SoftBank Winter Cup 2020 Reiwa 2nd Year 73rd National High School Basketball Championship

In 2020, the high school basketball scene was forced to cancel large and small tournaments due to the influence of the new coronavirus. Including the inter-school athletic meet, even the local block tournament …
However, the “hot winter” is coming this year as well.
The “SoftBank Winter Cup 2020 Reiwa 2nd Year 73rd National High School Basketball Championship (Winter Cup 2020)”, which is said to be the “tournament that decides the best in Japan for true high schools,” will be held from December 23 to 29. ..
The venue will be divided into two venues until the second day. The Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, which has been in use since 2018, and the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, the “sacred place” of the high school basketball world since 2017, will return as the main venue. The best stage was set up to comfortably end the difficult year for the contestants.

【man】
Winter Cup 2020 with 60 participating schools. Every team has the same chance to become the best in Japan, but the one I would like to pay attention to is Fukuoka Daiichi (Kyushu block recommendation, Fukuoka). Aiming to win the tournament for the third consecutive time, which is the fourth school in history and the fifth school in history including girls. Basketball, which has refined its motto “Konsei Haste” to the utmost limit, has enough power to make a name for itself in history.
Higashiyama (Kyoto), Sendai University Meisei (Tohoku block recommendation, Miyagi), and Fukuoka University Ohori (Fukuoka) will follow Fukuoka Daiichi. All of them are teams that are not inferior to Fukuoka Daiichi in terms of height, strength and speed. Hotoku Gakuen (Hyogo) and Kaishi Kokusai (Niigata) are also aiming to advance to the top, so they cannot be underestimated.
Since Inter-High was canceled in this tournament, the seed rights given to the top teams and districts of Inter-High are not treated every year, and the combination was decided by lottery with the block recommendation team as the seed right holder. As a result, Hokuriku (Fukui) and Chubu University Daiichi (Tokai block recommendation, Aichi) suddenly collided in the first round, and the above-mentioned attention schools were consolidated into one block, so it seems that we can take our eyes off from the first day to the final match. Absent.
And there is another notable topic. Noshiro Technical High School (Akita), which has won the national tournament 58 times, will be the last winter cup in its name due to the merger due to the consolidation of schools. I also want to pay attention to their “last dance”.

【woman】
For girls, Okagakuen High School (recommended by Tokai Block, Aichi) aims to win the national tournament for the 68th time as well as winning the tournament in a row. Last year’s three main players remained, and other players are also growing steadily. There was a time when I was forced to go home due to the corona sickness like other schools, but the pursuit of endless fundamentals, which can be called tradition, is still alive. This tournament will also have a perfect fight.
In recent years, Gifu Girls (Gifu), who has shown a strong presence as a rival, runs in parallel with Okagakuen High School. Aiming for the Queen’s seat with defense and total strength. From behind, Osaka Kaoru Eijo Gakuin (Kinki block recommendation, Osaka) and Showa Gakuin (Kanto block recommendation, Chiba) follow. However, perhaps because of the strange combination, all four schools mentioned above belong to the block on the left half. Which team will get out of that block and run up to the final?
That’s not to say, but the block on the right half is likely to be a melee. On the flip side, every team has a big chance. Sapporo Yamanote (Hokkaido block recommendation, Hokkaido), St. Catalina Academy (Shikoku block recommendation, Ehime), and one of the best cards in the first round, Seika Girls (Fukuoka) and Tokyo Seitoku University (Tokyo) lead a little.

***
I have described the outlook so far, but one of the interesting things about high school basketball is that both men and women do not follow the criticism. Also, regarding this year, the point is that there is a place where we can demonstrate the results of the efforts of the players who have continued in the corona wreck, and there is a place where we can see it.
I would like to pay attention to the dynamics of all the players, regardless of whether they are on the bench or not, of all the participating teams.