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Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Jul 14, 2019 1:44 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
Important dates for 2019-20:

August 30-31, 2019, Division I TV Tournament Filming (APT, Montgomery, AL)
September 21, 2019 West Point Fall Invitational
December 6-7, 2019, Division II TV Tournament Filming (APT, Montgomery, AL)
December 14, 2019 West Point Winter Tourney
January 16, 2020, Junior Varsity District Tournament (Univ. of Alabama Gadsden Center)
January 17, 2020, Junior Varsity District Tournaments (Enterprise and Wallace State Community Colleges)
January 25, 2020, Middle School District Tournaments (Area High Schools)
February 14, 2020, High School Division I and II District Tournaments (Area Community Colleges)
February 22, 2020, Elementary School State Tournament (Hoover High School)
February 22, 2020, Middle School State Tournament (Hoover High School)
March 6, 2020, Junior Varsity State Tournament
April 3, 2020, High School Division I and II State Tournaments

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Aug 12, 2019 1:50 pm
by quizbowllee
Does anyone have any dates yet for Invitationals? I've got kids and parents desperately trying to juggle a million different activities. Most have Quiz Bowl as a priority, but we need to know dates ASAP so that they don't make other commitments.

As for us, we will have host an invitational (High School) on Sept. 21, 2019. We will also host our Winter NAQT event on Dec. 14, 2019 (tentatively).

Thanks,

Lee

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:14 pm
by K@b00m
Are there any tournaments in August or will West Point fall be the kickoff tournament for this year?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Aug 13, 2019 3:20 pm
by K@b00m
Also, what days of the week are the above dates? Will Varsity State still be played on a Friday?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2019 10:36 am
by modernhemalurgist
WRK will be held on October 12. Announcement: https://hsquizbowl.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23186

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 10:47 am
by K@b00m
I know West Point Kickoff using SM4RT is on September 21, and WRK is going to be October 12, and I also know that district and state dates are set this year. Some quick questions:

I saw that SCOTTIE was originally scheduled for October 5, which is the date of the Hoover Invitational. Is this officially rescheduled for March?
Is there going to be a HFT mirror this year in Alabama? If so, when and where?
Is there a full list of known dates for invitationals this year, and the sets they use?
What are these fun tournaments? How do they work? What sets do they use?
What are the TV Tournaments like? How do they work? The tournaments site says they're on September 27-28, so will it take place both dates or just Saturday the 28th?

Finally, what are some predictions for AL states this year, for all divisions (HS V, JV, MS, ES)? This year is going to be, to say the least, very interesting because there are some teams that have done amazingly at State and Nationals Tournaments last year, and many of these teams retain powerful members.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Sep 19, 2019 3:54 pm
by Cjh0024
Opelika would like to take the opportunity to invite your Quiz Bowl Team to the Opelika Middle School Jingle Bell Bowl. This is a great opportunity to participate in a quality event that would capstone the 2019 school year before ASCA play. The tournament will take place on December 14th at Opelika Middle School in Opelika, AL (I-85 next to Auburn). The tournament will have both Middle School and Elementary Divisions, with the cost set at $60 per team. We are still in the process of securing questions, but the questions will either be an NAQT set not being used in Alabama or an out of state mirror. We will be streaming the division finals live from our school auditorium. The tournament will follow ASCA rules. The team field is being capped at 12 teams per division. We already have a few teams that have confirmed attendance, so please let me know ASAP if your team will attend. I will update the team field periodically at hsquizbowl.org (Alabama 2019-2020). Tournament start time will be at 9:30 with registration beginning at 9:00.

Thank you, let me know if I can answer any questions, and good luck this upcoming season!

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Sep 23, 2019 10:55 am
by Cjh0024
OPELIKA JINGLE BELL BOWL FIELD UPDATE (9/23)

Opelika - 4
Thompson - 1
Smiths Station - 1
South Smiths Station - 1
Northside - 1
West Forest - 1
Morris Avenue - 1
Prattville - 2
Monrovia - 3
Haleyville 2

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Sep 24, 2019 9:53 am
by quizbowllee
Congrats to the winners of West Point's SM4RT Invitational:

Varsity:

Spain Park - Champions
Hoover - 2nd Place
Hewitt-Trussville - 3rd Place

JV:

East Lawrence B - Champion
Hoover B - 2nd Place

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Sep 29, 2019 12:34 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
Just a reminder to teams that participated in ASB this past weekend - please do not post results here or elsewhere. The shows will begin airing November 2nd on APT.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2019 6:00 pm
by modernhemalurgist
WRK is being held this Saturday! We still have many open spots left, so if you would like to come and still haven't registered, please let me know ASAP!

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2019 2:56 pm
by quizbowllee
Will we ever see stats from Hoover and/or WRK?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Oct 25, 2019 3:24 pm
by Joshua Rutsky

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:57 pm
by Deepsouth quizcoach
Are we going to get those on NAQT's website? This link will probably open for us at home, but Mobile County has a most outstanding firewall...

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Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Oct 28, 2019 1:04 pm
by Deepsouth quizcoach
And, Lee- the results for WRK are posted on this website (hsquizbowl.org), if you'll go to 'tournaments- past results- Alabama'. Kinda looks like Kapil and Hoover had it going on last weekend. I know it was an 'A' set, but 553 ppg, with a 640 and 665, pretty strong. I don't care it you're playing unopposed, and they weren't, that is a ton of points.

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Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 8:55 am
by quizbowllee
Deepsouth quizcoach wrote: Mon Oct 28, 2019 12:57 pm Are we going to get those on NAQT's website? This link will probably open for us at home, but Mobile County has a most outstanding firewall...

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I was much more interested in why these tournaments haven't been posted to NAQT's website yet. But, I'm glad I at least got to see the stats.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Oct 29, 2019 9:17 pm
by K@b00m
Could we get some predictions on Varsity, JV, and Middle School teams for the circuit this year? This year seems to be VERY competitive, with many powerful teams retaining powerful members. Here are my rankings:

1) Hoover. (I'm not biased). Hoover has a very strong team this year, and is a force to be reckoned with. We won ASCA states last year, and we made upper bracket last year at HSNCT, and led against TJ A for most of the game, only losing to them by 90 points, which is even more impressive when you consider their (TJ A's) HSNCT and PACE NSC runs (T-5; 1st). We only lose one member of their A-team, and we will definitely take History/Geography, Science, Fine Arts, and Literature away from our competitors, which leaves very little for others to take. They deserve to be here. Alma Bryant vs Hoover is going to be a good match this year when they play each other, but ultimately, Hoover has better specialists in all categories.

2) Alma Bryant. Suttree is an amazing player, and beat last year's Pre-season favorites at ASCA states last year, putting up 90! points, especially on an IS set against a really good team. He seems to have good backup too, with his teammates providing help. https://stats.neg5.org/t/On19iL2uO/hit- ... c68c0bbffa. Their performance at HIT (1st) shows a deadly team in the making, as they went undefeated throughout the tournament and beating several of the other teams on here.

3) James Clemens. All of last year's MS squad that got 4th at MSNCT, the deepest run of any Alabama team at any national tournament, are now freshmen. They have double history coverage, with Ethan and Vishal covering most of the history canon. Literature is covered amazingly by Yuti, and Joshua is a really good science player. They made playoffs at HIT with only 3 players and lost to LAMP by only ten points. This is even more impressive considering they didn't have a fine arts player or a History/Geo player. However, their loss to Alma Bryant by a significant margin at HIT during the prelims puts them here.

4) LAMP. This team has the ability to make deep playoff runs at tournaments, evidenced by their HIT run. They have good hist/geo, lit, and F.A coverage, which is most of the canon. They got 2nd at HIT, beating Grissom and JCHS, and put up a good fight against Alma Bryant in the finals, which puts them here.

5) SPHS. SPHS is a team that should not go unnoticed, beating Hoover at SM4RT (West Point Kickoff) and coming in 3rd at HIT, beating out Grissom. They have good history, science, and lit coverage, and they can make a surprise run.

6) Grissom. Jake Greer got 1st scorer at HIT, and covers a lot of the canon, getting good buzzes in every category. He also had the most power counts at HIT, which is scary. Expect this team to do well this year at ASCA state.

7) West Point. Senior Garrett Willingham leads a team which made a good SSNCT run, while Sophomore Carter and Senior Declan provide good backup for him.

8) Enterprise and OMHS. Lewis and Eleanor both did great at Qwiz Camp, and Eleanor got an all-star award last year at ASCA state, while Lewis got top JV individual award at ASCA states last year. Both of them are good players, and can get points from across the spectrum.



JUNIOR VARSITY:

1) JCHS. I struggled between Hoover and JCHS for the top spot in JV, but I think JCHS will win at JV State. I'd say that the level of an A-set is around the same difficulty as MSNCT playoffs, which JCHS excelled in last year (4th Place). Their finish at MSNCT was the highest of any Alabama team at any national tournament, with good literature, science, fine arts, and double history coverage. This team vs Hoover is going to be a heck of a match to watch.

2) Hoover. I got the most powers of any freshman at HSNCT, and I can buzz across the spectrum, and our A-team is made up of 3 JV players, who have really good coverage of their categories. It just depends on the packet, really, because JV states is played on an A-set, which favors speed over depth. However, Hoover might take first at JV States, but the finals is going to be a very good match to watch.

3) OMHS. Lewis Fuller got 1st individually at JV states last year, but suffered two losses in prelims, which put them out of playoffs. However, Lewis is a good player, and along with his backup, will put them in one of the top 3 spots.

4) Smiths Station. Mackenzie is a good player, and can make Smiths Station a good JV team.


YMMV

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Oct 30, 2019 9:18 am
by quizbowllee
As for Middle School, it's really too early to tell. Hopefully after the big invitational this Friday at Wallace, it will be a little more clear. Potential powerhouses Liberty, Monrovia, Russellville, and West Point will all make their regular tournament debuts. Those teams, along with Discovery and Baldwin all have a lot of potential. There are also always a number of Birmingham area middle school teams that are very strong. Then, of course, there's Opelika, who won the Elementary School title last year and placed first in the :chip: Tournament in Orlando over the summer.

Sadly, there is a dearth of good middle school tournaments lately. I'm hoping to help alleviate that somewhat. But, there seems to also be a lack of quality middle school level questions available. I really wish NAQT would expand their MS-series to add another few sets each year.

Russellville always has a great tournament. But, West Point (and the rest of Cullman County Schools) can't attend. We use the same set every year for our County Tournament. There just aren't enough MS rounds to go around without tournaments cannibalizing each other.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:56 pm
by Cjh0024
As for MS, I have to say that Baldwin is the clear cut favorite as the best team. They were good last year, and we saw them a few weeks ago. They have not skipped a beat. Of course, the regular top schools will be competitive. I would watch out for West Point and St. Paul. We played St. Paul in particular at the fun tournament and they are a pretty good team. Opelika had two of their starters from last year transfer, so we are still a year away from being competitive in MS.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:58 pm
by Cjh0024
Also, Opelika is hosting a rather large MS/ELE tournament in December that includes Monrovia, Liberty, Discovery, Baldwin, St. Paul, Prattville, Opelika, Smiths Station, Haleyville, Gadsden, Thompson, and Brookwood. I think that should give us a better idea of the MS and Elementary field before ASCA District.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:06 pm
by iarehavethestupid
quizbowllee wrote: Wed Oct 30, 2019 9:18 am As for Middle School, it's really too early to tell. Hopefully after the big invitational this Friday at Wallace, it will be a little more clear. Potential powerhouses Liberty, Monrovia, Russellville, and West Point will all make their regular tournament debuts.
Cjh0024 wrote: Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:56 pm As for MS, I have to say that Baldwin is the clear cut favorite as the best team. They were good last year, and we saw them a few weeks ago. They have not skipped a beat. Of course, the regular top schools will be competitive. I would watch out for West Point and St. Paul. We played St. Paul in particular at the fun tournament and they are a pretty good team. Opelika had two of their starters from last year transfer, so we are still a year away from being competitive in MS.
In addition to taking first place at Wallace, Liberty has Neil Sethi, who had 96 PPG at the Liberty site fun tournament,90 PPG today at Wallace, and was a member of last years Liberty team at state. I can attest that he is quite knowledgeable at science and some art, and all three of his teammates have done quite well for their first two weeks ever of competitive quizbowl.I think that should be taken into consideration for Liberty.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:36 am
by William McCurley
Watch Out

Baker is finally going competitive this year; we’re entering more tournaments. We missed HIT, but ASCA State will be an upset.

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Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:22 am
by QuizBro
I would also like to point out that Baldwin went to the annual Lewis Falcons tournament in Florida, and won, beating national team, Midtown Classical. In fact, they beat Midtown A (who got 3rd) twice, and Midtown B (Who got 2nd). Although Midtown Classical did lose Robert and William Muñiz (at least in middle school), they still have good players, including Caroline Cox, who got 2nd at the 6th grade Humanities Bee, 2nd to only Arin Parsa. Atindrah got an impressive PPG of 77.19, while Nikhil also came in with a great 47.37ppg. While it is still an early season, and Midtown lost the aforementioned players, they again still have amazing players. This should add a little "spice" ,for lack of a better word, to the 2019-2020 season of MS Alabama quiz bowl. If you would like to see these stats yourself, they will be posted here:
https://www.naqt.com/stats/tournament/t ... _id=175884


I would also like to congratulate Baldwin on this impressive win! :grin:

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 2:26 am
by QuizBro
Will there be a Hoover Melee 2020? Also, as Kapil did with HS, can we make a MS ranking? I know this would probably have to be done after the Opelika tournament, given that most of the usual “top-tier” MS teams seem to be going.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:59 pm
by bctlfralp123
William McCurley wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:36 am Watch Out

Baker is finally going competitive this year; we’re entering more tournaments. We missed HIT, but ASCA State will be an upset.
Saraland is also gearing up and finally signing up for ASCA (at least planning on it), and some other stuff too. Won't promise anything spectacular, though. We have two years for the stars to align, but for now, I'm looking forward to playing teams like Alma Bryant and Baker in the coming months. :grin:

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Dec 03, 2019 9:44 am
by K@b00m
bctlfralp123 wrote: Tue Nov 26, 2019 11:59 pm
William McCurley wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 11:36 am Watch Out

Baker is finally going competitive this year; we’re entering more tournaments. We missed HIT, but ASCA State will be an upset.
Saraland is also gearing up and finally signing up for ASCA (at least planning on it), and some other stuff too. Won't promise anything spectacular, though. We have two years for the stars to align, but for now, I'm looking forward to playing teams like Alma Bryant and Baker in the coming months. :grin:
Yeah, without a doubt, Mobile County regional/sectional is THE hardest this year. You have Alma Bryant, who is one of the top teams in the state, and Baker, who is scary as well.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:18 pm
by Cjh0024
The field for the Opelika Invitational is set and ready to kick off Saturday. The teams attending are listed below for those interested in following:

Middle School:
Baldwin
Thompson A
Thompson B
Opelika A
Liberty A
Liberty B
Discovery A
Discovery B
Brookwood
Haleyville A
Haleyville B
Monrovia A
Monrovia B
Smiths Station
Prattville A
Prattville B
Gadsden A
Gadsden B

Elementary
Opelika
Baldwin
Monrovia
South Smiths Station
St. Paul A
St. Paul B
Discovery A
Discovery B
Discovery C
Discovery D
Liberty
Gadsden

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sat Dec 14, 2019 10:27 pm
by QuizBro
Will stats be put out for Opelika, if so, when?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 12:03 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
After seeing this come up several times recently, I wanted to issue a polite reminder to all eager Alabama players out there--

Stats are not always automatic or easy. Coaches who are running tournaments right around the holidays may not be able to get lots of sheets entered into SQBS in a timely manner, because they have grading to do. That comes first for those of us who teach. We also have families and people around us who expect us to occasionally spend time with them to prove we aren't hallucinations.

It is reasonable to start asking about stats, in my opinion, on the Wednesday following a tournament. It is not unreasonable for a TD to post them within a week, particularly if they are otherwise busy. Alternatively, you can always offer to handle stat compilation for the TD; some will take you up on that offer happily. I know that I've volunteered to tabulate stats for Snead State for a couple years now, and that seems to make everyone happier. If you've got time and a deep desire for speedy results, it doesn't hurt to offer to help.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 2:18 pm
by Cjh0024
So, stats are an area I wish I was better at. I have no idea how to do SPSS, so I just make my own google sheets. I will probably post a link to the sheet.

Long story short, Discovery won the elementary division and Baldwin beat Monrovia in MS Finals in a close 370-320 match

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 2:20 pm
by Cjh0024
Elementary was a pretty tight division. Discovery, Monrovia, Opelika, and Liberty were all pretty solid. It probably could have gone either way in most matches.

MS was also pretty tight. Baldwin, Liberty, Baldwin, Opelika, and Discovery were probably the top teams there. I thought it was Baldwin and Liberty coming into the tournament with everyone playing catch up, but Monrovia upset liberty and the Tate kid from Monrovia is legit (top scorer in the tournament at 85 ppg)

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 2:55 pm
by Irreligion in Bangladesh
Popping in quickly to note that there's a helpful SQBS tutorial, including a walkthrough and a sample test tournament that you can practice with, at http://scop-qb.org/stat/.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Dec 16, 2019 5:19 pm
by QuizBro
Cjh0024 wrote: Mon Dec 16, 2019 2:20 pm Elementary was a pretty tight division. Discovery, Monrovia, Opelika, and Liberty were all pretty solid. It probably could have gone either way in most matches.

MS was also pretty tight. Baldwin, Liberty, Baldwin, Opelika, and Discovery were probably the top teams there. I thought it was Baldwin and Liberty coming into the tournament with everyone playing catch up, but Monrovia upset liberty and the Tate kid from Monrovia is legit (top scorer in the tournament at 85 ppg)
Yeah, Tate is pretty good. If I recall correctly, he was the only 6th grader to get into the upper division at the Alabama Qwiz. He also got 3rd in the literature tournament.

Also, I didn’t mean to rush stats. I was wondering if they were going to be out to see what I am going up against this year. Sorry if it seemed like I was.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:13 pm
by carthur
Results from the LAMP Invitational Tournament held on Saturday, January 18:

Varsity: 1st Hewitt-Trussville, 2nd Enterprise
Junior Varsity: 1st Spain Park JV, 2nd Smiths Station JV
Middle School: 1st Baldwin, 2nd Monrovia A
Middle School JV: 1st Opelika JV A, 2nd Gadsden JV

Playoff scores:
Varsity:
Spain Park A 440, Sylacauga A 90
Indian Springs 400, Dothan A 50
Enterprise A 320, Smiths Station 260
Hewitt-Trussville 380, Southside 160
Hewitt-Trussville 340, Spain Park A 290
Enterprise A 430, Indian Springs 240
Final: Hewitt-Trussville 380, Enterprise A 150

Middle School:
Monrovia A 485, Hartselle A 85
Baldwin 375, Hartselle B 235
Gadsden A 370, Causey A 215
Monrovia B 290, Opelika 240
Monrovia A 345, Monrovia B 245
Baldwin 385, Gadsden 210
Final: Baldwin 400, Monrovia A 305

I do not know when/if full stats will be posted.

Good luck to all AL middle school teams at District this Saturday! I will be moderating at the Liberty site.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:49 pm
by jonah
LAMP stats (high school divisions)

(If you know how many tossups were read in each game, let me know and I'll add that.)

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2020 7:34 pm
by carthur
jonah wrote: Tue Jan 21, 2020 6:49 pm (If you know how many tossups were read in each game, let me know and I'll add that.)
20 tossups heard per game, and the high school division used Straight Tossup/Bounceback Bonus scoring rules.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Jan 27, 2020 12:06 pm
by William McCurley
What teams/players are going to this year’s Alabama History Bee and Bowl?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2020 5:05 am
by TylerV
IAC is happy to announce it is holding the following tournaments in the region:

Varsity / JV
  • Alabama - Spain Park High School - Saturday, March 7th - on our B Set.

Teams may register at this link and find more information about a tournament on the tournament page here. The registration deadline is 7pm Eastern time on the (usually it’s a) Friday 8 days before the tournament or 7pm Eastern time the (usually it’s a) Monday before the tournament for an additional $10 late fee per team. There are no registration deadlines for individual events (i.e. walk ins are welcome; please arrive 15 minutes before the beginning of the Bee / Exams as per the schedule on the tournament page).

We will be holding the Varsity / JV National Qualifying Exams for the US Geography Championships / International Geography Bee, US History Bee, (new!) National Science Bee and (new!) National Political Science Bee during the first part of the lunch break. Those who take exam(s) should do the exam(s) first, and then eat afterwards - there will be time to do so. These are 50-question, 20-minute time limit multiple-choice tests - it's $10 per student per Exam. Important Note! - You CAN do 3 or 4 exams, but you still only have a maximum of 40 minutes to take these. You can also do other exams at our upcoming B and A Set tournaments or with a proctor at your school / homeschool association.


If you have further questions about any of these, please email our tournament coordinator, Marshall Mullins, at [email protected]

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 4:04 pm
by William McCurley
When will results from district tournaments be in?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 15, 2020 8:53 pm
by Deepsouth quizcoach
Each regional varies. By the end next week a couple will post; ours usually, if I remember correctly, takes a couple of weeks. Qualifying teams will be notified within two weeks at the most. Patience. Y'all scored a ton of points.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Feb 23, 2020 1:31 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
Congratulations to Liberty Middle School, repeat ASCA MS Champions!

They defeated Discovery Middle 2-0 in the final to win their back to back title. Third place went to Liberty Park Middle School, and fourth place to Monrovia Middle School. Full team and individual results can be found at https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/6 ... all_games/.

Congratulations as well to Discovery's Elementary School team, who won the state ES title by defeating Opelika. Third place was Northside, with East Lawrence taking fourth. Results for this event can be found at https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/6 ... all_games/.


Thanks to all attendees for their hard work!

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Feb 26, 2020 11:04 am
by Cooper98
I'm pleased that Emma Sansom Middle (for the first time in probably 25 years) won district and made it to state and performed fairly well.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sat Feb 29, 2020 12:01 am
by K@b00m
Congrats to everyone, especially to Liberty for winning for the second year in a row in quite a tough tournament! Here are my thoughts on last week's tournament:

TEAMS

1) Liberty. They swept the tournament, 9-0, and overall did very well, considering their entire MSNCT 4th place A team from last year is now James Clemens. Neil, Aasim, and the rest of the Liberty team made sure to hold on to the State Championship won by their predecessors in a very tough tournament, one of the toughest I've seen! These guys, I'm certain, will do well at MSNCT if they decide to go. However, their prelims performance was not as good compared to their playoff streak- winning by 2 questions against Gadsden and winning by an even less margin against Bumpus. They certainly made up for it in the afternoon, and dominated the finals, getting more than 60% of questions in both matches.

2) Discovery. They have been doing great all season, with Steven, Elizabeth, and Maximus combining for about 100 points- easily enough to win a game. They also got 3 100s on worksheets, which are a good 100-point boost that turned games soundly in their favor. They did dominate until the finals, and had a very good streak nonetheless. Discovery had also the highest PPB in the tournament, at about 17.16 ppb (with only 2 parts of the bonus read).

3) Liberty Park. Arav Singh did really well, with 80.00 PPG throughout the tournament, and some of his teammates chipping in to get a very good team TU ppg. However, an unfortunate loss to Discovery in the semis put them in 3rd place, having only one loss throughout the entire tournament. They also similarly dominated their games by nabbing more than half of all TUs in all but one game, and didn't have a worksheet round where they got less than 80 points. Nice!

4) Monrovia. Monrovia was basically Tate, who has improved A LOT since Qwiz Camp last year. Gonna take a quick moment to shout out Qwiz here, because it works wonders and you get to meet so many students and coaches who love the game while also learning to get better at Quizbowl. Tate had an extremely solid 90 ppg, with his teammates adding another 30 ppg combined. Still, those are extremely impressive numbers for a 7TH grader. This includes a 17 TOSSUPS IN 1 GAME. No matter who you are or which level you play, you still have to admit that he did extremely well, which got him the Individual title during the prelims by 20 points and the only one over a hundred. Way to go! Monrovia also had the second highest PPG overall after Liberty.

T-5) Baldwin. Baldwin did very well in the prelims, but suffered an unfortunate quarterfinal loss against Liberty which put them out of the tournament. I saw most of their games, and they're extremely solid, especially the Atindrah + Nikhil combo, which gives you about 110 ppg, easily able to win a game.

T-5) Bumpus. Bumpus did really well this year, managing to give a heck of a fight to teams like Liberty, who they lost to by 15 points (less than 2 questions, bonus or tossup). Considering Liberty went on to dominate the rest of the tournament, this is pretty significant. They also gave Discovery a very good fight, and the team was very well balanced, with the team combining to get a 115 ppg, which is really good.

T-5) West Point. Brodie and his team did very well at state, and with the exception of one player, they'll all be back next year to do even better at state.

T-5) Opelika. Opelika did really well, coming in T-5, considering that they had a pool with West Point and Discovery. 5/6 of their A-team will be back next year as well.

INDIVIDUALS

1) Tate Osborne, Monrovia. See Monrovia (4) above. All I have to add is that for next year, Ahhhhhhhh!
2) Harrison Walley, Pizitz. He seems to have done really well, scoring all but 2 tossups for his team. This is even more impressive considering that he was in a pool with Bumpus and Liberty, both of whom went to playoffs.
3) Arav Singh, LP. Arav led his team to a very solid 3rd place finish, and managed to shut down Tate and his team farely well during their 3rd place match.
4) Atindrah Harishanks, Baldwin. Atindrah is solid in history and geography, and he can also get buzzes in other categories. This, adding to the fact that he led his team to T-5, is impressive.
6) Neil Sethi, Liberty. Neil did well throughout the tournament, especially showing his prowess in game one of the finals against Discovery. He's good, and he has repeatedly proven it.
9) Steven Pan, Discovery. He led his team to a 2nd place finish in a very hard tournament this year, and he'll be back next year for more.

That's all I have to say for Middle School. For JV:

1) I still think Hoover will win next week, but not by much. Hoover had slightly better stats at JV District compared to JC, and I think that the final or the semis will boil down to Hoover vs. JCHS. That game is gonna be amazing, no matter who wins or what happens.

2) JCHS. They. Are. Good. Frankly, I'm terrified. Their win at Grissom was expected, and had an all-freshman squad literally blow away the competition, beating Gadsden City. They had impressive stats on an IS-Set, and don't forget https://hsquizbowl.org/db/tournaments/5 ... etail/#t13 this performance. They, along with Hoover, are gonna be the ones to beat.

3) Oak Mountain. Lewis is good, and can almost certainly put up impressive numbers while leading his team.

4) Sparkman. Sparkman vs OMHS is gonna be a good match to watch, just like Hoover and JCHS.

That's about it for right now. Good luck to everyone, and May the Force be with you!

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sun Mar 01, 2020 11:38 am
by Deepsouth quizcoach
Gotta agree with most of what you said there, Kapil, with a couple of additions (junior varsity, I don't have a dog in the fight for middle schools)- Grissom, Bob Jones and Vestavia appear to be very balanced, and could easily take out anyone but maybe Hoover and James Clemens; their numbers were significantly lower than the upper-tier teams, but they all had pretty tough pools. It's easy to run up points when the competition isn't playing at the same level, but their numbers look a lot better when you see who they played. Tough for a top-heavy team such as ours, with two kids starting on our varsity team and four in their first year of playing, to make a bunch of headway in a big-boy tournament like this one, but those well-balanced teams with three or four kids scoring are scary. I'd look for at least one of them to pull an upset and make final four.

I'm not going to be able to make J.V. finals- two 18-hole golf tournaments in the same week, gotta teach a little Precal somewhere in there- but it looks like it's going to be a killer tournament! Good luck to all.

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Sat Mar 07, 2020 5:31 pm
by eshan pokhrel
When will invitationals for next year be finalized? I'm trying to get a jump start on next season since we don't have varsity state to look forward to (somehow). If you have or will have any information, email me at [email protected].

Thanks

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Wed Mar 11, 2020 8:25 pm
by William McCurley
Will the Varsity State Championship or any other upcoming tournaments be affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak?
The Mobile County superintendent just released a message prohibiting school-sponsored travel to areas with many coronavirus cases. We may have to fight our way to HSNCT in Fulton County (cases have been reported there). Does anyone anticipate changes to State?

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:59 am
by Joshua Rutsky
No official decisions have been made regarding this at this time. However, ASCA is monitoring the situation closely, and we encourage any teams that receive word that they cannot attend due to school policy to notify us immediately so we can assess the situation with all information. We (and you, I'm sure) realize that this situation is fluid, and we are a month out from the event, but ASCA will weigh carefully all risks involved against the incredible amount of work that some teams put into preparing for this event.

While ICT AND IPNCT have been cancelled by NAQT, those are significantly larger events at significantly larger venues, and have to plan accordingly. It is also important to note that this may not be entirely ASCA's decision; if Jefferson State CC closes, we may not be able to hold the event because of the absence of a venue. We will do all we can to avoid that situation, but we can't ignore that either.

We will keep teams notified as events develop.

Josh Rutsky
ASCA President

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:17 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
ASCA regrets to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Varsity State Championship. We debated what to do in this situation, and tried to postpone as long as possible, but the board no longer feels it is reasonable to proceed this year. We will be sending notifications to all teams today.

Obviously, we hate this situation, and particularly that it takes away a season of hard work. For some, it means the end of their career in high school. It is not a decision we made lightly. However, we want to emphasize how proud we are of all the teams that made it to state for this year, and thank all of the seniors for their years spent competing on behalf of their school and their state as well as themselves.

Regretfully,

Josh Rutsky
ASCA President

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 3:04 pm
by K@b00m
Joshua Rutsky wrote: Mon Mar 30, 2020 1:17 pm ASCA regrets to announce the cancellation of the 2020 Varsity State Championship. We debated what to do in this situation, and tried to postpone as long as possible, but the board no longer feels it is reasonable to proceed this year. We will be sending notifications to all teams today.

Obviously, we hate this situation, and particularly that it takes away a season of hard work. For some, it means the end of their career in high school. It is not a decision we made lightly. However, we want to emphasize how proud we are of all the teams that made it to state for this year, and thank all of the seniors for their years spent competing on behalf of their school and their state as well as themselves.

Regretfully,

Josh Rutsky
ASCA President
Oh no!! Will this be rescheduled or postponed to a later date or is the tournament just cancelled? Anyway, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank all schools and teams for participating in Alabama Quiz Bowl this year. This was a really competitive year, just like all other years. Good luck to everybody and stay safe!

Re: Alabama 2019-2020 Discussion Thread

Posted: Mon Mar 30, 2020 5:44 pm
by Joshua Rutsky
Cancelled, I'm afraid.