Scholastic Bowl
Mason Concludes 22-2 Season as
Runner-Up to Radford in State Finals
By Margaret Lipman (February 27, 2006)
The
Scholastic Bowl team finished off its very successful season in
Saturday’s state
finals at the College of William and Mary by placing second to four-time state champion Radford High
School. The GM team was undefeated throughout their
regular season and dominated in the district and regional tournaments,
going into States with a 19 – 0 record.
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In
the first match of the tournament, which featured the winners
and runners-up from the four regions in Group A, Mason easily
defeated Holston High
School with
a score of 280 – 80. Surprisingly,
out of the eight teams that competed in the state tournament
last year, only GM and Radford were back on Saturday. Even
last year’s winner, James Monroe, was not present.
In
their second game, however, the Mustangs were faced with their
first loss of the season, as they were narrowly edged out by King William High
School in
a very tense 185-- 200 game. The
tournament was set up in a double elimination format, meaning that
a team needed to lose two matches to be out of contention, so Mason
was still very much in the competition after its single loss. The
Mustangs then faced Honaker High
School in
the “losers’ bracket” and pulled out a 170 – 150 win. At this point, Mason had already improved upon
last year’s performance, in which the team placed a somewhat disappointing
fifth.
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Matt Peppe,
far left, seems to know the answer to a question, while team
members
Margaret Lipman,
Peter Davis, and David Maher look on. In spite of their efforts,
the Mustangs lost to Radford High School in the finals of the
Scholastic Bowl competition. (Photo by Larry Lipman)
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In their third game,
the Mustangs encountered Wilson Memorial High
School,
the team they had defeated in the Region B finals. It
was another very close match, but Mason was victorious in the end with
a score of 185-170. In the fourth
game, which would decide which team from the “losers’ bracket” would
face Radford in the finals, Mason again contended with King William High
School. This time, however, Mason was able to stay
ahead throughout the game, winning fairly handily with a score of 225 – 170. In
the final game of the tournament, the Mustangs put up a valiant fight
and stayed competitive throughout the match but eventually lost to
Radford 200-220.
The
Mason team was led by juniors Matt Peppe and David Maher, junior captain Margaret Lipman, and sophomore Peter Davis. Sophomore Peter Breen and senior Hilary Colton
also provided valuable assistance in many of the team rounds. And, as always, coach Jamie Scharff was
there to help and encourage the team throughout the tournament.
This
marks the fifth time Mason has competed in the state tournament in
as many years and the fourth time it has made it to the final match. GM
won the championship in both 2002 and 2003, was runner-up in 2004,
and placed 5th in 2005. The
team hopes to continue this legacy next year and the future looks very
bright indeed, as not one member of the starting team will be graduating
this spring
Tell us
what you think.
E-mail lassogmhs@hotmail.com
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