By GEORGE MAHL

If you thought the end of football season meant the end of school rivalries, you were wrong.

There were a couple of rivalry games held recently in basketball, including Riverside-West St. John and Destrehan-Hahnville, which is probably the biggest rivalry in the River Parishes.

Last Friday, RA and WSJ got together for another game in which fans shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with the other side prior to the start. Even a current West St. John teacher who was once a Riverside teacher was waving and greeting former students at the Reserve school.

In true rivalry form, both WSJ and RA split the two games played in Edgard. The West St. John boys team destroyed the Riverside boys team, while the RA girls destroyed the WSJ girls. The two schools will go at it again Feb. 4 in Reserve.

Meanwhile, the DHS-HHS matchup, featured a packed house at the Hahnville gym. I got there very early only to see some of the crowd already starting to trickle in. It had the atmosphere of a football game, only this game was held inside.

It looks like both the boys and girls teams are headed toward the playoffs. There is also a distinct possibility both schools could wind up meeting each other in the playoffs at some point. In case you missed the chaos, or want to see a rematch, both the Fighting Wildcats and the Tigers will go at it again Feb. 7 in Destrehan.

Other rivalry games coming up will be Lutcher-St. James (Jan. 28) and the East St. John boys will get a chance to even the score with Hahnville on Jan. 31.

The one thing I have noticed at some games is the lack of crowd support. It seems the only school who draws well consistently is Reserve Christian. I recently attended an East St. John girls basketball game only to find the gym not even half full. I was surprised to see such a small turnout considering the Lady Cats have an impressive 22-2 record and will likely win the District 6-5A title.

I also attended a St. Charles Catholic boys game recently, featuring one of the River Parishes top all-around players, Michael Bonura. There may have been 200 people in attendance. I find that disappointing considering SCC had been playing well lately.

For coaches, players, and most importantly, the schools’ sake, let’s hope crowds start to pick up now that teams are in the heart of their schedules.

GEORGE MAHL is a sportswriter for L’Observateur. He may be reached at 985-652-9545.