The Lafayette Lancers and the Marquette Mustangs have been rivals since Marquette started to play varsity sports in the 90’s. That rivalry has hit a high point this year in the district playoffs when they played each other in the girls district semifinals. Lafayette was the second seed and Marquette was the third seed in the bracket.
The girls varsity team played Wednesday, February 23 against Lafayette at Lafayette. They did not fare well, losing 67-47 to their rivals.
“We turned the ball over too much. We can’t turn the ball over against a good team like Lafayette,” Tim Bowdern, girls basketball assistant coach, said.
Bowdern said anyone could have won of the top three seeds: Eureka, Lafayette, and Marquette. Marquette placed 4th in their conference behind those two conference foes as well as Lindbergh this season.
“I think we will have a strong team the next couple of years,” Elisabeth Myers, sophomore, said.
Myers said there is a lot of young talent coming through the program, and that is going to help them in the years to come. She also mentioned how close and competitive she thought the conference was this year.
“This year we had a lot of young kids get experience on varsity under the seniors this year, and that is a good thing because now they have a chance to be some of the best in the league,” Bowdern said.
Boys basketball played Lafayette last night and won 50-46 in the semifinals. They will play tonight in championship game against Parkway South at Lafayette at 7 p.m.