(upbeat marching band music) ♪ Go - Welcome to the 18th season of WVIA "Scholastic Scrimmage."

I'm your host, Paul Lazar.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a question and answer competition featuring high school students from across the WVIA viewing area.

In each program, two schools will compete in a single elimination tournament for a chance to win 1, 3, or $5,000.

Tonight's match features Wyoming Valley West versus Lake Lehman.

Representing Wyoming Valley West are Tessa Kopetchny, Jalen Buchinski, Elvis Castanos, Evelyn Saltz.

And their alternate is Joey Souder.

Their advisor is Robert Bonczewski.

Representing Lake Lehman are Teagan Norconk, Brianna London, Francis Pinnacoli, and Seth Berry.

Their alternates are Evan Kaiser and Cassidy Gallagher.

And their advisor is Cecelia Jennings.

"Scholastic Scrimmage" is a game of rapid recall of factual information, so let's take a moment and review the rules.

The first team to buzz in will have an opportunity to answer a toss-up question.

Correct answers to these questions are awarded 10 points and that team will then receive a 5 point bonus question.

If that toss-up answer is incorrect, no points will be deducted, but the question will then rebound to the other team.

If the other team answers correctly, they'll be given the toss-up points, but will not receive a bonus question.

Well, let's go ahead and get started with this toss-up question.

What country's 1993 election was contested between Prince Ranariddh and Prime Minister Hun Sen, who restored the monarchy under Norodom Sihanouk?

(buzzer beeps) That was Cambodia.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What British chemist, whose law equates the total pressure of a gas mixture to the sum of partial pressures, proposed an early atomic theory?

(button beeps) Teagan, Lake Lehman?

- Boyle?

- Is incorrect.

Rebound now to Valley West.

(buzzer beeps) That was John Dalton.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What island whose western most tip is home to Negril Lighthouse also contains the city of Port Royal, which sits at the mouth of Kingston Harbor?

(button beeps) - Jalen, Valley West.

- Jamaica?

- Is correct.

(buzzer warbles) And here comes your bonus.

What Weaver of Raveloe is framed for stealing money from a religious community and adopts a daughter named Eppie in an 1861 novel by George Eliot.

(buzzer beeps) That was "Silas Marner".

Here's our next toss-up question.

What human reclines naked and reaches out with his left hand to touch God's hand on a portion of a Sistine Chapel depicting his creation?

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Adam.

- Is correct.

(buzzer warbles) And here comes your bonus.

Many migrants heading to the US have to cross what inhospitable gap along the Panama-Columbia border?

(button beeps) - The Panama Canal?

- No, it's the Darien Gap, the Darien Gap.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What leader who ordered a massacre at Drogheda, disbanded the Rump Parliament after Charles I's execution, and ruled as Lord Protector of Britain?

(button beeps) Francis, Lake Lehman.

- Oliver Cromwell?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus now.

(buzzer warbles) What general captured Mexico City in 1847, ran as the Whig nominee for president in 1852, and devised the Anaconda plan during the Civil War?

- Try it.

I don't, try it.

(button beeps) - Daniel Boone?

- No, that's Winfield Scott.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What city hosted an NFL team that moved to Tennessee and was originally called the Oilers (button beeps) and now is home- Jalen, Valley West.

- Houston.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus question.

(buzzer warbles) Article 71 of the United Nations charter introduced what term for large activist groups such as Oxfam that are independent of direct state funding?

(buzzer beeps) That is NGO, or non-governmental organization.

Here's our next toss-up question.

What novel, which is partly said on the fictional island of San Lorenzo, depicts how the planet's water is frozen by ice-nine and is by Kurt Vonnegut?

(buzzer beeps) That's "Cat's Cradle."

Let's move on to another toss-up question.

What long molecules, three of which are found in a triglyceride, are unsaturated when they have a double bond as in their healthy- (button beeps) Seth, Lake Lehman.

- Lipids?

- [Paul] Is, be more specific.

- Fatty acids?

- Is correct, and here (buzzer warbles) comes your bonus question.

(timer beeps) The Agulhas and Humbolt are examples of what large scale flows of surface ocean water?

- Glaciers?

- Try it.

(button beeps) - Glaciers?

- No, we're were looking for ocean current, ocean current.

Well that sound that you heard signals the end of the first quarter and it's now time for the lightning round.

(logo buzzes) In this segment, each team will have an opportunity to answer as many of the 10 rapid fire questions as they can in one minute.

Wyoming Valley West has won the coin toss and will pick first.

Your categories are, how monarchs died or African cities.

- Do how monarchs die?

- How monarchs die?

- How monarchs died it is, and your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Given a ruler, state whether they died in battle, were assassinated, died of an infectious disease, or none of the above.

Russia's Nicholas II.

(button beeps) - He was murdered.

- [Paul] Yes.

England's Harold Godwinson?

(button beeps) - None of the above.

- [Paul] Died in battle.

Athens' Pericles.

(button beeps) - Died in battle.

- Infectious disease.

Egypt's Cleopatra.

(button beeps) - Infectious disease.

- [Paul] None of the above.

England's Richard III.

(button beeps) - Died in battle.

- Yes.

Sweden's Gustavus Adolphus.

(button beeps) - Infectious disease.

- Died in battle.

Rome's Caligula.

(button beeps) - None of the above.

- Assassination.

France's Henry IV.

(button beeps) - Died in battle.

- Assassination.

Sparta's Leonidas I.

(button beeps) - Assassination.

- Died in battle.

(group chuckles) Russia's Catherine the Great.

(button beeps) - None of the above.

- That's correct, Valley West (Evelyn chuckles) and that's going to do it for your portion of the lightning round.

(group speaks faintly) Lake Lehman, we're coming over to you, and your remaining category will be African cities.

And once again, your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

In what country could one visit these African cities?

Cairo.

(button beeps) - Egypt?

- [Paul] Yes.

Casablanca.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] Morocco.

Mogadishu.

- Don't got it.

(button beeps) - Rwanda.

- [Paul] Somalia.

Dara Salaam.

(button beeps) - French Guiana.

- [Paul] Tanzania.

Lagos.

- Try- - Just say it, say it, say it.

(button beeps) - Equatorial Guinea?

- [Paul] Nigeria.

Bamako.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- Mali.

Accra.

- Accra, isn't that Niger?

(button beeps) - Uganda.

- [Paul] Ghana.

Gaborone.

(button beeps) - Kenya.

- [Paul] Botswana.

Constantine and Oran.

- Constantine (indistinct).

- (button beeps) Tunisia?

- [Paul] Algeria.

Dakar.

(button beeps) - Kenya.

(timer beeps) - That was Senegal.

Some tough categories in that lightning round.

And that's going to finish that particular lightning round.

And after that we have Wyoming Valley West in the lead over Lake Lehman 45 to 25.

And we're now going to move into the second quarter with this toss-up question.

What civilization's deities included groups called the Ogdoad and Ennead, the latter of which included the Sun god Atum and the afterlife god Osiris.

(button beeps) Francis, Lake Lehman.

- Egypt.

- Is correct, (buzzer warbles) and here comes your bonus.

What French author portrayed the social climber, Eugene de Rastignac, in his 1835 novel "Le Père Goriot," part of his many volume series, "The Human Comedy."

- Try Voltaire?

(button beeps) Voltaire?

- Nope, that's Honore de Balzac.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What man issued the Berlin and Milan decrees to enforce the Continental System against British trade on behalf of his French empire in 1807?

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Napoleon?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

(buzzer warbles) In 1993, what progressive conservative briefly succeeded Brian Mulroney as prime minister of Canada, becoming the first woman to hold the role?

(group speaks faintly) (buzzer beeps) That was Kim Campbell.

Let's go to another toss-up.

In jazz, what instrument played by musicians like Art Blakey and Buddy Rich is usually found in a namesake kit, including its bass (button beeps) and stare types.

Francis, Lake Lehman.

- Drum, drummer.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

(buzzer warbles) Toronto's Robarts Library exemplifies what post-war architectural style that uses minimalist designs, often with large stretches of exposed concrete?

(button beeps) (Seth speaks faintly) - Brutalism?

- Is correct for your bonus points, Lake Lehman.

As we move on to another toss-up.

What quantity, which for a spring equals half the spring constant times extension squared, is an energy of position contrasted with kinetic energy?

(button beeps) Teagan, Lake Lehman.

- Potential energy.

- [Paul] Is correct, and your bonus.

(buzzer warbles) Taxonomic class Chilopoda consists of what predatory arthropods that have one pair of legs per body segment?

(both talking faintly) (button beeps) - Millipede?

- Very close, we were looking for centipede, centipede.

Here comes our next toss-up.

What man prosecuted Lucky Luciano in the 1930s, served as New York's governor from 1943 to 1954, and lost the 1948 (Francis speaking faintly) presidential race to Harry Truman?

(Francis speaking faintly) (button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Dewey?

- Is correct, (buzzer warbles) and here comes your bonus.

In July, 2023, Meta launched what text-based app intended to rival Elon Musk's Twitter.

(button beeps) - Threads.

- Threads is correct for your bonus points, Valley West.

As we move on to another toss-up.

What country, which like Hungary, was fined by the EU in 2023 for eroding the rule of law, is led by the Law and Justice Party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski?

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Poland?

- Is correct, (buzzer warbles) and here comes your bonus.

What lawyer argued Brown v. Board before the Supreme Court before becoming its first African American justice in 1967?

(button beeps) - Thurgood Marshall.

- Is correct for your bonus points, Valley West.

Moving on to another toss-up.

What chemist, whose namesake equation relates rate constants to a temperature dependent exponential is a Swede who defined bases as hydroxide donors?

(buzzer beeps) That was Svante Arrhenius.

(timer beeps) And that sound that you heard signals the end of the first half, and we're now going to give our contestants a little bit of a break, and the opportunity for those of you at home to get to know them a little better.

(light music) And we'll start with the students from Valley West, and Tessa, I'll come to you first.

Tell us what you like to do for fun when you're not in class.

- I love to crochet and I play the violin for my school's orchestra as well as the chamber orchestra.

- [Paul] Oh, that's wonderful, thanks for being here Tessa.

Jaylen?

- I love watching movies, my favorite movies are the James Bond films from the sixties.

And I love learning about history.

(Evelyn chuckles) - Very cool, thanks Jalen.

Elvis.

- In my free time I like to play volleyball with other members of the Wyoming Valley West volleyball team.

- [Paul] Sounds like fun.

Evelyn.

- I like to spend time with my friends and I often watch "The Office," it's my favorite show.

(group chuckles) - It is a good show.

(chuckles) Thanks for being here Valley West and good luck to you the rest of the way.

Lake Lehman, we're gonna come over to you and Teagan, if you wouldn't mind telling us what you like to do for fun when you're not in school.

- Well I enjoy playing video games, reading books, and I try to play the piano.

- [Paul] Okay, Brianna?

- I like to paint and draw and go to art lessons, and I play volleyball for the school.

- Okay, Francis?

- I like to read and watch movies and go to the movies.

- [Paul] Okay, and Seth.

- I like to be outside, go fishing, rock climbing.

- [Paul] You're a risk taker.

- Yeah.

- All right, thank you Seth.

Good luck to you Lake Lehman going forward.

It was very nice to meet all of you.

And now we'll go ahead and begin the third quarter with this toss-up question.

What explorer, whom the Spanish made the first governor of Puerto Rico, reached Florida in 1513 while supposedly looking for the Fountain of Youth?

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Ponce de Leon.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus.

(buzzer warbles) What organ in the chest, which undergoes involution as a person ages, is the site of T-cell maturation?

(group speaks faintly) (button beeps) - Lungs?

- Nope.

That is the thymus, the thymus.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What English author called history, "The register of the crimes, follies, and misfortunes of mankind."

in his "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire."

(button beeps) Teagan, Lake Lehman.

- Oscar Wilde?

- Is incorrect, rebound to Valley West.

(buzzer beeps) That is Edward Gibbon.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What term refers to declining to bet in poker, a situation where the king can be captured next turn in chess, or a money transfer that can bounce?

(button beeps) Evelyn, Valley West.

- Check.

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus question.

Oscar Wilde wrote the letter "De Profundis" while in what prison, which is the namesake of a Wilde ballad that claims, "Each man kills the thing he loves"?

(both speaking faintly) (buzzer beeps) - That was "Reading Gaol."

Let's go to another toss-up question.

In what phenomenon, whose law incorporates Lenz's law and is named after Michael Faraday, is current created due to a changing magnetic flux.

(button beeps) Teagan, Lake Lehman.

- Lightning?

- Is incorrect, rebound to Valley West.

(buzzer beeps) That was electromagnetic induction, shocking.

(group chuckles) Let's go to our next toss-up question.

What labor union led by executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland and President Fran Drescher went on strike in 2023 to protect actors' rights?

(button beeps) Seth, Lake Lehman.

- Hollywood?

- [Paul] Judges?

- No.

- Is incorrect, rebound to Valley West.

(Elvis speaking faintly) (button beeps) - SAG, S-A-G. - SAG is correct for your rebound points, (buzzer warbles) very good Wyoming Valley West.

And let's move on to another toss-up.

What Monarch, who subdued Greece by winning the 338 BC Battle of Chaeronea, was an Argead king of Macedon and the father of Alexander the Great?

(buzzer beeps) That Monarch was Philip II.

Let's go to another toss-up and get your pencils and papers ready.

- Uh-oh.

- Two answers are required here, if x is a one digit integer and x squared has a units digit of nine- (button beeps) Teagan, Lake Lehman.

- 3 and -3?

- Is incorrect, rebound now to Valley West.

(group speaking faintly) (buzzer beeps) Well you had one of them.

We were looking for 3 and 7, (timer beeps) 3 and 7.

Well that sound that you heard signals the end of the third quarter and another lightning round.

(logo buzzes) This time Lake Lehman will pick first.

Your categories are up and down or Sacramento.

(Francis chuckles) - Up and down?

- I, - What- - Any big up and down fans here?

- I guess do up and down.

I don't- - Up and down.

- What?

- Do the up or down.

- Okay, up or down?

- Up and down it is.

- Sure.

- And your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Give these answers that contain up or down.

Developmental disorder caused by an extra chromosome 21.

(button beeps) - Down syndrome.

- Okay, okay.

- Yes, part of Michigan whose residents are called- (button beeps) - Upper Peninsula.

- [Paul] Yes.

Title estate of the Crawley family in a British TV series.

(button beeps) - Pass - [Paul] Downton Abbey.

- Oh.

- Yoga pose in which the head and feet- (button beeps) - Downward dog.

- Yes.

Greek letter between tau and phi.

(button beeps) - Upsilon.

- [Paul] Yes.

Richard Adams novel about a rabbit warren.

- Rabbit warren.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] "Watership Down."

- Oh - Shel Silverstein poem that ends, "I got sick to my stomach and I threw down."

(button beeps) - Get up.

(chuckles) - Falling up.

(Seth chuckles) Christmas song noting, "Reindeer pause, out jumps good old Santa Claus."

- Up on the rooftop, chimney- - "Up on the Rooftop?"

(button beeps) - "Up on the Rooftop?"

- [Paul] "Up on the Housetop."

William Faulkner's story about lawyer Gavin Stevens.

(button beeps) Pass.

- [Paul] "Go Down, Moses."

Common English name for the location of Christ's last supper.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- That was the Upper Room, (timer beeps) the Upper Room.

Okay, Lake Lehman, that's gonna wrap up your portion of the lightning round.

- (indistinct) question.

- Valley West, we're coming your way.

Your remaining category will be Sacramento.

And again your time begins after I finish reading the first question.

Answer the following about Sacramento, California.

California's current governor who resides in Sacramento.

(button beeps) - Gavin Newsom.

- Gavin Newsom?

- [Paul] Yes, Sacramento born actress who plays Captain Marvel.

(button beeps) - Bree Larson?

- [Paul] Yes.

Horse based service that delivered mail between Sacramento and Saint Joseph.

(Elvis speaks faintly) (button beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] Pony Express.

Its NBA team.

(button beeps) - Sacramento Kings.

- [Paul] Yes.

Commodity discovered in 1848 at Sutter's Mill in present day Sacramento (button beeps) - Gold?

- [Paul] Yes.

Mountain range to its East.

(Elvis speaking faintly) (button beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] Sierra Nevada.

Creator of "Tom Sawyer" who wrote for the Sacramento Union.

(button beeps) - Huckleberry Finn?

- No (indistinct).

- Mark Twain.

- Oh.

- Language from which Sacramento derives.

(button beeps) - Latin?

- [Paul] Spanish.

River that joins the Sacramento River and downtown Sacramento.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- [Paul] American River.

2017 film set there starring Saoirse Ronan.

(button beeps) - Pass.

- That was "Lady Bird".

And that's going to do it for the lightning round.

And after that we currently have Wyoming Valley West in the lead over Lake Lehman, 135 to 80.

And we're now going to go ahead and begin the last segment of the game with this toss-up question.

What poet who declared "That is no country for old men."

in "Sailing to Byzantium" repeated the line, "A terrible beauty is born."

in his poem "Easter, 1916."

(group speaking faintly) (buzzer beeps) Okay, the answer we're looking for was William Butler Yeats.

Here's our next toss-up.

What kingdom, which in the 15 hundreds ruled the Netherlands under its branch of the Habsburg Dynasty, formed from the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella.

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- Austria?

- Is incorrect, rebound to Lake Lehman.

(group speaking faintly) (button beeps) - France?

- Spain, Spain.

- Oh.

- Let's go to another toss-up.

What expressions which can be raised to powers and expanded to give the coefficients found in Pascal's Triangle are polynomials with two terms.

(button beeps) - Quadratic.

- Brianna, Lake Lehman.

- Quadratic.

- Is incorrect, Rebound to Valley West.

- We know this.

- Hm?

- It's Pascal Triangle.

We know this.

(button beeps) - Binomial?

- Binomial is correct (buzzer warbles) for your rebound points, Valley West, as we move on to another toss-up.

What author depicted a cloud of doom in a 2020 book about the 30 story Wayside School and described a curse on the Yelnats family in his novel "Holes".

- (indistinct) no.

(buzzer beeps) - Okay, that was Louis Sachar.

Let's go to another toss-up.

What TV program whose masters tournament featured Sam Buttrey, Amy Schneider, and James Holzhauer.

- (button beeps) - Oh.

- Francis, Lake Lehman.

- Jeopardy?

- Is correct.

And your bonus question.

(buzzer warbles) Hundreds of species of Cichlids live in what African Lake also called Lake Nyasa, which shares its name with a country governed from Lilongwe.

(button beeps) - Chad?

- No Lake Malawi, Malawi.

- Oh.

- Here's our next toss-up.

What adaptations, which include the counter shading used by penguins and orcas and the disruptive color of zebras, help animals avoid detection?

(button beeps) - Teagan, Lake Lehman.

- Camouflage?

- Is correct, and your bonus.

(buzzer warbles) What sport, whose 2023 World Championships took place in Belgrade on the Sava, include such disciplines as single sculls.

- What?

(chuckles) - Single skulls?

(button beeps) - Fencing?

- Rowing, we're looking for rowing.

Here comes our next toss-up.

What Bible book, whose Catholic version tells of Susanna and the Elders, also features the writing on the wall and a prophet thrown to a den of lions.

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

(group speaks faintly) - I need an answer.

- Kings.

- Is incorrect, rebound to Lake Lehman.

- Any book.

(button beeps) - Exodus?

- Nope, the book of Daniel.

the book of Daniel.

- Oh.

- Let's go to another toss-up.

What waterway bordered the ancient gates of Alexander, receives the Ural River, is north of Iran, and is the world's largest enclosed body of water.

(button beeps) Jalen, Valley West.

- The Caspian Sea?

- Is correct, and here comes your bonus (buzzer warbles) and gets your pencils and papers ready.

What is the y-intercept of a line that has a slope of 3 and that passes through the point -3, -2.

(buzzer beeps) (timer beeps) - Okay, ran out of time there, that was 7.

Well that's the end of the game.

And our winter tonight is Wyoming Valley West over Lake Lehman 155 to 100.

Congratulations, Wyoming Valley West.

You are going to be moving on, and we'll see you next time (upbeat marching band music) with another round of "Scholastic Scrimmage".

I'm your host, Paul Lazar, and thanks for watching.

(upbeat marching band music continues)