Souhegan Defeats Londonderry

Granite State Challenge - Round One

(DURHAM, March 1, 2020) – The Londonderry High Lancers fell to the Souhegan High Sabers in round-one of Granite State Challenge.

Playing for the Lancers were captain Adhvika Arunkumar, Conor Donohue, Chris Ferrick, Tim Gore and alternates Connor Fongeallaz and Katie LaCerda. The team was coached by Pete Willis. Londonderry High enrolls over 1,500 students.

The Souhegan High Sabers were represented by captain Alec Reitter, Zach Cotter, Ari Garnick, Amanda Fulton and alternates Daniel Svendsen and Nick Giannakopoulos. The team was coached by Dave Jasinski, Sarah Kunyoysing, and Travis Nason. Souhegan enrolls around 830 students from Amherst and Mont Vernon.

Both teams played a strong game out of the gate. The round featured a video question from New Hampshire author and illustrator Tomie dePaola about his book, Strega Nona, which Alec of Souhegan correctly identified. At the end of Round One, Londonderry led by a score of 60-50.

Souhegan came roaring back in Round Two, correctly answering questions about Agatha Christie, Ireland and the Civilian Conservation Corps and ended the round ahead by a score of 270-160.

In the 60-second round, Londonderry chose the category "Queen B's" and correctly answered four out of ten questions about strong women with a first, last or middle name beginning with the letter"B." Souhegan chose the category "Thunder and Lightning" and correctly answered eight out of ten questions with an answer that included the word thunder of lightning, missing only the Bruce Springsteen song "Thunder Road" and the Ben Franklin invention, the lightning rod. At the end of the round, Souhegan had extended their lead to 350-200.

The fourth round is where a team can come from behind and secure a win. Correct answers are worth 20 points, but an incorrect answer will cost a team 20 points. Both teams played an aggressive round, but in the end, Londonderry was not able to come from behind and Souhegan took the game by a final score of 490-340.

Souhegan now goes on to face two-time Granite State Challenge champs Nashua High South in the quarterfinals.

Granite State Challenge is funded by lead sponsor Unitil; with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, New Hampshire Lottery, Heinemann Publishing, Cognia, HRCU , and Manchester Community College.

Granite State Challenge features New Hampshire's top high school academic quiz teams as they demonstrate remarkable teamwork, quick thinking, and smarts to beat the clock and buzz in first on this iconic New Hampshire game show. 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 Hampshire.

You can follow your favorite team, test your own knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page or try your hand at daily brainteasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.