Nashua South Narrowly Defeats Plymouth Regional on Granite State Challenge

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NASHUA SOUTH BEATS PLYMOUTH REGIONAL, ADVANCES TO GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE SEMIFINALS (DURHAM, April 1, 2017) - In the end, it all came down to knowing your English Rococo portrait painters! In this week’s first quarterfinal GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE match, the Nashua High School Purple Panthers took on the Plymouth Regional Bobcats. Considering that both teams are past GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Champions - Plymouth was the top team in 2013 and Nashua South took home the championship in 2016 - it promised to be an exciting game!

At the end of the first round, Nashua South had a commanding 70-point lead that they built on in the second and third rounds. Going into the fourth and final round, Plymouth trailed by 120 points. Knowing that correct answers were worth 20 points and incorrect answers would cost them 20 points, Plymouth played an aggressive final round and with only 15 seconds left in the game, narrowed the score to 450 to 430 after Sean Harris correctly identified Connecticut as the only New England State named after a river. A correct answer by Plymouth on the final question would have tied the game, but Ankita Devasia of Nashua South buzzed in first and correctly identified Thomas Gainsborough as the artist who painted "The Blue Boy," securing the win for Nashua South by a score of 470-430.

The Nashua Purple Panthers were represented by captain Nisha Devasia, Ankita Devasia, Jack Leatherman, Ben Telerski, and alternates George Eid and Waithira Kiritu. The team was coached by Gregory Montine and Neil Claffey. The Plymouth Bobcats were represented by captain Richard Lyons, Ian Desmarais, Peter Templeton, Sean Harris, and alternates Jack Friedman and Martin Runquist. The Plymouth Bobcats were coached by Jay Fogarty and Troy Harris. Watch this and all the matches online at https://nhpbs.org/gsc Nashua High School South now advances to the semifinals of GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE.

Hosted by Jim Jeannotte, the popular quiz contest began the season with 16 Granite State high school teams battling toward the coveted SUPERCHALLENGE title. Also, for a fifth year, there will be a Granite State vs. Bay State Governor's Cup match between the winners of the GRANITE STATE SUPERCHALLENGE and the WGBH Boston High School Quiz Show. New Hampshire's top high school academic teams demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking and smarts as they play GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE.

The game emphasizes quick recall of math, science, social studies, language arts and fine arts facts—along with questions about current events, entertainment, sports, and New England. Watch GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Saturdays at 6 PM on NHPTV PRIME, with multiple airdates on NHPTV PRIME and NHPTV EXPLORE. All games are available to watch online at video.nhptv.org. Online GSC quizzes keep students and audiences involved in the fun. https://nhpbs.org/gsc

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is generously funded by lead sponsor Unitil, a provider of natural gas and electricity to customers in New England; additional funding is provided by NEA-New Hampshire, Heinemann Publishing, D.F. Richard Energy, Measured Progress, Pax World Donor Advised Fund of the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, the NHHEAF Network Organizations, New Hampshire Magazine, and our Super Sunday partner, Manchester Community College.