Their first game is held at the International Meeting Room C, in the hotel’s basement, with both the bus driver and Warren being in the room with the B-team. Their opponents were already seated when they enter the room for their first playoff game:
“After this game, I will follow the A-team, as that will be the team people at home will be more eager to follow” the bus driver tells the B-team as they get seated to play their first playoff game. “The parish radio will also cover these games through the liveblog”
“This is round twenty-one, the first playoff round of the 2030 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament winners’ bracket. This game pits, from Louisiana, Venomous Agendas B, and, from Michigan, Detroit Country Day A. Best of luck to both teams, and here’s tossup one” the moderator starts the playoff game.
Detroit Country Day. While not as significant in VA quiz bowling history as Wayzata, DCC or TJHSST, it’s still a loss I remember very clearly as a coach, Warren muses while the first clue is being read, leaving both teams speechless. And the A-team, too, who is watching this game.
Audrey is asking herself whether sacrificing half a season of AAU basketball for the HSNCT is worthwhile. After basketball-State, I reduced my basketball training schedule to some pickup basketball with the other girls, so that I could focus on quiz bowl. My parents had an incentive for me to focus on quiz bowl until the HSNCT ends, because they would spend less on travel than if I played the whole AAU season with Bayou City Hoops Elite. Hopefully Bayou City won’t write me off for the second half, but at the same time, placing as high as we can get here will probably be worth the exposure of the first half of the season. She then proceeds to text Carrie, asking for updates of Bayou City at LGR Takedown.
The rest of the game seemed to be a tightly played game, with highly competitive play, but VA B’s players all seem to have a sense of déjà vu, in that, once again, it will boil down to one last tossup-bonus cycle. Speaking of which, the final tossup is read, with VA B thirty points behind:
“Tossup twenty-three: The Federal Highway Act of 1921 was passed, providing matching funds to states to build the predecessor of this highway system” the moderator starts reading.
In 1921, the automotive industry was immature, and railroads were still the way to go for inter-state transportation back then, Lilina thinks about what the answer could possibly be, but didn’t buzz in just yet.
“The Pennsylvania Turnpike is nicknamed the grandfather of that system” the second clue is read, causing both sides’ history players to enter a buzzer race.
By now, these players have seen dozens of buzzer races over the season, and they know how to deal with one. But, in the end, Lilina was faster on the buzzer.
“Interstate!” Lilina shouts.
“Prompt!”
“Interstate highway system!”
“Fifteen. For ten points each, answer these questions about drafts”
The DCD player who lost the buzzer race to Lilina feels the game slipping out of their control and starts praying the VAs don’t get more than one bonus right. And the VAs miss the first bonus part.
“In ships, the draft refers to the distance between the keel and this line”
“Waterline!” Gerard answers the second bonus part.
“The NBA instituted a rule stating that teams cannot trade first-round draft picks in two consecutive seasons, named after this owner” the moderator reads as the clock rings, signaling the end of regulation time.
We must be quick! This is our chance to win this game and force DCD down the drain! Pablo’s mind grinds gears while looking frantically for a possible answer to this bonus. Gerard and Nadine both signal they don’t know the answer, and Lilina was struggling.
“Ted Stepien!” Pablo answers.
“Twenty for the bonus, and that’s the game. Score?” the moderator asks the scorekeeper.
“Detroit Country Day three hundred thirty-five, Venomous Agendas B three hundred forty!”
I did it! I scored the winning bonus part! And a buzzer-beater, too! Pablo tries to contain his joy at scoring the winning bonus part, while picking up the card #17 from the moderator, and going to their next game.
Their next game, played in room 211 at Hilton, across the street, is played against Centennial A, one of the two teams that managed to defeat VA A in the prelims. As they cross the skybridge:
“Relax. The opponent probably thinks they have it easy, they believe us to be weak, especially since they beat the A-team in the prelims. However, show them that the playoffs are a different game!” Warren harangues his players before getting seated for that game, and his players as well.
Centennial A’s players underestimate VA B early on, which cause them to be thrown off their game. VA B capitalizes on their arrogance to score several tossups and bonuses the Eagles (i.e. Centennial’s players) fail to respond until almost a third of the game has elapsed.
By half-time, the Eagles’ coach take advantage of the stoppage in play to yell at the players about how underestimating VA B proved very expensive.
“And that’s the half. The score is Centennial A seventy, Venomous Agendas B two hundred seventy!” the scorekeeper announces.
“You thought that, because Venomous Agendas B were weak, based on how you won against Venomous Agendas A in the prelims, you could afford to slack off! Look at where it led you: they hold a two-hundred-point lead now!” the coach yells at the Eagles.
“We need to save our energy for the long haul!” an Eagle retorts, not realizing that the VAs won’t let up one bit going into the second half of the game.
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Meanwhile, in Jennings, Ethan and George embark on passing drills as they listen in on the parish radio, telling the listeners what the scores of the games of both VA teams at the HSNCT are by half-time. As do a lot of people across the parish, especially outside Jennings, for so many of whom it’s the only time they ever hear about quiz bowl.
“Woohoo! VA A and B are both in the lead in their respective games!” Ethan comments on how VA A is in the lead, 180-140, against Stanford Online, at half-time.
“If this means a VA A vs VA B final, so be it!” George then exclaims before the passing drill resumes. “Venomous! Agendas! May our girlfriends go all the way, and Pablo along with them!”
Good luck, Nadine, you’re going to need it. You’re brilliant, and Lilina, too, but they can’t do everything, even together! Ethan muses on how the townsfolk start believing that VA might be able to go all the way at the HSNCT. If not, there’s always next year.
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Back in Atlanta, it seems like both teams are advancing, especially when VA A wins against Stanford Online, 410-285, and VA B wins, 370-300. However, while VA A chugs along the bracket, and gets to play Baker in the Grand Ballroom A at the Hilton, VA B, on the other hand, must face another ghost from VA’s quiz bowling history in a much lesser room, the M106 at the Marriott. As they get seated in the M106…
“This is round twenty-three of the winners’ bracket, the third playoff round of the 2030 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament. This game pits, from Louisiana, Venomous Agendas B, and, from Massachusetts, Boston Latin! Best of luck to both teams, and here’s tossup one” the moderator starts VA B’s third playoff game.
Why is it that we keep collecting ghosts from our quiz bowling history this year? First, Wayzata, then DCD, now, Baker for the A-team and Boston Latin for the B-team? Warren seems increasingly puzzled, especially since the appeal to have VA play at the HSNCT, year in, year out, is the great variety of opponents they can actually play. VA A plays the school against whom we lost in 2025, while VA B is playing the school against whom the VAs played in their HSNCT debut! And the Wolfpack has gotten much stronger as a quiz bowl program now!
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
Speaking of the Wolfpack, their coach watches a high-strung battle of wits and buzzers unfolding before, well, everyone in the room. And the game proves to be even tighter than the VAs’ HSNCT debut, because, unlike then, the teams’ strengths in math and science feel more evenly matched. Especially since Gerard was no Imélie as a quiz bowler, not even her eleventh-grader self.
Otherwise, it still feels like a clash of two humanities and social studies titans, both with excellent literature and history players.
By now, this game feels like yet another déjà vu for VA B since VA B has been playing through last-tossup showdowns for the sixth time in this tournament. Probably the playoff team that has been worn down mentally the most. The Wolfpack holds a 10-point lead with one tossup to go:
“Tossup twenty-four: This African country contains the only known fossil nuclear fission reactor”
Natural nuclear reactors exist? We must power this question, or we’re toast! Pablo starts sweating as profusely as in a football game, not knowing about the existence of natural nuclear reactors, and signaling that he doesn’t know the answer. At the same time, all 7 other players briefly shake in their seats.
“This country was an OPEC member from 1975 to 1996 before joining again twenty years later” the moderator reads the second clue to an astonished audience.
Lilina appears willing to risk it all as the buzzer rings, signaling the end of regulation time. As she buzzes in…
“Cameroon!”
“Neg five” the moderator rules before resuming the reading of the tossup, which goes all the way to the For ten points clue.
“Gabon, and we’ll skip the entire bonus” the Wolfpack’s history player responds.
“Ten, and that’s the game. Score?”
“Boston Latin three hundred seventy, Venomous Agendas B three hundred forty-five” the scorekeeper announces.
Drat! We’re now in the elimination bracket!” All because of Lilina’s unfortunate negging? Nadine realizes that going into the losers’ bracket means one loss will kick them out of the tournament. That was a very winnable game, but no use dwelling on this failed tossup just yet.
While VA B drops down a level, VA A, on the other hand, wins against Baker, 460-220. VA A is set to play Strake Jesuit A. As VA B moves to their next game room, M301, on the same floor, they learn of their opponents’ identity:
“This is round twenty-four, the fourth playoff round of the 2030 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament. This game pits, from Louisiana, Venomous Agendas B, and from North Carolina, Providence…”
Against whom VA B wins rather handily, 490-180, but since VA A lost against Strake Jesuit A, 380-305, they’re now in the elimination bracket, the same as VA B.
Once again, the VAs change game rooms, and, upon arriving at their game room, M104, VA B is in for a most unpleasant surprise. Yet another ghost of VA’s past in quiz bowl, and the Colonials’ coach hasn’t taken to losing 3 games against VA well, realizing that VA officially became VA a few months after their last game. I really, really hope there won’t be a debater playing for Jennings this year around; all 3 of our losses against them were caused by their debaters!
“This is a rematch of 2026…” Warren comments on this matchup.
“What do you mean, coach, it’s a rematch of 2026?” Pablo asks him before getting seated.
“We eliminated TJHSST A in 2026, and their coach is hungry for revenge!”
And the Colonials get seated, as do the VAs. The moderator for that game starts the game:
“This is round twenty-five, the fifth playoff round of the 2030 NAQT High School National Championship Tournament. From Louisiana, we have Venomous Agendas B, from Virginia, we have Thomas Jefferson Science and Tech A”
Even though TJHSST A holds superiority over VA B in math and science, VA B managed to play a tight game, the same as with Boston Latin only two rounds prior. Going into the final tossup, TJHSST A holds a 45-point lead, and the VAs know they must force overtime to win.
“Tossup twenty-four…”
The signal sends waves of dread among both teams, as they appear to be playing one of the most high-tension games of their respective seasons. We need to play this tossup cycle perfectly to win, Pablo ruminates while the tossup is being read.
“Atrophy of this brain part has been linked to slow-wave sleep troubles” the first clue is given out by the moderator.
Here’s my chance to redeem myself from this game against Mira Loma A! And to finally answer a tossup in this game! Gerard muses while he looks for an answer in his mind. The other players are also doing the same, but Nadine and Pablo don’t feel like buzzing in yet. Against top teams, speed can prove to be the decisive factor! In a desperate move, a red-faced Gerard slams the buzzer.
“Prefrontal cortex!” Gerard answers.
“Fifteen. The First Punic War marked the early stages of Roman expansion outside Italy. For ten points each…”
Focus, Lilina. I might have let southwest Louisiana down against Boston Latin, here’s my chance to redeem myself! Lilina psyches herself up as the first bonus part is read by the moderator.
“Shortly before this battle took place, the Carthaginians sued for peace, but the terms proposed by Regulus were deemed too harsh”
Because the VAs essentially gave Lilina a right of first refusal, Lilina’s brain has only a few seconds to conjure an answer with no help from her teammates. The clock ticking in on her, and four seconds elapse before she answers:
“Tunis!”
“Carthage made peace with Rome in 241 BC, but its own army’s mutiny escalated to this war”
“Mercenary War!” Lilina keeps answering.
The Colonials then start praying that VA B fails to score the final bonus part. But while VA B was still trailing by 10 points, it would still be able to tie after regulation time.
“The Mercenary War was the backdrop…” The buzzer signaling the end of regulation time rings. “The backdrop of this Flaubert novel”
Unlike the first 2 bonus parts, Nadine is the one answering the final part. “Salammbô!”
The moderator turns to the scorekeeper. “Thirty for the bonus, and that’s regulation time. Score?”
“This game is tied three hundred seventy to three hundred seventy” the scorekeeper answers the moderator.
“This game goes into overtime! Please stand by while I get additional questions from the control room!”
For all the tight games played by VA B at the HSNCT this year, none of them went into overtime. So while, to Pablo, HSNCT playoffs in general are uncharted quiz bowl territory, for the other 3 players, this overtime reminds them of their MSNCT run together.
"Brace yourselves for three more tossups without bonuses" Warren warns them while the moderator is away looking for more questions.
This game reminds me of Burleigh Manor A vs us. In the LAX room, where, then as now, we were going into overtime. We won in overtime before, we can do it again here, against much older players! Nadine ruminates while the moderator is back from the control room with more questions.
“Overtime tossup one…” the question starts.
The obscurity of the first clue about a shopping mall in Naples proves a bit much for both sides, but the second clue causes Nadine’s mind to leap into action in the middle of that clue:
“In August 2013, he was appointed senator for life…”
Nadine buzzes in just a few words before the power mark. “Renzo Piano!”
We won’t let the VAs get away with the game so easily! The momentum might be on their side now, but one bad question can change everything! A Colonial player muses as the second overtime tossup is read.
“Fifteen. Overtime tossup two…”
We can break TJHSST’s backs, here and now! All we have to do is answer one more tossup correctly, and they’re toast! Pablo thinks, while he’s completely befuddled by the first clue.
Gerard, on the other hand, only seems to have the image of playing chess with anime pieces when hearing about the second clue:
“The fourth game of this series follows two generations of characters in separate halves”
Gerard inexplicably buzzes in. “Disgaea”
“Neg five” the moderator rules.
Ugh… what did Gerard do to take such risks? Pablo tries to resist the temptation to fume at his teammate, while the opponents waited until the end of the tossup:
“For ten points, what series of tactical role-playing video games have permanent death?”
The Colonials’ special topics player buzzes in. “Fire Emblem!”
“Ten. Overtime tossup three: A recession named after this financial statement is driven by high private sector debt burdens” the moderator reads the first clue.
Everyone is shaking in their seats, now that they’re back to square one, only with 10 more points on each side. They know there is no room for error, and whoever answer this one tossup correctly, wins.
“Under IFRS, this financial statement is referred to as the statement of financial position” the moderator reads to them.
But then Lilina and the Colonials’ history player are engaged in a buzzer race. While Lilina slams the buzzer, it appears that, unlike some of her previous buzzer races in this tournament, she lost the buzzer race. The VAs cross their fingers as this tossup proves determinant in the game and hence their ranking.
“Balance sheet!” the Colonials’ history player shouts.
“Fifteen, and that’s the game. Score?” the moderator asks the scorekeeper.
“Thomas Jefferson Science and Tech A three hundred ninety-five, Venomous Agendas B three hundred eighty”
“Venomous Agendas B finishes tied for twenty-first place!” The moderator then hands the VAs their trophy.
“What did I do to lose this buzzer race?” Lilina asks as she leaves the game room, crying.
“Lilina, it’s not the end of the world, there’s always next year” Warren tries to console her. “Most teams who get to the top-twenty-five have multiple upperclassmen, we had none on the B team”
“There might not be a next year for me!” Gerard announces to them.
The coach turns to Gerard. “What do you mean, Gerard?”
“I feel it would make more sense for me to focus on mathletics! I don’t think being a quiz bowl star is for me; our town tends to make stars out of people who perform well in quiz bowl, and the town’s star system is dangerous to my mental health!” Gerard laments.
I guess, it’s my turn to step up to the scientific plate next season! And, if we play on the A-team together, Audrey, too, Pablo muses while he heads straight for her.