6 1 The Lovell Chronicle I February 21, 2019
BY DAVID PECK
They called them the
Gold Dust Twins, and they
were two of the top bas-
ketball players in the state
of Wyoming in the early
1960s.
No one can remember
how Lane Brown and Mike
Kidgell were given that
moniker, and even they
don't know exactly what
it means, but it was their
of Verda and Windy Croft.
Verda was the head nurse
at North Big Horn Hos-
pital, and Win was a lab
technician.
Like Brown, Kidgell
said he loved playing all
sports but especially bas-
ketball and baseball.
"We were playing all the
time (growing up), playing
basketball outside or base-
ball," he said. "We actual-
outstanding play at state ly had a basketball court
tournaments in 1962 and at the house - with lights.
'63 that raised eyebrowsI would shoot and shoot
among state hoops coach-
es and fans as the Lovell
Bulldogs forged a two-year
record of success that put
them among the very best -
at all levels of competition.
Longtime teammates
and friends, Brown and
Kidgell will be inducted
into the Lovell Athletic Hall
of Fame Friday night during
the final home games of the
year with Powell. Both are
graduates of the LHS Class
of 1963.
Brown is the son of
LHS Hall-of-famer Brown-
ie Brown, and Mac Brown.
He grew up on the fami-
ly farm, Rimrock Ranch,
about 2V2 miles south of
Lovell, where the family ran
Brown's Dairy.
Father Brownie was
quite an athlete himself,
and shoot, and play pickup
games. That's pretty much
what we did. There wasn't a
whole lot to do in Lovell in
the late '50s."
Like Brown, Kidgell was
a top baseball player, bat-
ring fourth, playing left
field and pitching.
"I threw fast (as a pitch-
er)," he said. "There wasn't
much break to it. I just
wound up and let it fly. It's
a toss-up between baseball
and basketball (as a favorite
sport). I loved both of them
and was good in both."
He also played foot-
ball as a wide receiver and
went out for track "because
Gerke required it" and ran
the high and low hurdles.
BASKETBALL SUCCESS
Lovell Bulldog bas-
ketball had been good for
even after his high school years and once again rose
days, so Lane grew up to prominence during the
watching Brownie and old-
er brother Jay compete.
And he was always outside
playing.
"Dad put up a basket
by the house," he said. "We
shot baskets all the time.
We didn't do computers or
whatever. We were outside
playing basketball in differ-
ent neighborhoods. And we
played a lot of baseball."
Asked his favorite sport,
Brown replied, "Whatev-
er season it was," and add-
ed, "I was probably better
Brown and Kidgell years,
becoming one of the top
teams in Wyoming at all
levels. In fact, from 1955
through 1962, Lovell was
in Class A with the likes of
Casper, Cheyenne, Rock
Springs and Laramie - and
competed well.
As a sophomore 1961,
Brown played for the strong
Lovell team that placed
fourth at the Big Horn Ba-
sin tournament in Wor-
land, then fell to Cheyenne
in the first round at State
at baseballthan basketball." but came back to win three
,4' He said he joined the Airier- straight, downing :Casper,
icaii Legion baseball squad Wheatland and RawllnS to
when he was 14 as a short- capture the state consola-
stop and loved playing for
"Doc Burrell" (Clark Burrell,
an optometrist) - his coach.
He recalled that when the
team advanced to the Le-
gion state baseball champi-
onship game in Wheatland
in the summer of '63, when
he and Kidgell were 18, Dr.
Burrell left a note on his of-
fice door that said "Back in
two days," but it became
four days because the team
kept winning.
Brown played quarter-
back and safety for coach-
es Cliff Revelle and Dean
Gerke on the Bulldog foot-
ball team and lettered
three years, adding, "We
weren't very good." And in
track and field he compet-
ed in the high jump, low
hurdles and 100-yard dash.
MIKE KIDGELL
Kidgell was also a
multi-sport athlete, the son
tion title and finish with an
18-6 record.
One story Brown re-
calls during the tourna-
ment was when Dick Ste-
vens took a jump shot from
the corner that hit the rim
and shattered the back-
board, spraying Gerry
Christiansen with glass un-
der the basket. The game
had to be continued at an-
other gym.
In 1962, Brown was a
5-9 point guard and Kidgell
a 6-1 wing as junior start-
ers. Both players starred
for a relatively young Lovell
team that started the sea-
son 0-4 but with Janu-
ary wins over Riverton and
Lander took over first place
in the Big Horn Basin Con-
ference standings. After
stumbling a bit in midsea-
son, the team beat Cody,
Powell and Worland to tie
FILE PHOTO
David vs. Goliath affair.
Cheyenne prevailed 70-
69, but not without a fight
from the Bulldogs, who
amazed fans at War Memo-
rial Fieldhouse with their
prowess on the court (see
related story).
The Gold Dust Twins
combined for 91 points
in two games: Kidgell
47, Brown 44. Both were
named all-state following
the game.
SENIOR YEAR
Wyoming split the up-
per classification into Class
AA and Class A the follow-
ing season, 1962-63, and
Lovell won the 1963 Class A
state title, while Cheyenne
won the Class AA crown,
the team's third consecu-
tive title.
The Bulldogs lost their
first three games of the
season to Laurel, Billings
West and Billings Senior,
beat Basin and fell to Sher-
idan. They beat Worland to
improve to 2-3 heading into
the Christmas break. After
beating Thermopolis and
falling to Greybull at home,
the Bulldogs fell to River-
ton and Lander in Fremont
County to fall to 3-6.
Then the team caught
fire, sweeping Powell
career high 35 points but
sprained his ankle during
the game.
It was determined that
Brown couldn't go in the
semifinal round, so Kid-
gell moved to guard and
Dave Gilstrap started at
forward. Lovell led 25-24
at halftime, and Star Valley
went inside to 6-4 Robert
McKim and 6-2 Mel Olsen,
who scored 8 and 10 points
respectively as the Braves
outscored the Bulldogs 23-
16 to lead 47-41 after three.
Kidgell took over the
game in the fourth quar-
ter, hitting four baskets
and five free throws in the
final quarter as his buddy,
Brown, shouted encour-
agement from the side-
lines. He also led the de-
fense, according to the
Chronicle, which report-
ed: "Kidgell barked out his
commands to the Bulldogs
as they fell back into one
of their tightest defensive
games, holding the Braves
to only six points in the fi-
nal eight minutes."
And when big Ralph
Cockrell fouled out, Gil-
strap and Wayne Johnson
went to work against the
Star Valley big men and
Dale Fowler came in and hit
and Cody the next week- two key free throws down
end, then crushed Ba- the stretch while also play-
sin 64-39 and swept Ther- ing well in Lovell's pressure
mop and Greybull the next defense. Lovell outscored
two weekends as the teamStar Valley 16-6 to win 57-
caught fire and improved53. Kidgell finished with
to 8-6. Brown scored 25
and Kidgell 19 in the 69-49
revenge victory over the
Buffs in Greybull.
As the district tourna-
ment neared, Lovell beat
Lander 49-28 but fell to Riv-
erton 55-54, keeping the
Bulldogs in a tie with Grey-
bull for second place in the
30 points, Brent Burnham
9, Cockrell and Johnson 7
each.
Lovell met Greybull
for the fourth time in the
championship game and
won a nail-biter 52-49, the
Buffs having eliminated
Evanston in the semifinals.
The game was a strug-
Big Horn Basin standings gle early for the Bulldogs,
at 9-4 behind only 12-1 Riv- who trailed 13-7 after the
erton. Lovell moved into first quarter and by 12 in
sole possession of second the second before trailing
place at 11-4 after beat- 27.18 at halftime. ,
ing Cody and Powell, then : ' Gerke went berserk (fn
beat Worland 70-47 to fin- the locker room)," Kidgell
ish the regular season 12-7,
12-4 in the conference tied
Although kr/own as a long-range shooter, Lane Brown with Greybull behind 15-1
could also get to the rim with his quickness, as shown Riverton:
in this 1963 photo of him driving for a layup against the The Big Horn Basin
Cody Broncs in a 73-57 Lovell win. Conference Class A tour-
with Riverton and Cody for
the conference title at 11-5.
The Big Horn Basin
Tournament was played
in Thermopolis, and af-
ter going in as the second
seedbased on a tie'-break-
ing draw, the Bulldogs beat
Greybull and Basin to reach
the championship game,
then fell to Lander to place
the Class A State Tourna-
ment in Laramie, then in
the quarterfinals faced the
Cheyenne Central Indians,
who were riding a 34-game
winning streak. Oddly, the
loser of the game would be
eliminated from further
state tournament compe-
tition, under rules at the
time.
The second-round con-
test was considered to be
one of the best games in
Wyoming State Tourna-
ment history as Lovell went
toe to toe with a Cheyenne
team that was not only
much larger in school en-
rollment but also in height
on the court. It was a true
nament was again in Ther-
mopolis, and Lovell swept
two games to win the ti-
tle, beating host Thermop
67-58 and Greybull 70-63
to win the four-team tour-
nament. Kidgell scored 20
in the title game, Brown 13,
hitting seven of seven free
throws. Kidgell hit eight of
nine.
The larger schools
played in a Class AA Big
Horn Basin Conference
tourney.
Advancing to State, the
14-7 Bulldogs battled their
way to the state champion-
ship. The Bulldogs dumped
favored University Prep 82-
79 in overtime in the first
round as Brown fired in a
recalled. "He said there's
no way I'm accepting a sec-
ond-place trophy. You can
bring it back yourselves."
The team fired up, and
it was Cockrell's turn to
shine. The big Lovell cen-
ter scored five baskets in
the third quarter as Lovell
outscored Greybull 23-11
to lead 41-38 with eight
minutes to play, then
matched Greybull in the
fourth to win.
"Ralph really came
through in that one," Kid-
gell noted.
The Bulldogs pre-
vailed. As the Chronicle
put it: "Twice during the
final frame Greybull drew
even with the Bulldogs and
threatened to regain the
lead. Each time the Gerke
men managed to pull away
with only slight relief to any
weak hearts that were in
attendance."
second. Kidgell scored 53
points in the three games,
Brown 37. Foul trouble
hampered the Bulldogs in
the title game as Brown,
Kidgell and Sam Christian-
sen fouled out late in the
game in a 65-57 loss.
Lovell beat Torrington
70-53 in the first round of
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