A tie game at the half, a one point lead heading into the fourth quarter and then overtime — Wasatch Junior High's National Academic League championship Thursday was a cliffhanger.
But in the end, the Warriors fell short.
Hanes Middle School of Winston-Salem, N.C., won the national championship, played via real-time video link, 71 to 82.
But the 31-member-strong home team took the loss in stride.
"To be second in the nation is a big deal," ninth-grader Varsha Menon said.
"It's disappointing, but we're happy to make it this far," said teammate Lizzie Greene.
As coach and math teacher Tom Burke puts it: "That's just the way the questions go."
The National Academic League sets up brain games played by teams competing as athletics do. The championship series is reminiscent of the NCAA Tournament, with a Sweet 16, Elite 8, Final 4 and Championship match. Wasatch downed Central Davis Junior High in Layton, Midtown Academy of Baltimore and Stapley Junior High of Mesa, Ariz. — the team that lost to Magna's Brockbank Junior High in last year's championship — en route to the final match.
This is the third year in a row a Granite District junior high has been in the national championship, and the fifth since 2002. Eisenhower is a two-time champion; Brockbank won last year and took second in 2003.
Teams play a four-quarter game, answering questions based on national academic standards. There are team questions, speed rounds and persuasive presentations on a issue — Wasatch's presentation on teen drivers broke the tie going into the final round.
It's like "Teen Jeopardy!" with a twist. Competitors face off via video link, largely in silence as they race to name the three elements that form sugar (answer: hydrogen, carbon and oxygen) or the term for a word that takes the place of a noun (it's a pronoun). They have to be up on math, geography, literature, history, science and current affairs, and have met with five coaches about three hours a week since last fall to sharpen skills for league play.
And sharp they are. You'd have to be, to name rock-forming minerals composed of silicone and oxygen — answer: silicates — or compare the way perfume diffuses in a warm room versus a cold room on the spot.
Are they as celebrated at school as, say, athletes? Some kids and family members say no.
But they're having a blast.
Jennie Ruff couldn't sit still watching her sister, Meredith, compete via video link in an adjacent room at the Granite Education Center. The 21-year-old animatedly whispered answers, clinched her fists and whispered "yessss!" at correct answers and leaned all the way back on incorrect responses — Meredith's own silent cheering section. Toward the competition's end, the other 30 or so spectators were nearly as animated.
All applauded the team despite the loss.
"These kids will be the same ones who walk away with a bazillion scholarships in a few years," proud principal Doug Bingham said. "That's where they shine."
E-mail: jtcook@desnews.com