Hopkinton Defeats St. Thomas

(DURHAM, April 7, 2023) - Hopkinton High defeated St. Thomas Aquinas High in the second quarterfinal game of Granite State Challenge.

Playing for Hopkinton High was captain and junior Adam Richter along with senior Hal Stokes, junior Colton Murphy, and junior Conrad Mollano. The team alternates were freshmen Thomas Ashton and Fin Murphy. The team was coached by Matthew Krogman. Hopkinton High enrolls around 271 students. Hopkinton defeated defending champion Portsmouth High on their way to the quarterfinals.

Playing for St. Thomas was captain and senior Luke Monteiro, sophomore Charlie Monteiro, and juniors Merrill Tode and Cade Murphy. The team alternates were senior Ally Latsilnik and freshman Amelia Monteiro.

The team was coached by Katie Graham. St. Thomas Aquinas High is located in Dover, NH, and enrolls around 391 students. St. Thomas defeated Fall Mountain Regional High to secure their spot in the quarterfinals.

ROUND ONE

Luke Montero of St. Thomas opened the game with a question about Levi Strauss, and his teammate Cade Murphy answered the next question about frugivores. Hal Stokes of Hopkinton answered the next two questions about supreme court justices correctly and the score was tied 20-20. Hal proved he knew about more than just judges on the next question Mario Puzo's novel. The Godfather.

Luke picked up 10 points for St. Thomas Aquinas on a question about composer Richard Wagner, tying the score 30-30. Hal broke the tie on a question about the Dred Scott decision, and Hopkinton was back in the lead by a score of 40-30. With the score 60-40 in Hopkinton's favor and less than a minute in the round, Merrill Tode of St. Thomas brought the score to 60-50 on a question about Plymouth Colony, and her teammate Charlie Monteiro tied the score 60-60 on a question about windmills.

The next question was the  Unitil Power Question worth double points. It was answered correctly by Luke and St. Thomas picked up 20 points, bringing the score to 80-60. Luke also answered the last question in the round about Sponge Bob Square Pants correctly and the round ended with St. Thomas in the lead by a score of 90-60.

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 Hopkinton's round, Adam picked up 30 points, and his teammates Hal, Colton, and Conrad each picked up 20 points for a team total of 90 points.

In St. Thomas' round, Luke and Charlie picked up 30 points and Cade picked up 10 for a total of 40 team points, bringing the score to 160-150 and giving St. Thomas a slim 10-point lead.

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.

Hopkinton chose the category "Tower Time" in which all of the answers included the word story. The team answered eight questions correctly and added 80 points to their score.

St. Thomas chose the category "Pig in a Poke" in which all of the answers were related to pigs. They missed only two questions in the round and added 80 points to their score and the round ended with St. Tjomas in the lead by a score of 240-230.

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.

Luke lost and then picked up 20 points for St. Thomas on questions about the epiglottis and the setting for the Divergent novels.  Hal of Hopkinton answered the next question about Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, and Hopkint was in the lead by a score of 250-240. They held the lead for only seconds, after Charlie of St, Thomas answered a question about Sherlock Holmes, and then the lead switched again after Colton of Hopkinton answered a question about Truman's order for the Army to seize control of the railroads in 1950, putting Hopkinton in the lead by a score 0f 270-260. Hal extended Hopkinton's lead to 290-260 on a math question, but  Charlie narrowed the lead to 290-280 on a nursery rhyme question and his teammate Luke took St. Thomas back into the lead on a question about Mohs Hardness Scale. The two teams went back and forth with correct answers and with a minute left in the game Hopkinton was in the lead 350-320, which ended up as the final score of the game.

Hopkinton High now moves on to the semifinals where they will meet Merrimack High, who defeated Souhegan High in the first quarterfinal game.

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