Left: Darrian McGhann, Shanni Mohan, Sanjo Edwards and Rozan Richards, members of the Morant Bay High Schools' Challenge Quiz team.   Right: Kerecia Hayden, Karae Brown, Rochelle Stultz and Christina Lewis, members of the Bishop Gibson High Schools' Challenge Quiz team. - ricardo makyn photos

Bishop Gibson High was supposed to win based on the scores at the end of the first two sections, but it was Morant Bay High that won. The St. Thomas based school is on to the first round of the 38th season of Television Jamaica's Schools' Challenge Quiz.

Bishop Gibson was out of the blocks first and seemed destined for good a lead when they ended the first section 8-4.The girls then gained 15 points in the minute section reaching 23 at the end of the second section while Morant Bay High secured only 10 points reaching 14.

"When Bishop Gibson was leading my teammates felt down and kept looking at the score. We planned to rally back in the second round", Morant Bay High's captain Rozan Richards said. But that did not work."[We said] buzzer section, we have to win, we have to play like our life depended on it."

Turning tides

The tides turned in the buzzer section as Morant Bay High surfed ahead. They answered nine questions in the third section, all accurate. Bishop Gibson got six questions falling on a mathematics question which asked them to convert 243 base 10 to base three. The incorrect answer cost them the match. When the buzzers stopped, Morant Bay High had 32 points and Bishop Gibson 31.

"To me it seems that they lost their composure a little in the last part. They could have won, it was very close, they knew they could have won. They knew the info, but they were slow," Denese James, coach of Bishop Gibson said.

"I think we played well. We knew some questions but because we were nervous we didn't press the buzzer as quick," Karae Brown of Bishop Gibson said after the match.

Morant Bay High's coach, Shaunette Williams-Johnson was not always sure of her team. "We have a very inexperienced team, they were confident but we were a bit apprehensive. We didn't get a chance to prepare properly," she said. She explained that they had a camp over the holiday to supplement their training and will be dedicating many more hours as they progress to the first round.

"We're very happy to win. Our schoolmates might not be satisfied because we won Bishop Gibson by one, but we intend to do better in the first round," Richards said with a laugh.

Teams:

Morant Bay High: Rozan Richards (captain), Shanni

Mohan, Sanjo Edwards and Darrion McGhann

Bishop Gibson: Christina Lewis (captain), Kerecia

Hayden, Karae Brown and Rochelle Stultz

Next match: McGrath High versus St. Thomas Technical