Plymouth Regional High Defeats Nashua High South

Granite State Challenge - Quarterfinals

(DURHAM, April 23, 2024) - Nashua High South fell to Plymouth Regional High in the third quarterfinal game of Granite State Challenge.

Playing for Nashua High South was the team captain and senior Curtis Newton along with seniors Deetya Nagri and Narayan Sajeev, and junior Calvin Song. The team alternates were sophomores Henry Long and Eric Picanco. Nashua High South was coached by social studies teacher Lex Duval and English teacher Kelli Thornhill-Telerski. Nashua High South enrolls around 1,790 students. Nashua High South defeated ConVal Regional High on their way to the quarterfinals and was the Granite State Challenge champion in 2016 and 2017.

Playing for Plymouth Regional High was the team captain and junior Reagan Sutherland, along with seniors Khalil Dakhlia, Paul Mason, and junior Norman Sackett. The team alternates were junior Max Shamansky and senior Ethan Savage. The coaches for the team were programming, drafting, and engineering teacher Jay Fogarty and Spanish teacher Troy Harris. Plymouth Regional High enrolls around 647 students from Plymouth, Ashland, Holderness, Campton, Rumney, Wentworth, Ellsworth, Waterville Valley, and Thornton. Plymouth Regional High defeated Newfound Regional High to secure their place in the quarterfinal round and was the Granite State Challenge champion in 1996, 2013, and 2019.

ROUND ONE

Khalil Dakhlia picked up 80 points in the round for Plymouth on questions about everything from passenger pigeons to Walter Cronkite and the Marianas Trench. His teammate Reagan added another 20 points to Plymouth's score on questions about the Cheshire Cat and Rodin's sculpture, The Thinker.

On the Nashua South side, Curtis Newton picked up 20 points for his team on questions about the howler monkey and the designated hitter in baseball, Deetya Nagri added another 20 points on a math sequencing question and a question about galleons, Narayan Sajeev answered a civics question about the Defense of Marriage Act and an art question about Rembrandt, and junior Calvin Song picked up 20 points on questions about composer Leonard Bernstein and Narcissus and 20 points on the Unitil Power Question.

At the end of the round, the score was tied 100-100.

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT ROUND

In the Three Strikes and You're Out Round, each team picks a 10-question category and each team member, starting with the captain, gets one question. The team continues to answer questions until they miss three questions. Each team also has three passes in each round. If a team answers all 10 questions correctly, they pick up an additional 10 points.

Nashua High South went first and Curtis Newton picked up 40 points, Deetya Nagri added another 10 points, Narayan Sajeev added another 10 points and junior Calvin Song picked up 20 points for the team, for a total of 80 points and the score was now 180-100 with Nashua High South in the lead.

Plymouth Regional High's Reagan Sutherland seniors Khalil Dakhlia, and Norman Sackett each picked up 20 points in the rounds and Paul Mason added 30 points for a total of 90 points in the round, taking Plymouth Regional High out to a slim lad of 190-180.

60-SECOND ROUND

In the 60-Second Round, alternates join their teams. Each team picks a ten-question category and has 60 seconds to answer the questions. If they answer all ten correctly, teams get a 10-point bonus. Team members can confer in the round, but the captain answers.

Nashua High South chose the category "O, the Places You'll Go" All the answers in the category were names of places that began with the letter "O." They almost had a perfect score, missing only on a question about Ossippee, NH and adding 90 points to their total bringing the score to 270-190.

Plymouth chose the category "Swifties" In this category, the answers were all related to fast things. Plymouth picked up 90 points in their round missing only on a question about the superhero that is faster than a speeding bullet. At the end of the round, Plymouth Regional was in the lead by just 10 points, with the score at 280-270.

FINAL ROUND

In the game's final round, each correct answer is worth 20 points, but teams lose 20 points with an incorrect answer, and a lead can be easily lost or gained in the round. With the score so tight, both teams passed on the first two questions in the round. Nashua High South's Curtis Newton was confident on the third question about Minecraft. He went on to pick up 40 more points in the round, Calvin Song added another 20 points to Nashua South's score. At the end of the round, the team lost 20 points on a question about the movie "Bring It On." Nashua South ended the round with a total of 330 points.

On the Plymouth side, Reagan Sutherland picked up 20 points, Khalil Dakhlia added 100 points, and Norman Sackett picked up 20 points in the round for a team total of 140 points and Plymouth won the match by a final score of 420-330.

Plymouth Regional High now moves on to the semifinals where they will meet either Hopkinton High or Laconia High on Thursday, May 9 at 7:30 pm on NHPBS.

The next quarterfinal game pitting Hopkinton High against Laconia High airs on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 pm.

Hosted by Bow High School teacher and former Granite State Challenge coach (Bedford High), contestant (Belmont High), and Granite State Challenge crew member, Jon Cannon, Granite State Challenge features some of New Hampshire's brightest high school students 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 knowledge with GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE online quizzes, and more at the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE web page, or try your hands at daily brainteasers on the GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE Facebook page.

GRANITE STATE CHALLENGE is funded by lead sponsor Unitil with additional funding from NEA New Hampshire, Safety Insurance, D.F. Richard Energy, and HRCU.

Major funding provided by