Opening the second half of the quizzing season at Strasburg

 Whenever the Super Bowl happens, the quizmeet gets pushed up to 2:00 p.m. Whenever the quizmeet gets pushed up to the afternoon, every part of quizzing Sunday gets pushed up to an earlier time. At 9 o'clock, the Stony Brook quiz team met downstairs in the fellowship hall for half a practice. They read through the quizzing material and had 2 practice matches. They saw much improvement Kate and Kaylee quizzed out on both of these practices matches, and both practices matches had 4 of the 5 quizzers buzzing in correctly, which means they were set up for team bonus. Things were looking good. At 10 o'clock, the team went upstairs to the sanctuary for worship. After the worship concluded, the team took their team photo, and they bid Caleb farewell, as he had to leave for choir. Then the remainder of the team went back downstairs to the fellowship hall for the second half of quiz practice. Once again, everybody was at least getting a buzz-in correct, setting up hopes for team bonus. Once practice finished, Becca delivered Marcello's for the quiz team's lunch. After everyone had eaten lunch, Stony Brook quiz coach Graham Holcomb asked rounds of questions, letting the quizzers tell him if they wanted a question from Nehemiah (this week's material), Joshua or Job (review material). At 1 o'clock, the team departed Stony Brook Mennonite Church for Strasburg Mennonite Church. The team arrived just in time for worship.

Right after worship, the Stony Brook quiz team had to head downstairs to the fellowship for their first quizmatch, versus Good Shepherd 2, with Dustin King as the quizmaster. The quizmatch begin with Mark of Good Shepherd 2 buzz-in, but he got it incorrect. The bonus went to Kate, and Kate got the bonus correct. Stony Brook continued extending their lead, with a correct buzz in from Kaylee on question 2 and a right buzz in from Olivia on question 3. Mark of Good Shepherd 2 interrupted that with his own correct buzz in on question 4, but Stony Brook bounced right back with their own buzz in right on question 5, thanks to Olivia. On question 6, Mark buzzed in for a third time, but this one he also got wrong, bringing him up to 2 errors. At this point, the Good Shepherd 2 coach called a time out, probably to warn Mark about erroring out if he got a 3rd error. The Stony Brook coach took this opportunity to tell Kate, who turned both of Mark's bonuses into points, to not worry about team bonus if she quizzed out with buzzing in for team bonus. Even if that meant that the team could not get team bonus (remember, with Caleb absent, all 4 of the remaining quizzers had to get a buzz in correct for team bonus), the quiz out was just as valuable, if not more valuable, as team bonus. After all, Stony Brook was winning 50-10 at that point. Sure enough, on question 8, Mark errored out, and Kate quizzed out on his error out. Mark left his seat for the error out, and Kate left her seat for the quiz out, making this a 3 v. 3 quizmatch. On question 9, Kaylee buzzed in and answered correctly, and on question 10, Good Shepherd 2's Olivia (not Stony Brook's Olivia) answered her own buzz in right. On question 11, Good Shepherd 2's Kaylyn buzzed in and answered incorrectly, and Olivia answered the bonus correctly, giving herself a quiz out. On question 12, Kaylyn tried to buzz in again, and this time, she answered right. The last 3 questions were review, and neither team was ready for review, as questions 13 and 14 went by with nobody even attempting the question. On question 15, Kaylee attempted and got it wrong, but it didn't matter, as Ryan of Good Shepherd 2 couldn't get it right either. Stony Brook won, 90-40!

Stony Brook vs. Good Shepherd 2

Stony Brook had a round break before they had their 3rd round quizmatch versus Strasburg 3 in the sanctuary, with Todd Hertzler as the quizmaster. Strasburg 3 quizzer Logan began the quizmatch strong with a buzz-in correct. Strasburg 3 quizzer Truman attempted to start off strong himself with a buzz in, but he answered incorrectly. Kate continued her streak of answering bonuses correctly, putting Stony Brook's first points on the board. On question 4, Kaylee buzzed in and answered right, giving Stony Brook the lead 20-10. She tried to get 2 buzz ins correct in a row, but she instead committed an error, which Riley of Strasburg 3 would answer correctly, tying up the score at 20 points. For the next 3 out of 4 questions, Truman of Strasburg 3 buzzed in and answered them all right, quizzing out by question 8. His quiz out was only interrupted by his own teammate Logan, who errored, which Lauren picked up the bonus, giving Stony Brook more points. Truman would error again on question 9, but this bonus Lauren could not get. At this time, the Strasburg 3 coach called a time out to pull Logan, who was close to erroring out, to put in Grace. The Stony Brook quiz coach took this timeout to remind them team that, while losing by 25 points, this quizmatch was not a runaway, so the quiz team should still go in full throttle. With 2 Strasburg 3 quizzers out and 2 Strasburg 3 subs in, Strasburg 3 slowed down, and Stony Brook sped up. On questions 10 & 11, Stony Brook got 2 buzz-ins correct, one from Kate and one from Olivia. On question 12, Riley of Strasburg 3 attempted her first buzz in, which she got incorrect, and Kaylee also got the bonus wrong. More importantly, Riley's error brought Strasburg 3 to 4 errors. One more error, and they start losing points. The Strasburg 3 coach called timeout to remind the team of this, and the Stony Brook coach again reminded that the team bonus was not needed for a win (the team was 1 Lauren away from team bonus), so everyone should attempt to get to get ahead (Stony Brook was losing by 5 points at this point) and stay ahead in front of Strasburg 3. On question 13, however, Strasburg 3 quizzers Zach buzzed in and answered correctly. Now this changed everything. Not only did Strasburg 3 have a 15-point lead, they also were 1 correct buzz in away from team bonus, with 3 quizzers eligible to get it. Graham called a timeout to inform the quiz team of this, but he also let them know he could take the lead and the win by simply answering the last 2 question right. On question 14, Olivia buzzed in and answered correctly! Stony Brook went from 15 points behind Strasburg 3 to 5 points behind Strasburg 3. It looked like the last question would determine the quizmatch. On question 15, quizmaster Todd asked, "The feet of the priests were dipped in what?" and Strasburg 3 quizzer Riley buzzed in. She buzzed in and answered, "The waters... the brink of the waters..." and then ran out of time. Todd marked Riley wrong, causing her team to lose 5 points. The score was tied at 60, but Stony Brook had the opportunity to grab the win. Todd gave the bonus to Kaylee.  Kaylee answered, "The waters of the Jordan...the brink of the waters of the Jordan," to which Todd marked her right! Ston Brook won, 70-60.

Stony Brook vs. Strasburg 3

The quiz team had a 2 round break before their last quizmatch of the afternoon, versus Strasburg 1, back in the sanctuary with quizmaster Todd Hertzler. The whole quiz team knew they were going up against a 2nd place team, so they knew were going to have a rough match ahead of them. Graham encouraged them to just try their best, score as many points as possible, and whatever God gives and whatever God takes away, the quiz team will bless God's name. Sure enough, it was a tough match. For the first 9 questions, Strasburg 1 buzzed in on all of them. From that, both Zoe and Wesley quizzed out. Now during this time, Strasburg 3 did error on 2 of the questions, but Stony Brook could not pick up the bonuses. Stony Brook got its first points on question 10 with a correct buzz in from Olivia, but Strasburg 1 responded with their own buzz in answered right. Kaylee tried insert herself on question 12, but she answered incorrectly. Ashley on Strasburg 1's side answered the bonus correctly, making herself the third Strasburg 1 quizzer to quiz out for the match. On question 13, Olivia buzzed in and answered right, giving the team 20 points. On question 14, Maddie of Strasburg 1 buzzed in and answered correctly, giving Strasburg 1 team bonus. On question 15, Olivia buzzed in and got it right, quizzing out. Stony Brook lost 35-135, but the silver living was Olivia manging to quiz out in the last third of the quizmatch, especially after being unable to quiz out the last match.

After 5 quizmeets and 14 quizmatches, Stony Brook has a record of 6-8, scoring a grand total of 1,035 points, averaging 74 points per match. Congratulations, Stony Brook, for scoring over 1,000 points, and in 5 weeks, too! It also great to see all the Stony Brook quizzers present score at least once during the quizmeet, so all of them increased their personal record for points in a season. Nehemiah was rough with all its lists, but Jonah should be nicer, so next week should not be as tough. Stony Brook could even have another quizmatch with a score in the triple digits.

Quizmeet at Weaverland: Quizmatches vs. Calvary Monument 2 & Weaverland 4

 When the standings came out on Monday, the Stony Brook quiz team was pleased to find out the previous quizmeet's results only made them drop 1 slot. Stony Brook was even more pleased to find out that Petra 3, the 5th place team Stony Brook quizzed against last meet, held their ground pretty well in the other quiz match, not only remaining in the top 5, but also moving up a spot. Therefore, Weaverland 4 remained in 6th place, meaning Stony Brook would not have to quiz against 2 top 5 teams. Nevertheless, Stony Brook would have to quiz against 2 top 10 teams. The quiz coach reminded the quiz team on both Friday practices that the quiz team has, in the words of the former Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Carson Wentz, an Audience of One, the one true God. The Stony Brook quiz team quizzed only for the Lord, and they should do the best to what the Lord has granted to them, even if it doesn't look like a success on the scoreboard. The quiz team took it to heart. They performed well in practice, even to the point that their quiz coach struggled to write questions to stump them!

An advantage the Stony Brook quiz team had this week was they had the last 2 quizmatches of the quizmeet. The quiz team and their quiz match mutually agreed that it would be more beneficial and helpful to practice for an extra hour than to spend an whole hour just sitting around waiting for our quizmatches. The quiz team still met at 2 p.m. for quiz practice. After reading the material for the week,  the quiz team had 4 practices matches. After 4 practice matches, the team seemed a little tire and worn, so they took a break with the video game RockBand 3! The quizzers rotated playing guitar, bass, drums, keys and vocals. When dinner finished cooking at 4:30 p.m., they moved to the kitchen to enjoy some stuffed shells and salad, prepared by Lorie Grosh. So full of stuffed shells and salad, the quiz team held off on dessert. Instead, the moved back into the living room for another 2 practice matches, one of which went over missed questions those past 2 Fridays, and another went over review questions. Once those 2 practice matches finished, they went back into the kitchen for a dessert of vegan apple crisp. Shortly after, the quiz team embarked for Weaverland.

The Stony Brook quiz team made it to Weaverland in good time, around 7:00 p.m. Stony Brook decided to sit in the back of the sanctuary and watch the quizmatches in there until the time for their quizmatches. The last quizmatch they got to see was Weaverland 4, Stony Brook's last opponent of the night, take on Maple Grove 1, another top 10 team. Maple Grove 1 held their ground pretty well. It almost looked like they would take the win. Alas, though, Weaverland 4 came out the winner. Still, it gave Stony Brook a little bit of hope.

The Stony Brook quiz team proceeded to room 150 for their quizmatch versus Calvary Monument 2, the 2nd place team in our League. After the 2 teams prayed together, the quiz teams took their seats. The quizmatch began with a correct buzz-in from Emma on Calvary Monument 2. Then on question 2, Olivia buzzed in and answered correctly! Yes, after the first 2 questions, the score was tied at 10! On question 3, Gabe from Calvary Monument 2 buzzed in and answered correctly. Then on question 4, Kate managed to buzz in, and it was good buzz in, too! Alas, though, she could not manage to figure out why it was a good buzz in during her 30 seconds. Calvary Monument 2 picked up the bonus correctly. Yes, Stony Brook almost had the quizmatch tied at 20 after 4 questions. Unfortunately, Calvary Monument 2 would take off at this point. They had back-to-back quiz outs on questions 7 & 8, and on question, they would get team bonus. While Calvary Monument 2 had sealed away the win at that point, Stony Brook did not stop scoring. On question 11, Chloe from Calvary Monument 2 errored, sending a bonus question to Lauren. The quizmaster Todd Hertzler asked, "What did the chief priests, scribes and elders perceive?" Lauren answered, "Jesus spoke about them...Jesus told the story about them..." and then her time ran out. The quizmaster met with his judge, and after a moment of delegation, the quizmaster determined he would accept that answer as correct (the best correct answer is "Jesus had told the parable against them"). Lauren got her 3rd correct answer of the year :) ! Kate earned the quiz team even more points when she got a bonus on question 14. Question 15 would go to no one (nobody buzzed in, nobody answered), and the quiz match would end with Calvary Monument 2 winning, 135-30. Besides the question 4 error and the dropped question 15, Stony Brook took advantage of every opportunity they got, and they made the best of it.

Stony Brook vs. Weaverland 4

Stony Brook had to quickly head over to their next quizmatch, facing off Weaverland 4. The quizmatch started with a correct buzz in from Ethan, the top quizzer of Weaverland 4. The next 2 matches were rough. On question 2, Olivia errored, but Montanna from Weaverland 2 could not answer the bonus correctly. The on question 3, Weaverland 4 Jared errored, and Kaylee could not answer the bonus right. The quizmatster BJ Snyder suggested both teams shake it off, put it in the past and move to the future. Weaverland 4 took the advice to heart. They buzzed in and answered correctly the next 3 questions, including a quiz out from Weaverland 4's top quizzer Ethan. Stony Brook would take control of the match, with buzz in answered correctly from Olivia on question 7 and a buzz in answered right by Caleb on question 8. Questions 9 through 12 alternated back and forth between Olivia and Jared from Weaverland 4 buzzing in and answering correctly. This resulted in Olivia quizzing out on question 12, her 4th of the year! Furthermore, Stony Brook was only behind by 20 points from a 6th place team, with 3 questions left to go, however, Weaverland 2 was 1 correct buzz in from team bonus, and they had 2 quizzers who could get it. Unfortunately, Weaverland 4 would get that team bonus on question 14. Stony Brook lost the match to Weaverland 4, 45 to 95. Nonetheless, Stony Brook held their ground well against a 6th place team.

The Stony Brook quiz team now has a record of 1-6-3, with a total of 610 points and an average of 61 points per match. While it may feel disappointing to lose another 2 matches, it is worth noting that these 2 losses came at the hands of 2 top 5 teams, and the quiz team held their ground against these top 2 teams. Imagine what they can do when they can do when they quiz teams similar in strength to them at the next quiz meet!

An uphill battle

On Sunday, Conestoga had 3 matches at Lancaster Mennonite. As the night would go on, each of the quizmatches would get tougher as we would have to face a harder team. On that Sunday afternoon, the quiz team met at Julia Yoder's at 2 PM. A few of us had to circle around her road a couple of times to find her house. We practiced in fron the of the fire place. Amanda found one of those old-fashion foot massagers and she had it under her feet most of the time. For Kristy and Denise, who weren't at practice on Wednesday, I updated them where we were in our standings and what are goal was: to get at least 5 team bonuses by the end of the year. We went over 4 rounds of new questions, taking a break halfway through. During our break, I introduced the quizzers to Lightning Reaction Extreme, a game that shocks the slow buzzers. I know a lot of people who fear this game, but the younger quizzers seemed to like it. We ended our practice with one match of all the questions that were missed on Wednesday. This was good for Kristy and Denise to hear those questions. Denise got a little bit frustrated wtih some of my questions, but I insisted it was learning the material. Julia Yoder served us a wonderful breakfast for dinner: blueberry pancakes, bacon fresh fruit and fresh vegetables. I had to leave for a quizcoach meeting at 5:45, so I left the quizzers early, letting them to their own devices.

I got to the coach's meeting right at 5:45 p.m. I think I might enjoy coach's meeting a little too much. Coach's meetings are like a rite of passage to me now. It represents that I have grown up and I am truly the coach now. But the coaches meeting was nothing overly exciting. We discussed what worked, what didn't, and what was going to happen for the final season playoffs, the ACC Tournament, and the Invitational in Kidron, Ohio. The meeting got over at 6:20, 5 minutes after worship started, so I had to go through quite the search to find my quiz team. When I found them, I joined them in worshipping the Lord. Then the typical announcement and joke, then all of us left the auditorium at once. In the midst of trying to get through the crowd, I thought I spotted out of the corner of my eye someone I knew. It was someone I knew! It was Coach Dave and Coach Vicki from Spring City! I darted through that crowd so fast so I could hug them (although it seemed to end up to be more of a tackle). I was so glad to see them. They said they hoped to come to more matches, but they had to go to ministry committee meetings, so they couldn't come to as much as they like, but here they were. I couldn't wait for them to come to Conestoga's matches.

Conestoga's first match was during the second round against Hinkletown 1. When Erik Zimmerman from Hinkletown 1 buzzed in on the first question and got it right, I was worried. Hinkletown 1 was below us in the standings and the easiest match we'd have all night. If we lost this match, it could really damper spirit. But there was nothing to worry about, for Denise quizzed out by question 7, and Justin followed by quizzing out on question 8. This allowed both Amanda and Meredith in to help us for team. After Justin quizzed out in question 8, Kristy and Joy got the next 2 questions correct after buzzing in, giving us team bonus on question 10. We had the four quizzers for team bonus, but it didn't stop there. Amanda buzzed in on question 11 answered correctly with "Paul was abnormally born." It was funny because Amanda told us in practice her favorite phrase for this week was "abnormally born." The match wasn't over yet. Joy quizzed out on question 14, and Amanda got the last question, also a buzz-in. The end score was in Conestoga's favor, 155 to 20. This was our best match by far all season.

Conestoga's second match was against Zion 2, who were slightly ahead of us in the standings. I had watched two of their matches, and it seemed like they were evenly matched to me. It was all a matter of Zion gettig team bonus. I recognized Joel and Ben as younger siblings from older siblings I quizzed along side of. It was pretty close for the first few questions. After six questions, it was Zion 2 - 40, Conestoga - 20. Even with Joel from Zion 2 quzzzing out on question 8, the 35 point deficit was not putting down the team. Sure enough, Zion 2 got four of their quizzers to get a correct buzz-in and got team bonus. I just urged them to stay strong and still get the most points they can. And that's exactly what they did. Denise quizzed out on question 12, and Joy followed, quizzing out on question 14. Justin kept at it by getting the last question correct. Conestoga did lose the match, but did earn 80 points, which technically above our average.

The third match was consective to our second match. The opponent was RiverCorner, 3rd place in our league. Their top quizzer was one away from perfect. Yet she seemed a little tipsy off of Mountain Dew. She did get the first two questions right, one a buzz in and one a bonus. But on questions 3 and 5 she errored, which Denise was able to get one of them correct. The reason she couldn't get in on question 4 was because Denise got the buzz-in correct. With her two errors, RiverCorner called a timeout after question 5, and pulled her. At that point, the score was tied with 20 points each. But after timeout, the team was refreshed. RiverCorner answered 6 of the next 7 questions correct, all buzz-ins. In that, they got team bonus and 2 quiz outs. Joy buzzed in on the last two questions, getting one right, and erroring on the other. After a close start, RiverCorner won, 110 to 40.

So after Sunday night, Conestoga's average went up from 78 to 81. Yet we stayed the same in standings, in slot 11. Denise is now 20th in the Top 50 Quizzers List. And after Justin's quiz out and Joy quiz outs, the two of them are now in Top 100. Next week we have the oppurtunity to go up in the standings.