The win over Louisa put the Flucos in the winners’ bracket and they next faced off against a strong Charlottesville High School team. The Flucos performed well, against the Black Knights but ultimately fell by a score of 260-170. This defeat dropped the Flucos into the losers’ bracket, where they were matched up against Powhatan High School. The Flucos thrashed the Powhatan squad, by a score of 210-145. The Flucos were then pitted against the Hornets from Louisa again, and they prevailed for a second time by a score of 195-150. These wins by the Flucos knocked Powhatan and Louisa out of the competition.
As a result of their wins over Powhatan and Louisa, the Flucos were matched up again with the Charlottesville squad again to see who would take on the undefeated team from Western Albemarle High School. Unfortunately, the second Fluco v. Charlottesville match ended in the same fashion as the first match. This time the Black Knights prevailed by a score of 290-140.
These Scholastic Bowl competitions are tense and difficult. Four person teams are pitted against each other. The competition includes a toss-up round where each contestant is on their own and a collaborative round where competitors can work together to come up with an answer.
The Flucos first team consisted of Johny Douma, Austin Kritzer, Erin Morris and Daniel Carman. Substitutes who also competed for the Flucos included Brittany Sherman, Rowan Dell-deRonde, and Colleen Burke. Coach Small decides the line-up before each round. The mental pressure is such that even top competitors can use a break at some point in the competition. Five matches in one night are quite a test.
In the toss-up portion of each competition the four competitors for each team have buzzers, and the individual who buzzes in first gets to give an answer to the question being asked. A correct answer receives points, while an incorrect answer results in a point deduction. In this portion of the competition, a series of hints are read that start out with fairly obscure facts, and become more informative as the clues progress. The trick for the contestants is to buzz in when they know the answer, before anyone else does. The problem is that if the contestant thinks he or she may know the answer, but wants to hear one more clue to be sure, someone else may buzz in and take the question away.
Clearly, the competitors in this form of competition must be well informed and well rounded in their knowledge. Fluvanna High School is clearly producing some outstanding, well informed students, in addition to some outstanding athletes that this writer normally covers.
