Trinity High Defeats Dover High

(DURHAM, March 17, 2023) - (DURHAM, March 24, 2023) - Trinity High defeated Dover High in the final round one game of Granite State Challenge.

Dover High was represented by senior and captain Ben Sears along with juniors Maddie Bachrach, Ethan Proto, and Travis Benincasa. The team alternates were senior Babi Subedi and junior Leviathan Stewart.  The team was coached by Tim Elliot. Dover High enrolls around 1,500 students from Dover, Barrington, and Nottingham.

Playing for Trinity High was captain and senior Katie Scali along with senior Liam Hodge, and juniors Hayden Becker and Matt Salafia. The team alternates were sophomores Desmond Lee and Tyler Welch. The team was coached by Louis Sievers. Trinity High School is located in Manchester and enrolls around 330 students.

ROUND ONE
Ethan Proto of Dover opened the game with a question about the Brandenburg Gate. Neither team could identify director Jane Campion, but  Hayden Becker of Trinity knew that a child sitting at the top of a slide had potential energy. Both teams missed the next two American history questions. Hayden Becker picked up the next 10 points for Trinity with a question about electrons. The next points were picked up by Maddie Bachrach of Dover who knew that two of Uranus' moons, Titania and Oberon, discovered by William Herschel in 1787, were named for characters in Shakespeare's comedy,  A Midsummer Night's Dream, and the score was tied 20-20.

Matt Salafia of Trinity broke the tie with a question about Janet Reno and Dover captain Ben Sears tied it up again with a question about Pete Rose. Hayden Becker of Trinity picked up 10 points on a question about James Madison, Matt Salafia picked up another 10 points for Trinity with a question about Superman and captain Katie Scali added another 10 points to the board for Trinity with a question about the Beatles, bringing the score to 60-30 in favor of Trinity.

With less than a minute left in the round, Dover captain Ben Sears answered questions about hyperbole and swimmer Jenny Thompson and the round ended with Trinity holding on to a slim lead of 60-50.

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 Dover's round, Ben Sears picked up 20 points,  Maddie Bachrach picked up 30 points, and Ethan Proto picked up 10 points for a total of 60 team points, and the score was 110-60 with Dover in the lead.

In Trinity's round,  Katie Scali and Matt Salafia each picked up 30 points for the team, Liam Hodge picked up 20 points and Hayden Becker picked up 10 points for a total of 90 team points, ending the round with Trinity in the lead by a score of 150-110.

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.

Dover chose the category "All About the Benjamins" in which all of the answers included the name Ben, Benny, or Benjamin. The team answered eight questions correctly and added 80 points to their score.

Trinity chose the category "Pop Up" in which all of the answers included the letters p-o-p in that order. They missed only one question in the round and added 90 points to their score and the round ended with Trinity in the lead by a score of 240-190.

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.

Ethan Proto of Dover opened the round with a question about French King Louis XVI but Dover then lost the points on the next question. Trinity picked up those points with a correct answer by Hayden Becker. Liam Hodge picked up another 20 points for Trinity on a question about malaria, and then Hayden Becker picked up 20 points on a question about Hillary Clinton and 40 points on the Until Power question about the Avengers character, the Black Widow. Trinity was out to a lead of 300-190. As the round went on both teams gained in lost points and the round ended with Trinity winning the game by a score of 420-150.

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

The first quarterfinal game pits Merrimack High School against Souhegan High School and airs on Thursday, March 30 @ 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