The district they now play in has changed in recent years, but not the annual rivalry for first place in boys basketball between the Marshall Statesmen and Wakefield Warriors.
The high-school teams are members of the Liberty District for the fourth straight season, and are expected to be contenders for first.
Wakefield won the regular-season title last winter, with Marshall second. Marshall won the title the season before, with Wakefield tied for third. The Statesmen were second to Washington-Liberty in 2021-22, with Wakefield third.
Prior to that campaign, the two often traded championships when they were in the National District.
“Marshall is very disciplined, and always plays us tough — and we play them tough,” Wakefield coach Tony Bentley told ARLnow. “We expect the same this season.”
The teams played three times last season, splitting two very close contests, one in the district-tourney final that the Statesmen won by six points.
“The games with Wakefield are always hard and close,” Marshall coach Jerry Lin said.
Marshall is the two-time defending Liberty tournament champion, and finished second in 2021-22.
So it’s no surprise this season that Marshall and Wakefield are expected to be among the contenders for the Liberty title along with the Yorktown Patriots.
Marshall (7-4 overall) and Wakefield (5-4) have yet to play this season, but are scheduled to meet in two regular-season district games this month. With the district schedules ramping up, Marshall is 1-1 in the league and Wakefield 1-0.
Yorktown also is 1-0, having defeated Marshall, 59-57.
