers hindered the Doggers’ scoring chances. With two minutes remaining, the score was still 43-38 and Burns hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the win.
“We don’t have endurance right now and I felt that was a big problem in the Burns game,” Zimmerman said. “We got off to a good start. We were fresh and playing well but I think we lost that in the middle of the second quarter.”

Justice Madayag was the leading scorer for LFL, with 19 points. He hit 5-of-9 from deep and 2-of-4 from inside the arc. The senior also added three rebounds, two assists and a steal to his stat line.
Brandon Hill and Dallen Fleenor rounded out the leading scorers for the Doggers, with six and five points, respectively. The two combined for 4-of-10 shooting from inside the arc, but only 1-of-6 from three-point land. Fleenor led the Doggers in assists, with four, and hooked up with Hill for a total six boards, six assists and two steals.
Taylor Wagner and Ty Mueller combined for seven points on the night. Mueller was one of only three Doggers to nail a three-pointer on Friday. Garrett Cooper led LFL in rebounds, with 11. Seven of his boards came on the offensive end of the floor,
The Doggers shot better from behind the arc, than they did inside it. As a team, LFL shot 35 percent from deep and 28 percent from inside the three-point line.

Pine Bluffs 72, LFL 31
Cooper bounced back from his low-scoring output on Friday to lead the Doggers in both scoring and rebounding on Saturday. He amassed nine points and eight rebounds. Cooper also accounted for an assist and a team-high three steals.
Wagner and Fleenor were the only other Doggers with more than four points. Wagner shot 2-of-6 from the field but added three points from the charity stripe to rack up seven points. Fleenor hit the only three-pointer for the Doggers and had five points. The two combined for two rebounds, two assists and a steal.
The Doggers hit 1-of-5 from deep against the Hornets and upped their two-point shooting percentage to 35 percent.
“I saw some good things that we can really build on. We started looking like our old selves again,” Zimmerman said. “Pine Bluffs is one of those special teams that comes along once every 20 years. They’re a very good team but I thought we played well.”
LFL has a record of 9-4 after their two weekend losses. They played Morrill, Neb., at home on Tuesday after press deadline. Their next game comes against Southeast on Thursday at EWC. The boys tip off at 7:30 p.m.
“It’s an opportunity to get better and that’s how we are treating it with our players,” Zimmerman said of the marquee match up against their cross-county rivals.
The Doggers also hit the road on Friday to take on Lusk, with the game starting at 7 p.m.