Quiz Bowl Coaching Dynasty

[larrymcg421]

Round 3

Team A (1-1) vs. Irondale (1-1)

Tossup 1 - We get beat to a science question and they 30 the bonus. 0-40
Tossups 2-3 - Krish gets back to back Myth and lit questions. We only get 30 pts from both bonuses. 50-40
Tossups 4-5 - Irondale picks up 3 in a row, with two powers. We are struggling on Science and History. 45-140
Tossups 7-8 - Krish gets us back into it with his mastery of Lit and non-fiction. 110-140
Tossup 9 - They get history, but miss all bonuses. 110-150

Halftime

Tossups 10-13 - Game starts to get out of hand as they get 4 in a row. Only thing keeping us alive is the missed bonuses. .105-235
Tossups 14-15 - We fight back with another tossup from Krish and a power from Grady. 170-235.
Tossup 16 - They neg and we can't convert at the end. Huge missed opportunity.
Tossup 17 - They power and lock the game up.

Final: Irondale 285, Innovation Academy 205

Team B (1-1) vs. Grand Ledge (1-1)

Tossups 1-5 - We race to a strong lead by getting 3 of the first 5 and decent work on the bonuses. 80-20
Tossups - 6-9 - They get three in a row and neither team converts #9. Tight game. 75-90
Tossups 10-11 - We close out the first half with a power from Lucas and a 10 pointer from Jacob. 130-90


Halftime

Tossups 12-15 - Jack opens the 2nd half with a power, and we continue to roll with 3 of the next 4. unfortunately, our bonus work is quite poor, only getting 4 12 bonus questions in this stretch. 210-100.
Tossups 16-22 - We only get 1 tossup the rest of the game, but Grand Ledge negs twice and doesn't do well enough on bonuses to close the gap.

Final: Innovation Academy B 235, Grand Ledge 185

Team C (1-1) vs. Academic Magnet (1-1)

Tossup 1-8 - This one is over before it begins. They get 7 of the first 8 tossups to take a huge lead. 0-175
Tossups 9-11 - We show a little fight with three in a row. 60-175
Tossups 12-14 - Neither teams gets any of these three. 60-175
Tossup 15 - They kill our final hopes by getting this one and start to run out the clock on us.

Final: Academic Magnet 250, Innovation Academy C 105

[larrymcg421]

Round 4

Team A (1-2) vs. White Station C (1-2)

This one isn't even close. We get 9 of the 10 tossups in the first half for a 255-(-5) lead and never look back. Krish picks up 85 pts.

Innovation Academy A 415, White Station C 30

Team B (2-1) vs. Cleveland Heights (2-1)

Tossups 1-3 - Three different players from IA pick up tossups, but only 4 of 12 bonuses keeps us from building a bigger lead. 70-0
Tossups 4-6 - Heights pick up 3 of the next 4 tossups, but do even worse on bonuses, helping us keep the lead. 90-60
Tossup 8 - Varun continues his excellence with current events, but we miss every bonus. 100-60
Tossups 9-10 - Back to back powers for Cleveland Heights gives them a slight lead. 95-120.
Tossups 11-12 - We take the lead back with back to back tossups, including a Jack power on a sports question. 115-140
Tossups 13-21 - We hit a real dry spell, only getting 2 out of 9 questions in this period. They only get 3, but it's enough to give them the lead. 175-180
Tossup 22 - Jack picks up a geography question to give us the lead. We try to stall, but the game doesn't end yet. 195-180
Tossup 23 - With the game on the line, Lucas comes through with a literature tossup. 225-180

Innovation Academy B 225, Cleveland Heights 180

Team C (1-2) vs. Jordan (1-2)

In a low scoring match, Jordan takes a 125-100 lead after 14 questions. We get 15 and 16, while they get 17. This leaves the match tied at 140 with time for one question left. Suhit pulls it out with a rare history get for the win.

Innovation Academy C 160, Jordan 140

Gonna start speeding these up so we can get through them faster.

[larrymcg421]

Round 5

Team A (2-2) vs. White Station B (2-2)

By chance, we play the same school, but their B team, in the next round. This was a weird match. We are definitely the better team, and after 11 tossups we have a 165-70 lead. They get three questions in a row and convert enough bonuses to tie it. Krish comes through to give us the lead again on tossup 15. White Station storms back to get two tossups in a row and a 10 pt lead. Adhav come through with a geography tossup. We need 1 bonus to tie or two win. Unfortunately, we miss all three bonuses. What've even worse is we should've passed to get to the next tossup (as this is a timed tournament), but we let the clock run out and take a very bad loss.

White Station B 215, Innovation Academy A 205

Team B (3-1) vs. University Lab (3-1)

With the card system, you play a tougher team each time you win, and Team B found itself outmatched by a really strong team. At halftime, Uni Lab had a 255-0 lead. Team B fought back in the 2nd half, but it was never competitive.

University Lab 380, Innovation Academy B 130

Team C (2-2) vs. Saline (2-2)

Saline plays great early and we have to play catch up most of the match. Ian and Suhit have solid games (30 pts each), but its not enough to make things competitive. Saline is up 150-30 after 10 tossups and coast through the 2nd half for the victory.

Saline 245. Innovation Academy C 150

[larrymcg421]

Round 6

Team A (2-3) vs. St. Andrew's (2-3)

After the very disappointing loss in the previous round, we regroup and put together a dominating performance where everyone contributes. We get 11 of the first 13 tossups for a 260-40 win. They pick up 3 of the last 4, but not nearly enough to close the gap. All 4 players had multiple tossups.

Innovation Academy A 275, St. Andrew's 100


Team B (3-2) vs. Saline (3-2)

The story of this match is performance on bonuses. Saline leads throughout the first half, but its still a 165-110 game at halftime. Jack has a terrific game (65 pts) and keeps us within striking distance. After Question 15, we are down 220-155. We get 3 tossups in a row, but shockingly can only convert 1 of the 9 bonuses and fail to take the lead. They get the next tossup and run out most of the clock for the win. Tough loss.

Saline 240, Innovation Academy B 215


Team C (2-3) vs. Collierville (2-3)

This one isn't close as we only get three tossups in the entire match. We also neg three times. Collierville doesn't play that well either as it's only 90-30 at the half, but the pull away with 6 tossups in the 2nd half.

Collierville 270, Innovation Academy C 55

[Young Drachma]

How much do you all practice with them between matches? I assume you all have tournaments on weekends?

[larrymcg421]

Originally Posted by Young Drachma

How much do you all practice with them between matches? I assume you all have tournaments on weekends?

We do two practices a week, 90 minutes each. And then play as many tournaments as possible, almost all of which are on Saturday.

[larrymcg421]

Round 7

Team A (3-3) vs. Baker (3-3)

The first half is very close as both teams get 4 tossups. Our superior bonus work gives us a slight 10 pt lead (115-105) at halftime. In the second half, we finally really start playing like the team that finished the season. We convert 5 of the next 7 tossups, with Matt getting two powers in this sequence. This gives us a huge 275-145. Baker calls timeout and regroups. Their comeback attempt falls short when they zero the next bonus. Despite converting the last 3 tossups of the game, they just run out of time, and we finally go above .500

Innovation Academy A 305, Baker 235

Team B (3-3) vs. Solon B (3-3)

This is another story of two halves, but we're on the wrong side of it here. We're down 115-100 at halftime. However, Solon B converts the last 7 tossups of the game, including powers on the last two. After a 3-1 start, Team B has now lost three in a row.

Solon B 300, Innovation Academy B 105

Team C (2-4) vs. Deering (2-4)

Not a very high scoring game, but we take a strong lead by converting 6 of the first 10 tossups, as they only convert 2. Deering fights back in the 2nd half, but really fumble their bonuses (4-15 in the 2nd half) and Ian gets two late clutch tossups to secure the win.

Innovation Academy C 130, Deering 110

[larrymcg421]

Sunday Morning Games - Team A

So far, I've recapped the Saturday afternoon games for the 2023 High School National Championship Tournament. On Sunday morning, we play three more games for a total of 10 preliminary games. To make playoffs, you need 6 wins, but if you win 7 times, you get double elimination. Team A is currently 4-3, so needs to win 2 more to clinch.

Round 8 vs. High Tech

Matt gets things going with a fantastic out of category power on a Lit question and gets another power 4 questions later. We pick up 6 of the 9 tossups in the first half to build a solid 190-90 lead. They keep fighting back in the 2nd half, getting as close as 70 pts, but Adhav picks up three tossups in a row to put the game away.

Innovation Academy 340, High Tech 190

Round 9 vs. Chamblee

Chamblee is a local rival. Our A teams played twice this season. They knocked us out of the playoffs 380-90 at the CATT in October, but just a couple weeks earlier, we beat them by 80 at the EAST VI. Both teams are 5-3 and thus one win from the playoffs.

This one isn't very close. Chamblee negs on 3 of the first 7 questions, and we build 145-5 lead. Chamblee gets the next two questions to pull within 85 pts, but they'd never get closer. We pick up the next 4 tossups to make it 250-60 and coast to the victory. We qualify for our first ever Nationals playoff appearance!!!

Innovation Academy A 265, Chamblee 115

Round 10 vs. Rockford Auburn

Having clinched the playoffs, we're in pretty high spirits. One more win would give us double elimination, but our opponent is the #12 ranked team in the country (we are #64).

Rockford struggles in the 1st half, negging twice and failing the convert a free question at the end after we negged. We are able to take advantage and build a 160-55 lead. Here is the rest of the game...

Tossup 11 - Rockford negs and Adhav converts, and we pick up 2 bonuses. 190-50
Tossup 12 - Rockford gets their first points since tossup 4, and add 2 bonuses. 190-80
Tossup 13 - Adhav continues to dominate, with his 5th tossup of the game. 2 more bonuses. 220-80

At this point, Rockford calls a timeout to regroup.

Tossup 14 - Rockford gets the lit question and all 3 bonuses. 220-120
Tossup 15 - Rockford powers the history question and again all 3 bonuses. 220-165
Tossup 16 - Rockford makes it three in a row on a Science question, and adds 2 more bonuses. 220-195
Tossup 17 - Did I tell you how good Adhav is at Geography? Adhav powers this one to stop the bleeding. We get 2 bonuses. 255-195
Tossup 18 - Fine Arts continues to be our weakness. Rockford gets this one and closes the gap again. 255-230
Tossup 19 - They have a really strong Lit who just beats Krish on this one for a power. Two bonuses means they have now taken the lead. 255-265
Tossup 20 - Another Geography question and Adhav predictably powers it to retake the lead. 280-265

There is time left for one more question. It is a literature question. It seemingly takes forever, but we finally get a buzz... from Krish. And he's correct!!!!! We run out the clock while getting two bonuses and pick up what is by far the best win in program history.

Innovation Academy A 310, Rockford Auburn 265

[larrymcg421]

Sunday Morning Games - Team B

Team B is 3-4 and will need to win all three to make the playoffs.

Round 8 - vs. Lakota West

We trail for most of this one, but Lucas has a huge game to keep us in it. After question 16, we are down 145-130. Lucas powers a question about Romania (his parents home country) and starts to burn the clock on the bonuses. There is time for one more question. It is Fine Arts, and Varun gets it to seal the victory.

Innovation Academy B 195, Lakota West 145

Round 9 - vs. De LaSalle

I don't know what happened in this one, but for some reason De Lasalle did not play their top scorer in this match where the loser would be eliminated from the playoffs. Whatever the reason, we take advantage by dominating the 1st half for a 130-10 lead. The 2nd half is much of the same as we pick up the first 5 tossups of the 2nd half for a surprisingly easy victory. Lucas had a massive 70 pt game.

Innovation Academy B 240, De LaSalle 30

Round 10 - vs. Grosse Pointe North

Playoffs are on the line! We pick up the first four tossups, but only get 2 of the 12 bonuses and squander a chance to take a huge lead. On tossup 6, Lucas' answer is not accepted and the other team gets it. Lucas protests, and it will be resolved at the end if it decides the outcome. Poor bonuses continue to doom us and we trail despite getting more tossups than Grosse Pointe. We get the final question, which keeps the game within reach of the protest. The protest is decided in our favor as they rule Lucas should've been prompted. What this means is we get a tossup direted to us. Only our team can buzz on it. If we get it, we win. The tossup goes to the end, time is running out, and Lucas finally buzzes. His answer is... incorrect. We lose in heartbreaking fashion, especially considering Lucas would've got the initial question right had he been prompted.

Grosse Pointe North 195, Innovation Academy B 140

[larrymcg421]

Sunday Morning Games - Team C

Team C needs to win all three games to make playoffs.

Round 8 - vs. Ysleta

After halftime, we trail 140-70. Ian, in his best game of the tournament, gets the next two tossups, incuding a power on Fine Arts. Both teams miss the next two tossups, but then AJ gets the next two tossups to give us our first lead of the game, 165-140. Both teams miss question 17. Ian comes through again on question 18 to make the lead 185-140. With time for one question left, Ysleta makes a fundamental quiz bowl mistake. They can still tie if they power and get all the bonuses. But they don't buzz early enough for power, meaning they can't win no matter what.

Final: Innovation Academy C 185, Ysleta 160

Round 9 - vs. Francis Parker

We take advantage of 3 negs from our opponents and have a surprising 85-65 halftime lead. The wheels come off in the 2nd half where we only get 1 tossup. Francis Parker gets 9 and pulls away for a blowout.

Francis Parker 265, Innovation Academy C 95

Round 10 - vs. Mountain View

This one is never close. They get 12 tossups to our 4, and we neg 4 times. Rough way to end the tournament for our B and C teams, but they still played well.

Mountain View 300, Innovation Academy C 60

[larrymcg421]

Playoffs for Team A - Because we won 7 games, we have double elimination status. For our matchups,

Playoff Round 1 - vs. Maggie Walker (ranked #59)

We get 5 of the first 6 tossups to take a 130-5 lead. After tossup 11, the lead has grown to 200-35. Maggie Walker mounts a comeback, getting 4 of the next 6 tossups, including 2 powers to make the score 255-160. However, Grady gets the next two tossups and Krish punctuates things with a power for a pretty convincing first Nationals playoff win in school history. Krish (55 pts.) and Grady (50) led the way.

Playoff Round 2 - vs. Buffalo Grove (ranked #3)

Yep, you read that right. We now get to face the #3 team in the country, and they have the best individual player in the country, who has averaged 111.29 points per game. We don't play scared, though. We get 2 of the first 3 tossups and have a 70-15 lead. Then they get 5 in a row to go up 70-185. Adhav comes up big with back to back tossups, including a power. At halftime we are only down 125-180. Right out of halftime, we get the first tossup and it is now only 145-180. Unfortunately, we only get two more tossups the rest of the game and we lose 180-395. We put up a good fight against a powerhouse team, though.

Playoff Round 3 - vs. William Fremd A (#28)

Back to tossup format for this exciting match.

TU1-7: We convert 4 of the first 7 tossups, thanks partly to them negging on 3 questions. Our bonuses are a bit weak, making it a small lead. 90-80.
TU8-11: We don't get any of these, and William Fremd manages two powers and another tossup to build a lead. 90-155
TU12-14: Krish picks up one, but Fremd comes back with the next. Their weakness on bonuses is helping us stay in it. 120-205.
TU15: Adhav gets it for 10 and we pick up all three bonuses. 160-205.
TU16: Adhav makes it two in a row and we pick up two bonuses. 190-205.
TU17: Matt picks it up and we once again get three bonuses to take the lead! 230-200.
TU18: Both teams miss a science question at the end.
TU19: Both teams miss a religion question at the end.
TU20: Fremd gets a history question, but only manages to convert one of the bonuses, so we retain the lead. 230-220.
TU21: Matt gets a pop culture question and we get one of the bonuses. 250-220.
TU22: William Fremd's best player powers this question to make it a 15 point game. They need two bonuses.

Bonus 1 - wrong.
Bonus 2 - wrong.
Bonus 3 - the clock runs out during this question and they get it wrong.

We pull off a stunning win!

A couple things here. They made a huge strategic mistake (much like we did earlier in the tournament) and didn't pass on the last bonus so they could get to the next tossup. Also, they got more tossups than we did, including 5 powers, but performed poorly on bonuses.

A very strange win, but satisfying nonetheless.

Playoff Round 4 - vs. Belmont (ranked #9)

We came out incredibly flat in this one, only getting one of the first 8 tossups, and finding ourselves in a 185-30 hole. We regroup and pick up three questions in a row, including two powers. A neg halts our momentum, but Adhav powers again on question 13 and the score is now 140-215. Belmont nabs the next two to take a 270-135 lead. Still, the story of this tournament is we don't give up. Adhav picks up a history question, Grady powers a science question, and Krish comes up with an insanely fast buzz on a literature question. Suddenly, it's 215-270. We have a chance, but we need to get the next two questions. Unfortunately, Belmont powers very quickly on the next tossup and they're able to drain much of the clock on the bonuses. We get the last tossup, but there's not enough time left and our Cinderella run ends.

We finish in a tie for 21st place, a remarkable feat for a school that has only existed for 2 years.

Also, we will be returning every single player.

[larrymcg421]

There is one more Nationals level tournament, called PACE. Only 72 teams come to this tournament. It does have some structural differences between the two...

1) No clock. 20 questions per match no matter what.
2) Subject distribution is different. No pop culture and very little Geography or Current Events, in exchange for more Sci/Lit/Philosophy/Myth/Fine Arts.
3) Every team plays 16 matches, involving a prelim bracket of 6, a playoff rebracket of 6 (based on where you finished in prelims), then a superplayoff bracket (based on where you finished in the playoff rebracket).

There is some debate about which tournament produces the best team or even is the more legitimate national championship. I think the best way to view it is to think of HSNCT as the Kentucky Derby and PACE as the Breeders Cup.

In 2023, we sent two teams to PACE. We had a couple players (Grady and Matt) missing, so expectations not super high.


Team A Prelims

Team A 290, Northmont B 190
Team A 290, Belvidere 180
Team A 300, Walter Payton 210
Detroit Catholic Central A 470, Team 160
St. Mark's 390, Team A 200

About where we expected to be. This qualifies us for the middle playoff bracket, making us eligible for 25th-48th place.

Team B Prelims

Plymouth Academic Team 440, Team B 80
Thomas Jefferson C 450, Team B 60
Waukee 170, Team B 140
Hinsdale Central 440, Team B 100
Troy 460, Team B 80

Our Fine Arts player was sick and so Team B had to play shorthanded.


Team A Playoffs

Winston Churchill 310, Team A 260
Hinsdale Central 310, Team A 230
Team A 280, Chattahoochee B 200
Mexico 300, Team A 240
Irvington 270, Team A 250

We did not play our best here, and the 1-4 performance places us into the bottom range of the Superplayoff bracket

Team B Playoffs

Team B 110, Elkhorn North 100
Maggie Walker B 190, Team B 160
John Adams B 180, Team B 100
Northmont B 210, Team B 200
Saint Joseph 190, Team B 130

Fighting hard with a missing player, but a couple close losses puts us in the very bottom bracket.


Team A Superplayoffs (Playing for 41st-48th place)

Team A, 370, Lincoln-Way East 110
Team A 410, Carbondale 120
Team A 300, Midtown 230
Team A 340, Maggie Walker C 190
Team A 330, Carl Sandburg 150
Team A 290, Barrington B 160

Underperforming in the playoff rounds put us in a bracket with inferior teams and we played some great quiz bowl to finish 41st. Krish was the standout with 48.75 ppg.

Team B Superplayoffs

Team B 170, Norris 80
Team B 149, Norman 100
Team B beats Hoover A by forfeit (they used an ineligible player)
Waukee 190, Team B 160
John Adams A 280, Team B 130
Moberly 250, Team B 120

A few wins keeps us out of dead last, but we still finish a very disappointing 69th out of 72

And that concludes the 2022-23 season.

[larrymcg421]

2023-24 Season Begins!

Notable news: Grady does not return to the team, but Adhav did considerable summer work in preparing for Science to fill in that spot.

CATT XIX (September 2023)

Team A

Prelims

beat Midtown B 620-50
beat North Gwinnett A 595-85
beat Johns Creek C 455-105
beat Aiken A 540-90
beat Blessed Trinity B 635-(-5)

Playoffs

R32 - beat Hebron 480-65
R16 - beat Innovation D 385-115
Quarters - lost to River Trail 295-300

This one really hurts. We absolutely dominated this tournament, and then fell apart in one playoff match against a much lower seed. We ended with 500.6 ppg and next best team was Johns Creek with 413 ppg. Adhav and Krish had amazing season openers, combining for 156 ppg, but this is one we should've won.

Team B

Prelims

beat Cherokee 435-50
beat Mary Persons 370-15
lost to Johns Creek A 250-340
beat Hebron 385-45
lost to Eastside 235-325

Playoffs

R32 - beat Mary Persons 305-190
R16 - beat Johns Creek B 305-210
Quarters - lost to Johns Creek A 310-230

Overall, a solid start to the season for Team B, especially because the top scorer was a new Freshman player (Shaun), who put up 43.75 PPG.

Team C

Prelims

beat Chattahoochee X 270-150
beat North Gwinnett B 155-150
lost to Lambert A 390-110
beat Aiken B 430-20
lost to Johns Creek B 160-300

Playoffs

R32 - beat Cherokee 220-75
R16 - lost to Alliance A 270-195

Team D

Prelims

lost to Alliance A 180-430
lost to Lambert B 145-240
beat Milton 225-175
beat Paul Duke A 165-125
lost to Chamblee 280-185

Playoff

beat Creekview 235-40
lost to Innovation A 115-385

[larrymcg421]

GATA Fall North (September 2023) - 23 team field

Team A - Varsity

Prelims

beat Chamblee A 525-220
beat Johns Creek C 520-200
beat Roswell 590-100
beat North Gwinnett A 550-150
beat Brookwood B 580-55

Playoffs

Quarters - beat Northview A 535-220
Semis - beat Chamblee A 505-200
Finals - beat Lambert A 420-285

A thoroughly dominating performance. Only Lambert gave us any kind of game and that one was over just after halftime. This is our first Varsity victory in a large tournament field.


Team B - Varsity

Prelims

lost to Johns Creek B 315-390
lost to Paul Duke 250-260
beat Creekview 280-275
lost to Chattahoochee A 185-475
lost to Midtown 275-355

A rough outing for Team B, partly because some of my top Team B players were playing on Team D in the JV division. Finished 16th place.

Team C - Varsity

Prelims

beat North Atlanta 495-60
lost to Johns Creek A 280-405
beat Brookwood A 335-285
lost to Lakeside 195-370
beat Ola 460-45

Despite going 3-2 (a good outing for a C team), they failed to make the playoffs, ending up in a 10th place finish.

Team D (JV division) - 8 team field

lost to Northview B 365-315
beat North Gwinnett B 425-245
beat Lambert C 350-235
beat Lambert B 455-165
beat Johns Creek D 440-115
beat Chamblee B 345-75
beat GSMST B 485-40

This division was done as a full round robin. Northview went undefeated, so our close loss to them in the first match left us in 2nd place. Still, a pretty good result. Great outings from Ian and Shaun to lead the way.

[larrymcg421]

Greg Trandel (October 2023) - Varsity, 14 Teams

Team A

Prelims

lost to Johns Creek A 370-375
beat Midtown 525-235
beat Thomas Jefferson Classical 615-115
beat Innovation Academy C 5390135
beat Johns Creek B 535-120

Playoffs

Quarters - beat Aiken 530-195
Semis - beat Chattahoochee 455-250
Final - lost to Johns Creek A 250-515

2nd place finish isn't bad at all, but it hurts to go out like that against our rivals.

Team B

Prelims

beat Johns Creek C 370-145
beat Chattahoochee B 370-200
beat Milton 360-270
lost to Chattahoochee A 305-390
beat Aiken 390-265

Playoffs

Quarters - lost to Midtown 305-365

Ended up tied for 5th. Shaun, Ian, and AJ are all playing really well.

Team C

Prelims

lost to Thomas Jefferson Classical 250-310
lost to Johns Creek A 180-495
beat Northview 305-300
lost to Innovation Academy A 135-530
beat Innovation Academy D 280-235

Did not make playoffs, but the win over Northview was nice.

Team D

lost to Aiken 200-355
lost to Chattahoochee A 150-410
lost to Chattahoochee B 180-340
lost to Midtown 120-475
lost to Innovation Academy C 235-280

At least they avoid last place by having more PPG than the other 0-5 team (Johns Creek C).