The Liberty Bell contingent at the regional tournament: from left, coach Leverett Hubbard, Liliana Hart-Beck, team captain Noah Batson, Nick Fitzmaurice, Tova Portmann-Bown, Emerson Worrell and Lazo Gitchos.
With a convincing win at the regional tournament in Wenatchee on Monday (Feb. 26), the defending 2B state champion Liberty Bell High School Knowledge Bowl team is headed back to the state finals in Arlington on March 17.
Liberty Bell Team 1 — captain Noah Batson, Emerson Worrell, Lazo Gitchos, Liliana Hart-Beck and alternates Tova Portmann-Bown and Nick Fitzmaurice — scored 83 points to Soap Lake’s 54, Manson’s 53 and Tonasket’s 47 among the 2B schools. Two schools, Liberty Bell and Soap Lake, advance to the state tournament in the 2B division.
The regional tournament at Wenatchee High School included 18 teams in several classifications. Liberty Bell also competed against 2A schools Ephrata and Quincy to fill out the competition brackets.
A team of four students represented Liberty Bell in each round (except the written). Batson was assisted by Worrell and Gitchos, with the fourth spot filled by Hart-Beck, Fitzmaurice and Portmann-Bown on a rotating basis.
It was the fifth consecutive regional victory for Liberty Bell, which had an undefeated season. Before winning last year’s state title, they were runners-up the year before.
After three rounds at the regional tournament, Liberty Bell had 60 points to Manson’s 40, Soap Lake’s 30 and Tonasket’s 29.
The fourth round had Liberty Bell facing scratch teams from Moses Lake and Okanogan. Liberty Bell answered 11 questions correctly in that round.
The last round had Liberty Bell answering 12 questions correctly to Soap Lake’s 7 and Manson’s 3.
