Bradwell Institute won its second consecutive state Helen Ruffin Reading Bowl championship March 7.
It was the third year that eight-member teams from Bradwell made it to state.
“The pressure was even more intense this year,” coach Melissa McCallar said, “as the team came into the finals as the reigning state champions.”
Bradwell squeaked out the 150-140 win against George Walton Comprehensive High School in Cobb County on the final question.
The season began in January when each school district in the state hosted in-house competitions.
Winning district teams advanced to one of six regional bowls based. Bradwell competed in the South Region at Valdosta State University on Feb. 7, after defeating rival Liberty County High School, 480-100, in the county HRRB Bowl.
Bradwell dominated the regional competition, finishing with 470 points, 200 points over Savannah’s Islands High School, which placed second.
Both high schools advanced to the Division II Bowl at Georgia Southern University on Feb. 21. Division II includes winners and runner-ups from the South, East and Central regions. There’s also a Division I Bowl for the North, Metro and West regions.
The first-place winners of the two divisional bowls meet in Athens in the state championship.
“Bradwell‘s team met the toughest competition it had seen in several years during the divisional bowl, but came away in first place by a narrow 30-point margin over Cedar Shoals High School (Athens-Clarke County),” McCaller said.
The quiz-bowl style competition covers the 20 Georgia Peach Teen Book Award nominees for the year. Students read, study, and memorize possible questions for each book.