Burlington High School Scholars' Bowl

2003 Spring Hanover Round Robin

Tournament Summary

HANOVER, N.H. -- A slow start turned into a solid performance for the Burlington High School Scholars' Bowl Seahorses on March 8, 2003.

After three games, BHS' top team stood at 1-2 and on the verge of missing the playoffs at the Spring Hanover Round Robin. Instead, the Seahorses rebounded with eight consecutive victories to reach the semifinals in their typical strong showing at Hanover High School.

The Burlington "A" team of Isaac Backus, Tobias Crawford, Sheng Li and Brad Moore opened play well enough, beating host Hanover's C team 9-2. But the Hanover A's, ranked 24th in the nation, were less accommodating and dealt BHS a 12-6 setback. A low-scoring 5-3 loss to Lebanon (N.H.) B followed and BHS' record sank to 1-2. But none of Burlington's final seven round robin matches were close. The Seahorses won all seven by at least five points and finished the preliminary round at 8-2.

Alex George, Casey Klyszeiko, Matt Moore and James Nadel, Burlington's B team, faced a tougher schedule that included four playoff-bound teams but still managed a good start. Burlington topped Lisbon (N.H.), 5-4, in round two and Fall Mountain (N.H.)'s C and A teams, both 8-5, in rounds five and six to even its record at 3-3. Three narrow losses followed and the Seahorses finished the day at 3-7, having dropped four games by four or fewer points.

In the playoffs, Burlington "A" was the fourth seed and faced Burr and Burton, also 8-2 in the prelims, in the quarterfinals. Burr and Burton led 5-3 midway through the round, but BHS (39-12 overall, 5-0 Vermont State Tournament) responded by hitting seven of the last nine toss-ups for a 10-7 victory. The win set up a showdown with undefeated Hanover in the semifinals. The Seahorses led 2-0 early and the match was tied at 4 before a Hanover mini-run gave the hosts a 7-4 edge. The teams traded questions the rest of the way and the New Hampshire school escaped with a 10-7 victory.

Hanover beat Phillips Exeter B in the final match, 10-7, to claim the championship.

The strong semifinal showing was an improvement on the Fall Hanover Round Robin when BHS went 7-4 and lost in the quarterfinals. However, for just the second time in the past six seasons, Burlington did not win at least one of the twice-annual Hanover events. Burlington's A team has a combined 149-16 record in 14 trips to Hanover since David Rome became head coach in the 1995-96 season.

View match scores from the tournament

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