Quarter-finalists. Members of the winning Glenmuir team pose for the cameras following their 32-22 victory over St. Catherine High on Monday. The team is made up of Howard McCalla (Captain), Carlinton Burrell, Tristan Thompson and Daveian Morrisson. - Michael Sloley
GLENMUIR cemented their place in the quarter-finals of the Schools' Challenge Quiz with a 32-22 win over St. Catherine High School in the second round of the competition on Monday.
Glenmuir, finalists last year, started off very slowly and soon found themselves behind. Whether it was a tactical move by St. Catherine or timidness on Glenmuir's part, St. Catherine raced to 8-5 lead by mid-way the first section. St. Catherine's team seemed faster and more keen on winning the match in this section and when the segment ended, Glenmuir found themselves trailing 9-11.
Glenmuir's captain, Howard McCalla, explained the reason for his team's slow start. "I don't know why we started off so slowly. I think it's because of the close match we had in the last round that made us start off so slowly," he said.
When the second section started, St. Catherine, should've kept the advantage. However, they appeared undone by some of the questions which had them guessing for the answers rather than appearing confident in disposing of them. For the entire three minutes allotted, they were only able to answer nine questions correctly, compared to 15 by Glenmuir. The section ended 24-20 in favour of Glenmuir.
St. Catherine's captain, Farha Dennis, said her team may have been thrown off by some of the questions. "We didn't know some of the questions in that section which worked against us," she said.
The third section started off with Glenmuir looking to widen their lead and St. Catherine seeking to overtake them.
The section was keenly contested by both teams but Glenmuir showed their superiority by beating St. Catherine to the buzzer on numerous occasions.
They never allowed St. Catherine to take the lead in this section, staying at least two points ahead on all occasions. They soon moved to four points ahead, then to six and when the match had ended they were 10 points in the clear.
McCalla said teamwork played a key role in the team's victory.
"We weren't fully prepared but we became confident during the match. We didn't play as well as we should but teamwork brought us through," he said.
Next Match: Ardenne vs. Garvey Maceo.
