JWT: Recapping My Playoff Picks, and That Time the Lady Panthers Made It to the Final Four

My mom has this picture hanging in her hall. It's this ADORABLE, cute little baby at a basketball game. The baby is me LOL, and it's from the first time I went to the Missouri High School Basketball "Show-Me Showdown" (aka, the state Final Four).

I wasn't even one year old yet! So I literally grew up going to the state tournament. I went again in 1986, when our team beat Wellsville-Middeltown in triple overtime to win the state championship, maybe the greatest high school game every played in Missouri. My cousin, Terry Bell, was an All State guard on that team. He was my hero. That game is my first basketball memory, and it's the reason I love basketball so much.

I have so many memories of the Final Four... the time my brother Toby had a kidney stone and we had to go to the hospital instead of the game, the time I went with my friend Blaine and his family because my mom couldn't go that year, the first time we won state when I was coaching and I slept with the trophy all night (seriously), etc, etc, etc...

I LOVE THE FINAL FOUR. I love going. This weekend I get to make my 20th trip to the Final Four, and this memory is very unique for me. This weekend, I'm going as a superintendent, not a fan or a coach or a player. I'm going to watch an awesome team of SIX GIRLS who were seeded FOURTH in their own district. That team has defied all of the odds and pulled off FOUR upset wins in a row by a total of 10 points to make the first Final Four trip in school history.

Here's a video:

As for the rest of the teams in the field, here were my picks and how they turned out:

Class 1 Boys: I picked Advance, Glasgow, Walnut Grove, and Jefferson. I got 3/4 right, missing on Jefferson. Congrats to North Andrew for making it.

Class 1 Girls: I picked South Iron, Walnut Grove, Prairie Home, and Mercer. I got 4/4 right. Go me LOL.

Class 2 Boys; I picked Salisbury, Hayti, Greenwood, and Stanberry. I got all 4 wrong... Good job Oran, Sacred Heart, Harrisburg, and Crane for making it.

Class 2 Girls: I picked Oran, Clopton, Skyline, and Mid-Buchanan. I got 2/4 right, missing on Clopton (Adrian) and Mid-Buchanan (Scotland County).

Class 3 Boys: I went 0/4 on Charleston, Cardinal Ritter, Licking, and KC Barstow. Instead we will see Whitfield, Transportation and Law, Mountain Grove, and Hogan Prep play.

Class 3 Girls: I went 1/4 with Saxony Lutheran, Lutheran South, Strafford, and Boonville. Instead we'll see Whitfield, Lutheran North, Trenton, and Strafford. I just picked the wrong Lutheran schools LOL.

Altogether, I went 10/24. Anyway you try to spin that, it's bad. It's a good thing I'm not a gambling man! I hope you enjoyed the ride so far. I hope to see everybody in Columbia.

#JWT #ShowMeShowdown