The AMEC Tournament

The local tournament had always been known as the ACC Tournament, but when Graham Holcomb, the Stony Brook quiz coach, started quizzed, it had the nickname the "Pequea Tournament" because the round robin took place at Pequea High School (the playoffs happened at Ridgeview Mennonite Church). When the tournament moved to Lancaster Bible College, people wondered if it would become known as the "LBC Tournament." It did not, and it just stuck with the official name of ACC Tournament. Even when Lancaster Mennonite School hosted for a few years, it never picked up the nickname of "LMS Tournament"; it stuck with the name official name of ACC Tournament. Now with AMEC sponsoring Bible quizzing, the local tournament did have an official name change of AMEC Tournament, but it was still the same local tournament (although some people, out of habit, may have let "ACC Tournament" slip out of their lips).

The Stony Brook quiz team would be the most short-handed all year for this tournament. Kate had a choir recital, and Lauren had FFA in Harrisburg, so the team came consisted of Olivia, Kaylee and Caleb. Kate and Lauren kindly graced the rest of the team with their presence at practice during the Sunday school hour. Indeed, iron sharpened iron, as they all chipped in to help each other improve. Besides, Kate and Lauren got a head start practicing for the Invitational tournament the following week. The Stony Brook quiz coach tried his best to throw them off, with a quizmatch of all list questions and a quizmatch of all situation questions, but the quiz team stayed on top of it. They were ready as they would ever be! Kate and Lauren also kindly stayed for lunch for fellowship purposes and so Graham could give them a rough introduction to the Invitational tournament. At noon, Kate left for her choir recital, Lauren left for FFA and the rest of them left for Lancaster Bible College for the AMEC Tournament.

The Stony Brook quiz team made it in good time to Lancaster Bible College, arriving around half past noon. Taking advantage of arriving early, Graham, the quiz coach and an alumnus of Lancaster Bible College, took the quiz team on a tour of the campus, so they knew the locations of their quizmatches. Kaylee and Olivia decided to stay in the building of their first quizmatch and just wait it out, while Graham and Caleb decided to watch the other teams in their group. For round 1, Graham and Caleb watched Petra 3 vs. Metzler. There they learned Metzler only had 3 quizzers. Metzler quizzed sloppy, only answering 3 questions correctly, but causing 5 errors. They lost to Petra 3, only scoring 25 points, losing 5 points due to the 5 errors. For round 2, they watched Petra 3 vs. Calvary Monument 4. This quizmatch wasn't as sloppy, but it was still low scoring, with Petra 3 coming out the winner. In his first tournament experience, Caleb already learned that the team didn't need to score as high as a season match. They just needed to score more than their opponent. That was doable, even with just 3 quizzers.

Finally, round 3 came along, and finally, Stony Brook had their first quizmatch of the AMEC Tournament, versus Calvary Monument 4. Calvary Monument 4 controlled the first third of the match. For the first 5 questions, they buzzed in on every single question. They did give up an error in the middle of that, but Stony Brook could not pick up the bonus. Olivia broke Calvary Monument 4's buzzing streak with a correct buzz-in on question 6. She tried it again on question 7, but this buzz-in would end up incorrect. The bonus would go to Ellie from Calvary Monument 4, and she would use that bonus to quiz out. Logan of Calvary Monument 4 would get his own buzz-in right for question 8, putting Calvary Monument 4 a single question away from team bonus. Calvary Monument 4 quizzer Nathan tried to buzz in for his own quiz out, but he rendered a bonus, which Olivia answered for another 10 points under her name. She would later quiz out on question 12, thanks to another bonus from Calvary Monument 4's Nathan, who he himself was trying to quiz out. In order to win, Stony Brook needed to answer the last 3 questions correctly. That dream would go out the door right on question 13 when Calvary Monument 4's Braydon got a question right. During one last timeout, Graham reminded Caleb and Kaylee that they can still honor God by scoring as many points as they can. Caleb took that to heart. On question 14, it looked like it would go unanswered, but Caleb buzzed in at the last second and answer correctly! On question 15, Calvary Monument 4 quizzers Nathan finally got that quiz out he desired. Stony Brook lost to Calvary Monument 4 45-85 (this would be Calvary Monument 4's only win for the tournament). The quiz team was now 0-1 in Group E.

Stony Brook vs. Strasburg 1

The Stony Brook quiz team had no time to grieve their loss, as the team had to run to another building for their round 4 quizmatch versus Strasburg 1, the season champions. Now Stony Brook had a season quizmatch vs. Strasburg 1, in which they lost 35-135, with the only points being Olivia's quiz out. Well, the results for this quizmatch were very similar. For 2/3 of the questions, Strasburg 1 buzzed in and answered correctly. As a result, naturally, Strasburg 1 got team bonus, 3 of their quizzers quizzed out, and a 4th quizzer scored 20 points. Strasburg would win, scoring 145 points. Stony Brook did not go away empty-handed, though. Caleb, Kaylee and Olivia each got a buzz in right, contributing 30 points to Stony Brook's side of the scoreboard. While a rough loss, the quiz team took it light-heartedly. They even joked that, in their hearts and their mind, they got team bonus because everybody on the team got a buzz in right (but technically it's not team bonus because you need 4 quizzers for team bonus, which Stony Brook did not have on this day). The quiz team was now 0-2 in Group E.

Stony Brook vs. Petra 3

The Stony Brook quiz team had no time to mourn their loss, as their had the 3rd of the back-to-back-to-back match in round 5, versus Petra 3. Now Petra 3, up to this point, was 2-0 in Group E. A 2-0 team versus a 0-2 team did not look good. It sure did not look good 2 questions in, as Petra 3 quizzer Josiah, who was a perfect quizzer on the year (quizzed out every season match) buzzed in and answered them both correctly. On question 3, Petra 3's Brenen buzzed in, attempting to bring his team up 30 points, but he errored. The bonus went to Kaylee, and she got it right, giving Stony Brook its first points. That was the turn in the tide Stony Brook needed. Olivia got the next 2 questions correct: 1 buzz in and 1 bonus. Petra dominated the buzzing for the middle third of the match, buzzing in on the next 7 questions. Fortunately for Stony Brook, Petra 3 only got a simple majority, not all, of them correct. Unfortunately, Stony Brook could only get 10 points out of the 3 bonuses. After 11 questions, Petra 3 was up 65-40. On question 12, Kaylee errored, but Samantha from Petra 3 could not pick up the bonus for points. On question 13, Samantha errored, but Caleb could pick up the bonus, bringing the score closer, yet still in Petra 3's favor. Then on question 14, Olivia buzzed in and answered right, thus quizzing out. Question 15 went by with nobody buzzing in and no one answering. Graham and Caleb thought the match ended in a tie and was going into overtime questions, but upon a further review with the scorekeeper, the scorekeeper revealed that Petra 5 had 5 errors, which mean they lost 5 points! Stony Brook won, 65-60, due to Petra 3 losing 5 points due to 5 errors! Stony Brook may have wone by a technicality, but that technicality put Stony Brook 1-2 in Group E. More importantly, though, when the standings updated, the quiz team discovered that they were in a 4-way tie for 3rd place because all the teams in Group B, besides Strasburg 1 and Petra 3, all were 1-2!

Stony Brook vs. Grace & Truth 2

After having 3 back-to-back-to-back quizmatches, the Stony Brook quiz team had a break for 1 hour 20 minutes. An hour and a third later, Stony Brook had their 4th quiz match of the tournament, versus Grace & Truth 2. Stony Brook had quizzed Grace & Truth 2 during the season, in which Grace & Truth 2 won 100-40. This may have given Grace & Truth some inflated pride, as Caleb heard them talking about how they could easily take Stony Brook. As Graham's quiz coach always taught him, pride is death to the spirit (based off of Proverbs 16:18), and Grace & Truth 2's pride would be their downfall in the quizmatch. In this quizmatch, Michael from Grace & Truth 2 would quiz out on all buzz-ins, and that would be their highlight of the quizmatch. Kyle of Grace & Truth 2 would error out, even getting a bonus wrong before erroring out. The only other contribution from Grace & Truth 2 was Tabitha, but that too was an error. Meanwhile, on the Stony Brook side, Kaylee would quiz out on 3 questions, Olivia would quiz out on 4 questions (Olivia would get an extra bonus after quizzing out due to Tabitha's error) and even Caleb got a buzz in correct. Stony Brook won the quizmatch 90-35. Now they had a record of 2-2 in Group E.

When the standings update, the Stony Brook quiz team found themselves in an interesting predicament. They went from a 4-way tie for 3rd place to a 3-way tie for 2nd place with Metzler and Petra 3! There were 2 rounds of the round robin left. For the penultimate round, the only Group E match was Strasburg 1 vs. Calvary Monument 4, and the only thing that would do would be clinch 1st place for Strasburg 1 and eliminate Calvary Monument 4 (and it did). For the last round, Stony Brook would quiz Metzler and Petra 3 would quiz Grace & Truth 2. If Stony Brook could win versus Metzler, they would place 2nd place in Group B (even if Petra 3 won, Stony Brook would win the tiebreaker because they won the head-to-head match-up), qualifying them for the playoffs.  If Stony Brook lost, but Petra 3 also lost to Grace & Truth 2, Metzler would take 2nd place, but Stony Brook, Petra 3 and Grace & Truth 2 would be in a 3-way tie for 3rd place, and Stony Brook would most likely win the tiebreaker (If head-to-head-to-head tiebreaker, Stony Brook would win because Stony Brook won their matches versus Petra 3 and Grace & Truth 2. If errors broke the tie, Stony Brook only had 8 errors, and Stony Brook personally witnessed Grace & Truth get 4 errors and Petra 3 get 5 errors in a single match.) to clinch 3rd place in Group E, also qualifying to the playoffs. If Stony Brook lost to Metzler, and Petra 3 won versus Grace & Truth 2, Stony Brook would finish 4th place in Groub E, eliminating them from playoff contention. Ultimately, Stony Brook was in control of their own destiny. A win and they were in. Just as important, however, Stony Brook could also get in the playoffs with a Petra 3 loss. The only thing that couldn't happen wasn't Stony Brook losing and Petra 3 winning. [Cue ominous foreshadowing music.]

Stony Brook vs. Metzler

Finally, 4:40 p.m. arrived, and with it, the final round of the round robin, and with that, Stony Brook's quizmatch versus Metzler. Stony Brook had quizzed Metzler during the season, in which Stony Brook won 85-80 due to Kate giving Stony Brook team bonus on question 15. Without Kate the quiz team felt uneasy without Kate to get them team bonus, but the quiz coach reminded them that Metzler could not get team bonus either. Metzler was down 1 quizzer and Stony Brook was down 2 quizzers, so this became a 3 v. 3 quizmatch, with nobody able to get team bonus. Olivia would begin the match by buzzing, in, but she could not get it correct. No harm, no foul, as Laina from Metzler could not get it right either. The quizmatch remained tied at 0. Annalee of Metzler would give Metzler a 20-point lead, buzzing in and answering correctly questions 2 and 3. Laina attempted to increase the Metzler lead by 30 on question 4, but she errored instead, a bonus which Olivia would get right. It was just the fire Olivia needed, as she would buzz in and answer the next 2 questions right, quizzing out on question 6. Annalee would follow up with her own buzz-in correct and her own quiz out on question 7. Halfway through the match, it was tied at 35, and it had become a 2 v. 2 quizmatch. On question 8, Kaylee buzzed in and answered right, giving Stony Brook the lead 45-35. Kaylee buzzed in again to try to extend the lead again, but she errored instead. Again, no harm, no foul, as Metzler's Hadassah could not get it correct either. On question 10, Laina buzzed in with the right answer, tying the match again, this time 45 points apiece. 2/3 through the quizmatch, and it felt like a brand-new match. Caleb would give Stony Brook the lead back again with his own correct buzz-in. On question 12, Metzler quizzer Laina would attempt to tie the score again, but rather, she errored. Unfortunately, Kaylee could not extend Stony Brook's lead, dropping the bonus. On question 13, Caleb buzzed in. He said "oh" and then stopped speaking because he thought he spoke when it wasn't his light. When nobody spoke up, Caleb realized it was his light, and tried his best to answer. Unfortunately, Caleb only said "rams horns trumpets" without the number 7, and therefore, he got it wrong. Fortunately, Hadasseh didn't realize what Caleb did wrong, and so she didn't get the points either. Up to this point, Stony Brook's saving grace was that Metzler could not take advantage of Stony Brook's errors (Metzler missed 3 bonuses to be exact). After question 13, Graham called a timeout. He reminded the quiz team that they were in the lead, and all they had to do was maintain that lead. If Stony Brook got the last 2 questions, Stony Brook won. If Stony Brook got 1 and Metzler got 1, Stony Brook won. If Stony Brook got 0 but Metzler also got 0, Stony Brook won. If Stony Brook got 0 and Metzler got 1, the match would tie, and it would go into overtime, which Stony Brook could take the win. The only thing that couldn't happen was that Metzler got both of the last 2 questions. [Cue ominous foreshadowing music.] On both questions 14 and 15, Laina buzzed in so confidently that it was clear she knew the correct answer. Sure enough, after taking some time to make sure she had the right answer, Laina answered correctly, quizzing out. She didn't need the quiz out; Metzler just needed the 20 point to win, and it just so happened that those 20 points were from a Metzler quizzer who already had 10 points. Stony Brook lost 55-70 to Metzler. With this loss, Stony Brook finished 2-3 in Group E. When the standings updated, it revealed Petra 3 won versus Grace & Truth 2. That means Stony Brook placed in 4th place in the group, thus eliminating them from the tournament's playoffs.

By the time the round robin had ended, it was dinner time. The Stony Brook quiz team went to Chipotle for dinner because it was the friendliest to Olvia's vegan Lenten fast. Once done dinner, the quiz team went back to Lancaster Bible College for the quizzing video and the individual season awards. Besides the Stony Brook team photo, the only other time Stony Brook appeared in the quizzing video was a glimpse of Kate coming down from all quizzers photo. The quizzing video transitions into the individual awards. The individual quizzer awards revealed that Olivia finished in 22th place with a sore of 635 points! Way to go, Olivia!

At this point, the Stony Brook quizzers decided they had enough quizzing for the day, so they departed with their respective parents. The Stony Brook quiz coach Graham decided to stay to see how it played out in the playoffs. At first, he considered watching how either Petra 3 or Metzler would do, but he decided against it, in fear he would constantly be comparing how Stony Brook would have done (the playoff tree would later on reveal both teams each won their first and lost their second, which means Stony Brook would have probably done the same). Instead, he watched in-church "grudge matches" (matches between 2 teams of the same church), including Weaverland 1 vs. Weaverland 2 and Strasburg 1 vs. Strasburg 2. Both of those matches got "playfully fiesty," as both matches had at least 1 contest over petty, little things. In one match, the quizmaster even had to remind the team quizzing that, while a friendly rivalry from within a church, it was still a tournament playoff match, and such manners need to be shown. The most exciting "grudge match" was between Strasburg 1 and Strasburg 2, as it was a repeat of the season championship final. The same results happened. Next, he watched the match between Calvary Monument 1 and Slate Hill, the season championship final that could have been because both teams had the highest point average in the respective leagues at the end of the season. In a way, this match could be a way to considered who should be 3rd and who should be 4th for the season because they both lost their respective season semifinal playoff. If that's the case, then Calvary Monument 1 is 3rd and Slate Hill is 4th because Calvary Monument 1 came out the victor. For the semifinal match, Graham watched Strasburg 1 vs Calvary Monument 1, a rematch of a season semifinal playoff match. This time, Calvary Monument 1 would get the victory over Strasburg 1, winning 85-65. Graham got to the chapel just in enough time to see that Blainsport 1 came out victorious over Rockville, 100-35. After awarding Strasburg 1 and Rockville their semifinalist trophies, the AMEC Tournament championship finals between Calvary Monument 1 and Blainsport 1 commenced. After 15 questions, Blainsport 1 became the champion, winning 90-55.

Congratulations to Blainsport 1 for becoming the AMEC Tournament champions! This is Blainsport's first time since 2017 taking the local tournament championship (and only the 2nd time all century). Congratulations to Calvary Monument 1 for 2nd place in the AMEC Tournament! This is the 6th time in the past 8 local tournament that a Calvary Monument team has made the local tournament final match. Congratulations to Strasburg 1 and Rockville for becoming AMEC Tournament semifinalists! Just as importantly, congratulations Stony Brook for a successful first local tournament. The Stony Brook quiz team had a lot of firsts that came with their first local tournament. It was their first time quizzing over the whole quizzing material. It was their first time quizzing 5 matches in a single day. Not only did they do it, they did it well, winning 2 matches. They were always in control of their own destiny, and they always held their own ground. They just simply lost control at the end, due to the only thing that could not happen happening. And it did it all with just 3 quizzers!