Vista Ridge placed 24th at 6A 2016. As a Vista parent during that time, we just wanted to see our daughter perform in finals. The kids had other hopes in 2018 - they believed they could do it, and they won it all.
If they just settled for making finals, I don't think they would've been able to pull it off. Hope is real, and it's not delusional for other bands to believe they could do the same thing.