Who Could Be At The Top Of Their Class as the Playoffs Approach?

<!-- wp:heading {"level":3} --> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Earlier this season, I shared my thoughts on which three to four teams could find themselves in the mix to bring home a state title. As of now, most of those projections are lining up, especially given how successful each of these programs have been so far. Below are the two teams in each class that I believe have the best chance to win a state championship, regardless of how the bracket ultimately shakes out.</h3> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1A) Deer Creek or Brown County</h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams are being led by two top-tier prospects who can power their team across the finish line. <strong>Dalia DeJesus (Deer Creek) and [player_tooltip player_id='1320444' first='Kenzie' last='Kassing'] (Brown County) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2A) Nashville or Johnsburg </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both teams have multiple players who can take over a game, but the duos on both of these teams can't be ignored and have that type of play where they can take over a game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='863111' first='Samantha' last='Brinkmann'] / [player_tooltip player_id='863112' first='Summer' last='Brinkmann'] (Nashville) and [player_tooltip player_id='911247' first='Summer' last='Toussaint'] / [player_tooltip player_id='910407' first='Skye' last='Toussaint'] (Johnsburg)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3A) Washington or Peoria Notre Dame </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>With both teams having a strong understanding of what it takes to reach the state finals and compete, regardless of how the brackets turn out, when crunch time comes, I don't believe there are any teams in this class with a more complete Big 3/Big 4 than these two programs. E<strong>my Wardle, [player_tooltip player_id='593853' first='Lexi' last='Baer'], and [player_tooltip player_id='863991' first='Cora' last='Heinz'] (Peoria Notre Dame), and [player_tooltip player_id='728033' first='Avery' last='Tibbs'], [player_tooltip player_id='840240' first='Dani' last='Guedet'], [player_tooltip player_id='728413' first='Becca' last='McDougall'], and [player_tooltip player_id='728415' first='Mazzy' last='O'Brien'] (Washington)</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:separator --> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <!-- /wp:separator --> <!-- wp:heading --> <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4A) Benet or Nazareth </h2> <!-- /wp:heading --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Both of these programs have been touted as being among the best in the state, regardless of class. With so much success in their program histories, it's no surprise that once again they're being viewed as state title contenders, and this season is no different. Both teams feature high tier starting lineups, along with a few players off the bench who can swing a game. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id='419726' first='Emma' last='Briggs'], [player_tooltip player_id='407517' first='Bridget' last='Rifenburg'], [player_tooltip player_id='626814' first='Ava' last='Mersinger'], [player_tooltip player_id='508963' first='Ava' last='Thomas'], and [player_tooltip player_id='882110' first='Lucy' last='Tierney'] (Benet),</strong> <strong>and [player_tooltip player_id='513525' first='Stella' last='Sakalas'], [player_tooltip player_id='728004' first='Sophia' last='Towne'], [player_tooltip player_id='884801' first='Mia' last='Gage'], [player_tooltip player_id='514892' first='Lyla' last='Shelton'], and Sam Austin (Nazareth) </strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->