Alright folks, buckle up cause this prediction post almost drove me nuts.
The Starting Point: Pure Obsession
First thing, I gotta be honest – I live for high school ball. Saw the quarterfinals lineup pop up on my feed Tuesday night, spilled coffee all over my keyboard jumping to grab my notebook. Bad start already. Wiped it down, cracked open a fresh page, and stared at the eight teams. Man, this felt big.
Digging Into the Mess
Didn’t just trust my gut this time. Went full detective mode:
- Dragged out my huge box of scribbled game notes from the whole season. Papers flying everywhere.
- Spent hours glued to MaxPreps stats till my eyes crossed. Points per game, rebounds, those clutch free throws – tried to see patterns.
- Called up my buddy Dave, who coaches middle school but knows everything. Argued for thirty minutes about Hendersonville’s defense. He thinks they leak like a sieve. I wasn’t so sure.
- Rewatched parts of like, ten different game recordings. My streaming service probably thinks I’m insane. Focused hard on those late-game moments. Who folds? Who shines?
When My Brain Started Smoking
Midway through Wednesday, my kitchen table looked like a war zone. Coffee cups, crumpled paper, my dog chewing on a stat sheet. Seriously considered giving up. These matchups? Brutal. Felt like picking favorite children. Kept flipping teams around. Had Brentwood over Ravenwood, then switched it. Changed it back two hours later. Drove myself crazy.
The breaking point? Trying to figure out Cordova’s stamina. Played four overtime games this season. Held up? Or running on fumes? Ended up staring at their player minutes tracker until my vision blurred. Took a walk. Clear the head, you know?
Finally Putting Pen to Paper
Thursday morning, slapped the table. Done overthinking. Here’s how I see it shaking out in the quarters:
- Memphis East over Bartlett: East’s guard is just too quick. Bartlett’s bigs can’t keep up all game.
- Cordova over Germantown: Those overtime battles? They learned to finish strong. Germantown’s bench isn’t deep enough.
- Brentwood over Ravenwood: Pure rivalry chaos. Flip a coin, honestly. But Brentwood handled pressure slightly better when I watched ‘em. Slightly.
- Oakland over Hendersonville: Dave’s gonna hate this. Oakland’s press? Relentless. Hendersonville’s point guard is slick, but one man can’t carry it against that swarm.
So yeah, Memphis East, Cordova, Brentwood, and Oakland. That’s my final four punch. Spent a whole week sweating over this, arguing with my own notes, debating Dave, annoying my dog. Feels both solid and terrifying. Friday night lights are gonna show me if I’m a genius or totally clueless. Fingers crossed.