Scholastic Bowl Team Bowls Away Competition

Last weekend, Parker’s Upper School Scholastic Bowl team competed in the NAQT Small Schools National Championship Tournament. The varsity team entered the competition ranked #75 in the nation and #7 among teams in the 55-team tournament field. They emerged from Saturday prelims unblemished, one of only three teams to post a 10-0 record on the day. The highlight of the day was a frenzied comeback victory over Cistercian (Texas); the team scored 65 unanswered points in the final 32 seconds of the game. Senior Grant Koh earned a spot on the tournament all-star team as the 7th highest individual scorer in prelims.

Meanwhile, Parker’s two JV entries performed admirably against a field consisting almost entirely of varsity squads. Despite falling short of the winning records necessary for advancement to the playoffs, the teams won several big games, including a combined three against eventual playoff contenders. Team high scorers for the JV squads were sophomore Chase Wayland and freshman Jack Bartlett.

Varsity’s success continued in the playoffs, where they carried their #3 seed into the third round before a hiccup against BASIS McLean (Virginia). They quickly righted the ship and found themselves in a showdown against Utica Academy (Michigan) for the right to advance into the top six. After a back-and-forth affair, Parker clinched the win with a buzz on the final tossup. Their luck ran out against the B team from perennial powerhouse St. Mark’s (Texas) in the next round, and they lost on the last tossup by a razor-thin margin of 365-360. The team’s fifth place finish was the highest in program history at this event and a testament to their tremendous effort and teamwork throughout the year. Congratulations to the following team members:

Varsity: Grant Koh, Warner Vance, Logan Florsheim, Lincoln Hamid, Annoshae Mirza

JV: Beckett Nikitas, Daniel Chang, Darius Cleaver, Coco De Leon, Spencer Koh, Nash Oliphant, Chase Wayland, Jack Bartlett