WEST POINT, Ala. – West Point High School’s Quiz Bowl team recently returned from the 2022 High School National Championship (HSNCT) which took place on the weekend of Saturday, May 28. West Point High School joined 271 of the top high school quiz bowl teams from 34 states at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis for the tournament. The team also recently competed in the Small School National Championship (SSNCT) in April placing 11th out of 55 schools.
Quiz bowl is a competitive, academic, interscholastic activity for teams of four students. Quiz bowl teams use buzzers to answer questions about science, math, history, literature, mythology, geography, social science, current events, sports and popular culture. The matches feature a blend of individual competition and team collaboration, since no individual player is likely to be an expert in all subject areas. Participation in quiz bowl both reinforces lessons from the classroom and encourages players to develop new intellectual interests.
At the Small Schools Championship April 22-24, the team competed in the Traditional Public Schools Division, finishing with nine wins to five losses. The team members, captained by Brodie Henry, consisted of Judd Douglas, Carter Duke, Abigail Roy and John Davis Yovino. West Point has now attended the Small School National Championship Tournament (SSNCT) seven times.
In their first round, they won 350-80 against Sullivan from Indiana; in the third round, a loss of 250-200 to Macomb from Illinois. With round five, the team won 375-30 against Southwestern B, followed by another win in round six against Eugene, 365-125; afterwards, round seven was a loss against Upper Sandusky, 300-225. They ended round eight with another win, 315-85, and round 10, won, 325-175 against Cloverleaf from Ohio. For a full list of results, visit: https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/team.jsp?team_id=358917.
Unlike the SSNCT in April, the HSNCT is open to any high school of any size. There are no distinctions or divisions to separate small, rural, public schools from large schools, expensive private schools or prestigious charter or magnet schools.
Coach Lee Henry said, “We used to go to HSNCT every year, but had not been since 2017 due to it conflicting with West Point’s graduation. Thankfully, graduation ceremonies have been moved to the weekend before Memorial Day, so we are able to attend again.”
At the HSNCT on May 28, the West Point team consisted of Judd Douglas, Brodie Henry, Abigail Roy and John Davis Yovino. Henry said that the teams only senior Carter Duke was unable to attend due to unforeseen circumstances. “So, we weren’t at full strength playing against the toughest teams in the country. Seeing as we are led by a freshman, I told the team I’d be happy with a 3-7 record. But we managed to do a little better and go 4-6. We were looking at this as a kind of reconnaissance for next year and the years to come, where we hope to make it deep into the playoffs.”
West Point was one of 14 Alabama teams competing at the High School National Championship. They finished the preliminary rounds with four wins and six losses. The team was on the brink of elimination when they defeated Jasper B from Plano, Texas in round 14 to stay alive. Unfortunately, the team lost to Sparkman in round 16 suffering a 215-195 defeat and ending their shot at the playoffs.
West Point suffered a heartbreakingly narrow loss to Phillips Academy from Andover, Massachusetts, 130-115 during round 8, and suffered another narrow loss to Plano West B from Texas, 200-185 during round 20. West Point placed 185th out of the 272 schools in attendance.
However, the team gained a win as Brodie Henry was honored as a Freshman Rising Star for correctly answering 59 tossup questions in the preliminary rounds. He surpassed Will Parker as the all-time highest-scoring player in West Point High School Quiz Bowl history. He has three more years to add to the new record. Henry concluded, “As for next year, we are really excited about the returning talent and about some incredible incoming freshmen who are coming to West Point from Harmony School. We plan to work hard this summer and into the fall and have—hopefully—our most-successful year ever in 2022-2023.”
Copyright 2022 Humble Roots, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
