LINGLE- The Lingle-Fort Laramie boys basketball team used a 24-point fourth quarter to run past the Pine Bluffs Hornets 64-45 Saturday on Senior night in Lingle. 

The win capped off a perfect 13-0 season on their home floor and came one night after knocking off Burns 60-31 on the road. Lingle-Fort Laramie ended the regular season 18-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play. 

With the two victories, the Doggers secured the top seed heading into the 2A East Regional tournament this weekend and will square off against the north’s No. 4 seed Sundance at 8:30 p.m. Thursday in Burns. 

“With some help Friday night from Pine Bluffs victory over Lusk and our win over Burns Friday, we had the opportunity to play to be the regular season 2A Southeast Champion Saturday versus Pine Bluffs,” coach Chris Cook said. “We had earned the tie breakers earlier in the season by beating more common opponents, so we knew it was going to be a great opportunity for us.”

On Saturday, Pine Bluffs hung tough with the Doggers throughout the first half. Junior Brody Roberts’ steal and layup with 4:04 left in the first quarter gave the Doggers a 9-5 lead, but Pine Bluffs answered right back with a Tristin Buckendorf three-pointer 18 seconds later. Brady Cook’s bucket with 1:22 left in the first capped the scoring for both teams and the Doggers grabbed a 14-11 lead at the end of the quarter.

“The guys were ready for the challenge against a good Pine Bluffs team,” coach Cook said. “We scored on our first possession with a great shot from Ned Nelson after a nice pass from Skyler Thomas. Skyler (Thomas) and Anthony Arnusch drew the assignments of guarding their two good guards most of the game. They did a fantastic job of disrupting what they are really good at.” 

The Hornets opened the second period with a 6-2 run to grab a 17-16 lead with 3:15 left in the first half, but Cooper Smith’s hoop with 2:49 on the clock gave the Doggers an 18-17 lead, a lead they would not relinquish the remainder of the afternoon.

Junior Ned Nelson’s three-pointer with 15 seconds left in the first half gave Lingle-Fort Laramie a 23-19 lead at intermission. 

Midway through the third, a Justin Lerwick hoop cut the Doggers’ lead to 30-28, but the Doggers responded. Back-to-back buckets from Cook, followed by a hoop from Roberts pushed the Lingle-Fort Laramie lead to 10, at 36-26 with 2:35 left in the third. 

The Doggers maintained that 10-point advantage until four straight points from the Hornets capped off the period with the Doggers leading 40-34. 

Cook scored the Doggers’ first eight points of the fourth quarter and a bucket from sophomore Anthony Arnusch, who finished with 15 points, pushed the LFL lead to 50-39 with 4:48 remaining, and they never looked back. 

“It was a great team effort to bring home the victory and defend the Dogger Dome one final time,” coach Cook said. “It has been a great regular season and we would sure like to thank all of the fans that took the time to come watch our guys play. Playing in front of a full house in Lingle brings extra energy to our guys that they really feed off.”

Cook paced the Doggers offensively, going 12-of-13 from the field for a game-high 32 points. The sophomore also went 8-of-9 at the free throw line. Cook added 12 rebounds and four blocked shots as well. Arnusch went 4-of-9 from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line for his 15 points. The sophomore added five assists and two rebounds for LFL. Roberts contributed eight points, eight rebounds and five assists, while Nelson had five points and four boards for the Doggers. 

On Friday, the Doggers sprinted out to a 17-8 lead at the end of the first and continued to apply the pressure to the Broncs in the second, with a 16-7 advantage. LFL outscored Burns 12-6 in the third and 15-10 in the final eight minutes to secure the victory. 

“The guys did a nice job Friday night at Burns,” coach Cook said. “Road wins are hard to come by, especially conference ones and quite honestly, we haven’t played our best away from home. Our guys were focused and ready for a Burns team that has been playing much better and is improving as the season goes. Our guys played some great defense. We got off to a good start and pushed the lead from there.”

Roberts led the Doggers with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added eight rebounds and added three assists, while Cook had 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks. Junior Elijah Hatch chipped in 11 points and eight rebounds, and Nelson added seven points and five steals. Arnusch finished with five points, five assists and four rebounds and junior Skyler Thomas had four points, six rebounds and four assists.