Burlington High School Scholars' Bowl

2003 Bulldog High School Academic Tournament

Tournament Summary

NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- The lineup might have been entirely different from the last time the Burlington High School Scholars' Bowl team went to Yale University, but the results were not.

BHS played with no players with first-team experience at Yale on Feb. 1, 2003 but received a brilliant sixth-place individual performance from captain Sheng Li and managed to match its best-ever performance at the Bulldog High School Academic Tournament, placing second in its preliminary-round group and posting a playoff victory before falling in the octofinals of the Northeast's most prestigious tournament.

Li got the Burlington "A" team -- which also included Isaac Backus, Brad Moore and Alec Wei -- off to a quick start. Li hit nine toss-ups and scored 185 points in the opening round as BHS pounded Lyme-Old Lyme B (Old Lyme, Conn.), 245-5. But an inability to convert bonuses slowed BHS in its second match against Horace Greeley (Chappaqua, N.Y.), the 26th-ranked team in the country. Burlington hung tough in the first half, trailing just 65-60 after eight questions and 100-60 after toss-up 14, but the New Yorkers pulled away for a 215-70 win. Burlington bounced back with easy wins over E.O. Smith (Storrs, Conn.) C, 235-15, and St. Anthony's (South Huntington, N.Y.) B, 220-40, to take a 3-1 record into its pivotal match against New Milford (Conn.) in Round 7. Burlington started well, leading 60-40 after toss-up six, but the Connecticut school responded with a 95-(-5) to take a commanding 135-55 lead after toss-up 11. Then it was the Seahorses (30-9 overall, 5-0 Vermont State Tournament) turn to make a run. Backus answered consecutive toss-ups on Solon, Go, and Bloody Sunday and questions on Li's toss-ups on Borneo and Jeremiah made it five in a row for BHS. In the end, the run would be 130-(-5) and a last toss-ups but New Milford could not prevent Burlington from scoring a key 185-150 victory. The Seahorses closed out play with a 205-100 win over Southington (Conn.) B to finish second in their group with a 5-1 record.

Burlington's young "B" team of Alex George, Casey Klyszeiko, Matt Moore and James Nadel found the going much more difficult. They managed to draw close in a low scoring first match, but fell to East Hampton (N.Y.) 115-60. Burlington also battled Norwich Free Academy (Norwich, Conn.) and Southington A in 150-105 and 140-75 defeats and twice led perennial power State College (Pa.) -- 0-(-5) and 15-10 -- but couldn't manage a victory in six matches.

After much confusion and delay in the pairings, Burlington A was awarded the 11th seed and a match against Kellenberg Memorial (Uniondale, N.Y.) B in the opening playoff round. The game was close throughout the first half, but a spurt by Li sent the B 70-(-5) run early in the second half for a 150-45 lead with six questions to go. Kellenberg made it close by getting four out of five toss-ups, but Wei's clutch math answer -- his only toss-up of the day -- helped Burlington stay on top. In the end, two protests and a replacement toss-up did not change the result and Burlington had a 165-135 victory and a place in the octofinals.

However, Burlington's second playoff game against Kellenberg A, ranked 28th in nation, was over almost before its started. The New Yorkers scored the first 95 points and rolled to a 175-5 lead at the half. Two second-half toss-ups by Backus and one by Li salvaged a level of respectability for the Seahorses, but Kellenberg rolled to a 330-65 victory and would go on to reach the semifinals.

The result marked the third straight time Burlington has placed second in its group and reached the octofinals in trips to Yale. BHS accomplished the same feats in 2000 and 2001 before missing the 2002 tournament because of a snow storm. BHS' average of 173 points per game for the tournament was its lowest in its last three trips to BHSAT, but the Seahorses also managed to win games by less than 50 points in the Nutmeg State for the first time since its first trip to Yale in 1999. Burlington's "A" teams are a combined 19-6 at Yale since 2000.

Individually, Li led the Seahorses in scoring in all but one game and finished with a team-best 103.13 points per game, 46.88 on toss-ups. His preliminary-round round average of 51.67 toss-up points per game was the sixth best in the tournament. Brad Moore contributed steadily in averaging 33.75 points per game and 16.88 on toss-up, while Backus averaged 32.5 points per game and 13.12 toss-up points per contest and was at his best in the biggest games. Wei had just 4.38 points per game, but 20 of his 35 total points came in BHS' playoff win.

For the Burlington B's, Matt Moore led the way with 30 points per game, 12.5 of them on toss-ups. James Nadel also fared well, averaging 26.67 points per game and a team-best 18.33 on toss-ups. Freshmen George and Klyszeiko added 6.67 and 1.67 points per game, all on toss-ups.

Dorman (Spartanburg, S.C.) would be the eventual tournament champion, beating State College by five points in the title game. The tournament including 57 teams from 11 states.

View A Team match scores and stats from the tournament
View B Team match scores and stats from the tournament

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