April 16, 2002 – It was deja vu all over again at the finals of the 2002 V.I. Quiz Bowl.
In the 16th game of the three-day competition, Antilles School emerged victorious, beating Good Hope School after Good Hope had won its semi-final round against Country Day School on a tie-breaking question. That's exactly what happened last year.
It was a high for Antilles, a heartbreaker for Good Hope.
"We're kinda ready for first, been getting a lot of second's and third's," Good Hope coach Chip Renn quipped, referring to near misses both this year and last and a third-place finish in 2000. But overall, he said, his team did well and he was pleased with their performance.
The last game Tuesday also was a rematch for the day between the two top teams. Antilles beat Good Hope in Game 13, 395 to 245. Then the St. Thomas team came back to win Game 16, 395 to 255, for the title.
Earlier Tuesday, Country Day beat All Saints Cathedral School, 305 to 245, advancing to the semi-final round for what spectators called the "nail-biter." The two teams kept the competition tight, with no clear winner until the final question: The Post Office in Washington, D.C., was flooded with thousands of letters as a result of what campaign started by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
The answer: The March of Dimes. Good Hope knew the answer and squeaked past Country Day, 305-300.
Victory was especially sweet for one member of the Antilles Brainstorms, Dennis Jones, Jr., who not only was on the winning team last year, too, but also was on the All Saints team that won the Quiz Bowl in 2000. "I think I kind of give it a unique dynamic, complementing the other players and what it takes to be a championship team," the eleventh grader said.
It was almost as sweet for his parents, who showed up at Palms Court Harborview Hotel, the Quiz Bowl venue, along with the parents of all the other Antilles team members. "It feels great," his dad, Dennis Sr., said. "He works hard. This is his third year."
Becky Luscz, mother of Brainstorms team member Emily Luscz, said winning was getting to be a habit in her home, too. Emily's brother, Andrew, who graduated last spring, was the captain of the winning Antilles team last year.
And from the mother of this year's Antilles captain, Lane Sell, came advice on raising future Quiz Bowl champions: "We always read to him from very young," mom Katina Coulianos Sell said. "He's become a natural reader, and he has a wide interest in things." She added: "Read to your children when they're small. That's my advice to everyone."
There's still one question the Brainstorms have to answer (with apologies to the grammarian purists): "Where to?" Coach Alan Eberhart said the team will take part in one of the three national Quiz Bowl competitions at the end of May and early June. The choices are Los Angeles, New Orleans and Washington, D.C. "We'll let the students decide," he said.
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