• During the prelims, Dorman managed to finish a perfect 10-0, beating teams such as State College, Maggie Walker, Detroit Catholic Central, and Seven Lakes. However, on Sunday, after an easy victory over 32nd-seeded Chattahoochee, Dorman lost a very close back-and-forth game against 17th-seeded duPont Manual that was decided on a protest. Unfortunately, their first match in the losers’ bracket was not easy, as they had to face a Bellarmine team that had lost their first-round match. Dorman were not able to regroup after their initial loss, and so finished with a 1-2 playoff record. As a result, they finished tied for 21st, despite being only one of two teams to have less than four losses, and having the third-highest points per game and bonus conversion of the entire field.
• This year, eight B teams made it into the Sunday playoffs, as well as LASA C and D. Two of these, Detroit Catholic Central B and Thomas Jefferson B, finished tied for 8th and even finished better than their respective A teams (and in the latter’s case, by TJ B beating TJ A in an elimination match). Dorman B and LASA
  B also had good runs, with both finishing tied for 21st in the nation.
• Not only did LASA qualify four teams to the HSNCT, all four were able to make the playoffs. This is the first time in the history of the HSNCT that a single school has sent that many teams, much less have them reach the playoffs. Their B team, which went 8-2 on Saturday, apparently consists entirely of sophomores, which means that LASA will certainly be a powerhouse in the years to come. Coach Jason Flowers deserves a lot of credit for the work he’s done building up that program which didn’t even exist a few years ago.
• Of the five teams that finished tied for 8th, four of them went only 7-3 in the prelims and were seeded worse than 16th. The only team that did not exceed expectations for Sunday was 4th-seeded Seven Lakes A, who had actually beaten fellow 8th-place team Novi A 635-50 earlier in the day. All of these teams should be
  impressed with their finishes and pleased with themselves for beating several high-quality opponents throughout the playoffs.
• George Mason proved without a doubt that they were the best small school, winning all their matches in the small school playoffs, including two against a Beachwood team that came out of nowhere and had almost beaten 8-2 Ladue in the regular playoffs.
• The final two games of the HSNCT were probably two of the most nerve-wracking in Quizbowl championship history. In both games, LASA started with a small advantage in the beginning, holding slight leads at halftime. However, State College was able to keep pace and eventually take the lead with only a few tossups left
  to go. State College’s win can be attributed to their much better performance on bonuses — they had bonus conversions of 22 and 20 for the finals, versus 14 and 13 for LASA. In face, LASA had answered two more tossups in the first finals match, but still lost thanks to their difficulties in getting bonus points.

And so with that, I would like to conclude this year’s coverage of the 2011 HSNCT. I would especially like to thank my co-reporter Marisol Brady, David Reinstein and Joel Gluskin for providing me with valuable schedule information, Stephen Fontenot for helping with the Sunday playoff brackets, the NAQT staff for putting on a great tournament and allowing me to liveblog, and last but not least, the schools, the players, and the coaches that make it all possible in the first place!

• #13 LASA B vs. #20 Dorman B: Two of the top B teams in the nation will square off in an intense battle to see whose second squad is the best.
• #4 Seven Lakes A vs. #13 LASA B: If these two teams win their respective matches, than these two 8-2 Texas rivals will face off against each other.
• #15 Olmsted Falls A vs. Thomas Jefferson B: Olmsted Falls gave Thomas Jefferson A a humiliating defeat, and it is up for TJ B to seek revenge.
• #11 Richard Montgomery A vs. #22 Georgetown Day: These two schools are located less than ten miles apart, and they will once again to see which DC-area team will prevail.
• #47 La Jolla A vs. #82 Mission San Jose B: Northern California will battle Southern California for statewide bragging rights.
• #49 Adair County vs. Pretty much anyone: Last year, Adair County entered the playoff 6-4 and in a do or die situation, and they won five straight to finish T-7th. Will they repeat their level of success?
• #1 Dorman vs. The World: Dorman finished 10-0 in the prelims, but will they be able to keep up that level of success and win it all? And will they be only the second team ever to win HSNCT undefeated?

State College and LASA, the two favorites coming into this tournament, both finished 9-1. State College’s only loss was to Dorman, while LASA fell to Bellarmine. LASA and Dorman never played, so it will be interesting to see what happens if they meet in the playoffs.

Bellarmine, Stevenson, Richard Montgomery, Ladue, Seven Lakes, DCC, Thomas Jefferson, Maggie Walker, Centennial, and LASA B are your 8-2 teams. Most of these should not come as a surprise, though Ladue had a very impressive run. And of course, who would have thought a B team would go 8-2?

George Mason quickly established themselves as favorites coming into the small school playoff on Sunday. They are the only small school to finish 7-3, while Russell, Danville, and Beachwood are right behind them at 6-4.

LASA had already set a record by sending four teams to the HSNCT, but what’s truly amazing is that all four of them managed to make the playoffs!  And not only that, LASA B managed to finish 8-2. It’s an amazing feat and Coach Jason Flowers must be very proud of his kids right now.

I don’t know how they did it, but NAQT managed to run 70 game rooms over 16 rounds with barely any issues. I sincerely applaud them for their logistical achievement.

Some people wore t-shirts and jeans, others wore stuff a bit more formal, and quite a few people wore team gear. Webb School sported some cool bow-ties, but the prize must go to Richard Montgomery for wearing shirts that said “swag” on them. We’re now just one step away from a Rene Magritte reference.

(Note: The numbers in parentheses correspond to the rankings given in Fred Morlan’s rankings.)

B teams:
DCC B (#35): This is a team that has finished in the top five at almost every tournament that they’ve gone to, which is no small feat for a B team. Look for them to finish Saturday with seven wins.
Dorman B (#39): Dorman has been famous for having extremely good B teams (their B team from 2008 finished 4th at HSNCT). They have put up very good team stats at tournaments (usually over 20 PPB), and should be a playoff contender.
TJ B (#41): This is a team that has beaten Dorman, Maggie Walker, St. Anselm’s, and Thomas Jefferson. These guys have the potential to really wreak some havoc over the weekend with a win over a top team. Their top player got moved up to TJ A to fill up a vacancy in that team, though, but that didn’t stop them from beating Maggie Walker at NAQT States.
LASA B (#51): LASA has incredible depth in their Quizbowl program — they managed to qualify four teams to HSNCT this year. Expect them to make a run for seven wins on Saturday.

Small Schools:
Lisle (#32): Lisle has performed quite well in the Quizbowl-dense state of Illinois, and would certainly have won their fair share of tournaments if they were in almost any other state. Look for them to be favorites coming into the small-school playoffs.
George Mason (#53): A team that was to be feared in the DC area this year, they have beaten local powerhouses Thomas Jefferson and Richard Montgomery this year. They are definitely contenders for the small school title.
Danville (#72)/ Russell (#96): These schools from Kentucky have combined for four small school champions, and both teams will once again be making an appearance this year. It will be hard for either of them to add to their collection, though, as George Mason and Lisle have really started to shine this year.
Camp Hill (#79): Even though they have played in only two tournaments this year, the Pennsylvania team managed to put up good numbers in both of them. While conventional wisdom says that they should finish 6-4 on Saturday, it is going to be hard to predict where this team will end up this year.