There are eight teams left in the state in this year's Class 5A basketball championship playoffs – and the Abraham Lincoln High School Lancers are one of them.

On Wednesday, March 13, the team will be sent off to their quarter-final match with a pep rally at the school beginning at 2:15 p.m. Later tomorrow, the Lancers (17-5) will square off against ThunderRidge for a chance to play in the state semi-final games. The game begins at the Pepsi Center at 5:10 p.m. The Lancers have never reached the quarter-finals in the state basketball tournament.

The Lancers toppled No. 3 seed Fairview in a game that went to overtime last weekend. The final score was 76-69, with junior Hector Hernandez scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds.

"Every time they were challenged, they rose to a new level of teamwork," said Lincoln assistant principal John MacPherson. "They played with a totally unselfish attitude. They just played their game."

The pep rally will include Abraham Lincoln principal Kathy Callum, Athletic Director Miguel Salazar, coach Vince Valdez (who is a graduate of Abraham Lincoln) and the school cheerleaders.