Oyster River High Defeats Winnacunnet High

(DURHAM, March 17, 2023) - (DURHAM, March 17, 2023) - Oyster River High defeated Winnacunnet High in game seven in the first round of Granite State Challenge.

Oyster River High was represented by senior and captain Lincoln Bens, junior Aaron Eisenberg, sophomore Annika Clemmons, and junior James Li. The team alternate was freshman Everett Ehlen. The team was coached by John Monahan. Oyster River High enrolls around 850 students from Durham, Lee, and Madbury.

Playing for Winnacunnet High were captain and senior Vivienne, juniors Anthony and Adam, and sophomore Emma. The team alternates were senior Sydney and junior Chloe. The team was coached by Kevin Flemming. Winnacunnet High School enrolls around 1,140 students from Hampton, Seabrook, North Hampton, South Hampton, and Hampton Falls.

ROUND ONE
Emma from Winnacunnet answered the first question about Iceland and the country it declared independence from in 1944 and put the first 10 points on the board. The next 10 points were picked up by Oyster River's Aaron Eisenberg on a question about Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen. Lincoln Bens went on a scoring roll and added 40 points to Oyster River's score with questions about REM sleep, the Supreme Court case Loving v. Virginia, The Lion King musical, and Kobe Bryant. His teammate Aaron Eisenberg answered the next question about the Pesky Pole in Fenway Park and Oyster River was out to a lead of 60-10.

Annika Clemmons extended the lead to 70-10 on a question about Alexander Graham Bell and Aaron Eisenberg added another 20 points to the team's score on a question about Woodrow Wilson and a time calculation question. Both teams were unable to spell the word nauseous. Annika Clemmons brought the score to 100-10 with a question about the bones in the ear. Adam of Winacunnet picked up 10 points on a question about Joe DiMaggio.

The next question was the Unitil Power Question worth 20 points. Anthony of Winnacunnet picked up the points for his team on a question about the TV show, The Umbrella Academy, narrowing the score to 100-40. With time running out, Anthony picked up another 10 points for Winnacunnet with a question about orangutans, and the round ended with Oyster River in the lead by a score of 100-50.

THREE STRIKES AND YOU'RE OUT ROUND
The second round of the game is the Three Strikes and You're Out Round. Each team picks a 10-question category, and each team member gets a question, starting with the captain. 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.

In Oyster River's round, Lincoln Bens and Aaron Eisenberg each picked up 10 points, and Annika Clemmons, and James Li each picked up 30 points. Giving Oyster River a lead of 180-50.

In Winnacunnet's round, Vivienne picked up 40 points, Adam added 30 points, and Anthony and Emma each added 10 points. The round ended with Oyster River in the lead by a score of 180-140.

60-SECOND ROUND
In the third 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 up a 10-point bonus. Team members can confer in the round, but the captain answers for the team.

Winnacunnet chose the category Yo Ho Yo in which all of the answers were related to pirates. The team ran the board and added 110 points to their score.

Oyster River chose the category Have a Ball in which all of the answers included the word ball. The team answered seven questions in the round correctly and the round ended with the score tied 250-250.

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 leads can quickly be lost or gained.

James Li of Oyster River picked up the first points of the round with a question about the 1969 uprising at the Stonewall Inn in New York City's Greenwich Village. Both teams lost 20 points on a math question and on a question about Woody Woodpecker. James Li added 40 points to Oyster River's score on questions about the novel, The Little Prince and Supreme Court justice Amy Coney Barrett, bringing the score to 270-170.

Winnacunnet played a tough round but they were not able to overcome the lead established by Oyster River and the game ended with a score of 350-230.

Oyster River now moves on to the quarterfinals where they will face either Dover High School or Trinity High School. Their quarterfinal game airs on Thursday, April 20 @ 7:30 pm on NHPBS.

The final round-one game pits Dover High School against Trinity High School and airs on Thursday, March 23 @ 7:30 pm on NHPBS.

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 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 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, The New Hampshire Lottery, D.F. Richard Energy, Cognia, and HRCU.

Pressroom Contact

Carla Gordon Russell
Director of Communications
crussell@nhpbs.org
(603) 868-4339