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Lower State just seems dominant this year. So much for the Upstate mystique.


Don't forget that Fort Mill went from 3a to 4a this year.

Last year the boys were state champs at 3a and the year before the girls were upper state champs. So that is quite a bit of talent dropping off from the upper state 3a teams.

As for 4a: Wando is competing against teams half its size so it winning should not be a surprise.

And the real question is this: if you rank the top 10 boy and girl teams in the state how many are upper and how many are lower?

I think the 'mystique' is based more on the fact that the upper state has a LOT of high quality teams as opposed to them being able to win the whole thing.

Look at the 3rd round of the playoffs:
One the upper side you had the 2,3,4 and 8th ranked teams. And NAFO is only ranked 8th because it lost the 4th and 7th team two times each.

On the lower you had 5, 6, 9, 11th ranked team.

I think it is safe to say that the upper is much stronger overall even if the south is winning the championships.