Season Closer: Quizmatches vs. Waterway 2 & Bowmansville 2

 After facing 2 very formidable quiz teams last quizmeet, the Stony Brook quiz team looked forward to moving on from that tough meet. Stony Brook felt pleased to learn that one of the quiz teams in their next quizmeet, Bowmansville 2, pretty much fell in the standings equal to Stony Brook. As for the other team Stony Brook would quiz, Waterway 2, while they fell 10th place in League A, Waterway 2 fell 23rd of 51 teams overall, so Waterway 2 is really an average team. This gave Stony Brook hope that they could break their 4-game losing streak. The first Friday practice did not seem so promising. Not only did all 5 quizzers commit a lot of errors, they dropped many of the bonuses. It did not seem like the quiz team knew the material. The quizzers only needed an extra week of practice. The second Friday practice did look promising. Very few errors happened, and when they did, most of them got the bonus correct. All Stony Brook needed to do was fine tuning before Sunday.

On Sunday afternoon, the Stony Brook quiz team met at the Heindels for practice. Since Caleb had a choir practice, quizzing practice consisted of the 4 girls. Since practice only had 4 quizzers, their coach increased quiz outs to 4 questions. The added challenge did not throw off the 4 girls. While they had a couple error outs, for the most part, they all managed to quiz out with 4 questions. After doing 4 sets of practices matches over this week's material, the quiz team had 2 sets of review matches. The Stony Brook quiz coach, feeling a little sadistic, made the first set of review questions all lists! While both Kate and Olivia fell victim to the lists, both Kaylee and Lauren quizzed out on them! To boost morale and encourage, the quiz coach asked another set of review questions, straightforward and slightly easier. This review match went much smoother, indeed boosting morale. At 4 o'clock, during the dinner hour, Judy prepared for the quiz team taco soup with all the fixings. During this dinner hour, Caleb rejoined the team. The quiz coach went over the quiz questions the rest of the team had during their practice matches in the afternoon. Soon enough, 5 o'clock came, and the entire quiz team crowded into the Metzler van to head off to Petra Church one last time for the year.

Once the Stony Brook quiz team arrived at Petra Church, they found a quiet corner to do a couple rounds of questions. After a few rounds, Stony Brook filed into the Petra auditorium for a time of worship. The quiz team stayed in the sanctuary to watch quiz matches until 7 o'clock, when their time to quiz came.

Stony Brook vs. Waterway 2

At 7 o'clock, Stony Brook quizzed with Waterway 1 in room 306, with Sam Clement as the quizmaster. Waterway started strong with a correct buzz in from their quizzer Christopher, but Olivia matched him with a correct buzz-in on her own, tying the score up at 10 after 2 questions. On question 3, Caleb made the unfortunate buzz in at "Joseph of Arimathea..." but fortunately the quizmaster stuttered, so he threw out question. The quizmaster asked a new question, and Christopher from Waterway 2 buzzed in and answered correctly. Waterway's Christopher would do it again on question 4, quzzing out on the first 4 questions. On question 5, Caleb unfortunately errored, but fortunately, Waterway 2 did not pick up the bonus. On question 6, Hannah from Waterway 2 buzzed in answered correctly, extending Waterway's lead 45-10. The quizmatch was slowly slipping away from Stony Brook's grasp. Fortunately, Olivia responded by buzzing in and answered correctly. Unfortunately, Waterway 2 replied the same way, with their quizzer Bryce also buzzing in and answering correctly, holding on to their 35 point lead. Now Stony Brook would gain some steam. On question 9, Caleb buzzed in and answered correctly, bringing up Stony Brook up to 30 points. On question 10, Olivia buzzed in and answered correctly, thus quizzing out, her 5th of the year! Unfortunately, Waterway 2 would gain the same steam. Their quizzer Hannah answered a buzz in correctly twice in a row, and she would quiz out on question 12. Waterway 2 got their 35 point lead back. Caleb responded by buzzing on question 13 and answering correctly, closing in the score gap by 25 points. At this point, only Caleb and Olivia got in on the quizmatch. With only 2 questions remaining, In order to win, Stony Brook would 2 of the other 3 quizzers to buzz in and answer correctly for team bonus. Waterway 2 would foil Stony Brook's plans when their quizzer Bryce buzzed in and answered correctly, extending Waterway's score to 90 points. Not only was it feasibly impossible to earn team bonus, Waterway 2 had taken too far a lead to catch up to them. Still, Caleb had 1 question left to quiz out, which would be the first time since the first quizmatch of the year. From the bench, the Stony Brook quiz coach encouraged Caleb to just go for it. Indeed, Caleb did go for it, buzzing in, but sadly, Caleb errored on the question. While Waterway 2 did not get the bonus, it really did not matter. Stony Brook lost, 55 to 90.

Stony Brook vs. Bowmansville 2

At 8 o'clock, Stony Brook quizzed with Bowmansville 2 in room 401, with quizmaster Sam Beiler, or as the Stony Brook quizzers call him, "one-liner Sam." Bowmansville 2 began the quizmatch on a strong note with their quizzer Emma buzzing in and answering correctly 2 in a row. Olivia, who must have felt frustrated not getting in, buzzed in on question 3, but she could come with the correct answer, thus erroring. Fortunately, Bowmansville 2 would not get the bonus either. After the brief pause, Emma from Bowmansville 2 got her 3rd buzz in correct, thus quizzing out. On questions 5 & 6, Bowmansville 2 and Stony Brook would give each other bonuses, but no one would pick them up correctly. That tide changed on question 7, when Lauren got a bonus correct. Yes, Stony Brook's first points facing this equally-matched team came with Lauren's right bonus on question 7. Well, it was just the motivation Stony Brook needed. On question 8, Olivia buzzed in and answered correctly! At this point, the Stony Brook quiz coach called a time out. He pulled out Olivia to put in Kate. Now all 4 quizzers in were eligible to contribute to team bonus. On question 9, Caleb buzzed in and answered correctly! Again, the quiz coach called another timeout. Their quiz coach feeling bad to pulling out a quizzer who quizzed out last match, especially a quizzer near the Top 60 Bible Quizzers List, put Olivia back in exchange for taking out Caleb, now he got his buzz in correct. On question 10, Kaylee buzzed in on "The high priest tore..." Kaylee buzzed in, thought about it, remembered going over the keyword tore in practice and answered perfectly, "his garment...the high priest's garment" and got it correct! Stony Brook answered 4 questions correctly in a row, now taking the lead of 40 to 35! After no right answers since question 4, Bowmansville 2 quizzer Maggie buzzed in and answered correctly, taking the lead back to Bowmansville 2. This lead would only last temporarily. On the next question, Bowmansville 2 quizzer Tyler buzzed in, but he could not answer correctly. The bonus went to Olivia, and sadly, she also could not answer correctly. This must have motivated Olivia, as she would buzz in and answer correctly the next 2 questions in row, this quizzing out, her 6th of the year. Yes, Olivia quizzed out half her matches this year! On the last question, Clark from Bowmansville 2 would answer an buzz-in correctly, but it didn't really matter. Stony Brook WON 65 to 50.

Stony Brook's starting lineup versus Bowmansville 2

Since the Stony Brook quiz team had one of the last quizmatches of the night, Stony Brook joined everybody else filing into the auditorium, watching to old quizzing videos, waiting for the coordinator to quickly calculate the final standings. It did not go so quickly, as everyone waited about a half four! Before the announcement of of the top individual quizzers and quiz teams, the quiz teams, represented by Daryl and Audrey, thanked Fred & Chris Hertzler for coordinating quizzing this year. Fred also had a announcement of his own. ACC Bible Quizzing would become AMEC Bible Quizzing, as the Alliance of Mennonite Evangelical Churches would become the new host/sponsor of Bible Quizzing. Then finally the Top 60 Bible Quizzers List could commence. Regrettably, the 60th place quizzer finished with 300 points, and Olivia earned 270 points, falling 30 points short of making that Top 60 Bible Quizzers List (but she probably made the top 100!). When they finished with the Top 60 Bible Quizzers List, they realized they forgot to calculate the teams for the season playoffs! Just a few minutes later, they had the answer. The standings from the previous week did not change. In League A, Petra 1 finished 1st and Calvary Monument 2 finished 2nd. In League B, Bowmansville 1 finished 1st and Calvary Monument 1 finished 2. This would mean the semifinal matches would be Petra 1 vs. Calvary Monument 1 and Calvary Monument 2 vs. Bowmansville 1. After both semifinal matches, the final season match would be Calvary Monument 1 vs. Bowmansville 1. After 15 questions, Bowmansville 1 would come out the winner and the champion. Congratulations to Bowmansville 1 for the season championship! This is the first time Bowmansville was in the season final since 2019, and the first time Bowmansville won the season championship since 2015. Also, congratulations to Calvary Monument 1 for their second consecutive appearance in the season final match!

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!

Opening the 2nd half of the season at Petra

 Now quizzing was back to normal for this year. The quizzers had a whole 2 weeks to study and practice the rest of chapter 9, chapter 10 and chapter 11. The quiz team needed it. While the first opponent of the upcoming quizmeet, Maple Grove 3, was (about) equal in strength in the Stony Brook quiz team, the second opponent, Petra 3, fell among the top 5 teams in their league. After doing some research and math, their quiz coach realized that Petra 3 fell in the top 5 due to consistent team bonus. Therefore, the quiz team made it their goal to get team bonus in practice by having all 5 quizzers buzz in and answer a question correctly in each practice. Every Friday practice, it would be a slow start, but by the end of the night, the team would get that team bonus.

The Metzlers hosted the Sunday afternoon practice. Caleb had to miss the first quarter of practice due to choir practice, so the 4 quizzers had 2 practice quiz matches which required to 4 questions to quiz out. In the 1st practice match, Lauren and Kate quizzed out with 4 questions, and on the 2nd practice match, Olivia and Kate quizzed out on 4 questions. Caleb rejoined the team two-thirds through the second quiz match, so the practices matches went back to quizzing out on 3 questions. Now that all 5 quizzers practiced together, they all went back to buzzing in and answering correctly 1 question every match. Without a doubt, Stony Brook knew they could get team bonus. After a vegan dinner of koshari and some free time, the quiz team departed once again for Petra Church to open the second half of the season!

On the ride up, the quiz coach went over the questions Caleb missed with Caleb, and if he answered incorrectly, the bonus went to another random quizzer.  After that, the quiz team did rounds of questions until the quiz coach felt like the quiz team got it. Even upon arriving at Petra, the quiz team found an area to go over distinguishing between similar questions. When the time came, the quiz team filed into the sanctuary for a time of worship. When worship concluded, the quiz team decided to stay in the sanctuary to watch a quizmatch. Once that quizmatch finished, the time came for Stony Brook to quiz.

The Stony Brook quiz team went to room 303 to face off with Maple Grove 3, quizmastered by Phil Sauder. Kate, Caleb, Lauren and Kaylee took the starting lineup, with Olivia as the first substitute. The quizmatch began with with correct buzz in from Dana on Maple Grove 3. On question 2, Dana buzzed in again, but she errored. The bonus went to Caleb, and he got it right, listing off 4 of 6 of what no has left. Caleb followed up by buzzing in and answering correctly on question 3, temporarily giving Stony Brook the lead 20-10. Maple Grove 3 quizzer Cy then buzzed in and answered correctly, tying up the quizmatch. On question 5, Caleb buzzed in, looking to quiz out, but he could not, for he errored. Caleb got another chance on question 7 when he got a bonus to name the 6 commandments that the man with great possessions claim he kept from his youth. Unfortunately, Caleb could only name 5, missing the opportunity to quiz out again. Soon the quizmatch would go downhill. The top 2 quizzers from Maple Grove 3 quizzed out  consecutively. It went back and forth between the two teams, but Maple Grove 3 was reaching the point where it was out of Stony Brook's control. Still, Stony Brook was 2 questions away from team bonus, thanks to Kate's correct buzz in on question 10. The Stony Brook quiz coach pulled out Kate and put in Olivia to increase the chance for team bonus. It looked hopeful when Olivia, on her first question in for the quizmatch, buzzed in and answered correctly. It look like Stony Brook would get team bonus on question 15 again, but unfortunately, Lauren picked the wrong soil. It was not meant to be. Stony Brook lost to 50 to 90. Nevertheless, Stony Brook managed to get 50 points out of the match, thanks to 20 points from Caleb and 10 points from Kate, Kaylee and Olivia.

Stony Brook vs Maple Grove 3

The Stony Brook quiz team had back-to-back matches, so they had to head up to the summit of Petra church to quiz the home team Petra 3, that top 5 team. Petra 3 took an early lead. After 7 questions, they were winning 55-10, thanks to their top quizzer Abby quizzing on 3 consecutive questions (all buzz ins, too!). Halfway through the match, though, Stony Brook took control. On question 11, Olivia quizzed out, her third of the year! Kate got 2 buzz ins correct and Caleb got a bonus correct, contributing to the quiz team's score. After 13 questions, the score was tied at 65. It looked like Stony Brook was heading towards another one of their famous ties! Unfortunately, it was not meant to be. This time, Petra 3 would get the team bonus on question 15, winning the quizmatch 95 to 65. After the quiz match, their quiz coach gathered the team together to remind them how well they did, even if the final score did not show it. Stony Brook impressively held their ground against a top 5 team. Equally impressive, Caleb made his first contest! Although he did not win the contest, he presented it in a logical and reasonable way, one that made his quiz coach proud!

Stony Brook vs. Petra 3

The Stony Brook quiz team now has a record of 1-4-3, with a total of 535 point and an average of 66.875 points per match. Furthermore, Caleb's 3 correct answers earned him 30 pointing, bring him to over 100 points for the year. Stony Brook now has 3 quizzers over 100 points for the year!