On August 5, the National Tournament officially entered its fourth day—the quarterfinal stage.
For many longtime fans who had followed the National Tournament for years, the real tournament only truly began today. The previous three days had been little more than preliminaries or warm-up games.
After all, the earlier rounds had been a mixed bag. Even by the third round, there were inevitably weak teams with good luck, like Maminishi, stumbling their way into the top sixteen.
But after three rounds and three rounds of filtering, fifty-one weak or unlucky teams had been eliminated. Only the final eight remained today.
And today would be the time to test the true caliber of these eight powerhouse teams!
"Alright! Good morning to our audience here at the venue and in front of their televisions! The National Tournament has finally reached its most thrilling stage. Today is the highly anticipated regional finals. Your commentators are yours truly, Matsumoto, along with our old friend, Mr. Ōkawata."
"Hello, everyone. I'm Ōkawata."
Just how much attention did the quarterfinals receive? That was obvious from this alone.
Several television stations had already set up commentary booths at the venue, ready to broadcast the four games scheduled for today live.
"This morning's first game will feature Sanno Technical High against Aiwa Academy in Arena One, while here in Arena Two, Miuradai High School and Toyotama High School will deliver a thrilling showdown. Mr. Ōkawata, what are your thoughts on today's game?"
While both teams continued warming up on the court, the two commentators got to work.
Ōkawata took over. "Hmm. I think this game will be fiercely contested. On one side, there's Miuradai High School, which defeated Kainan University Affiliated High School, one of last year's semifinalists, and came to Hiroshima as Kanagawa's top seed. On the other