Pictured after earning the Scholar Bowl Metro East Quad League championship are (front, l to r) Anthony Lepore, Alex Rivera, Minh Le, Jaden Meadows and Alex Norris; (back, l to r) moderator Mr. Scott Timmermann, Nick Toennies, Ben Logullo, Ethan Schumacher, John Hund, John Hilmes and Drew Potthast.

On Thursday, February 23, the Scholar Knights faced their toughest challenge of the season, as the top four teams in the Metro East Quad League squared off in a round-robin tournament to determine the Metro East Quad League Champion.

In match one, the Scholar Knights faced the determined Althoff Crusaders.  With the lead see-sawing throughout the match, quick buzzes by the Knights with only three questions remaining propelled Mater Dei to a 310-290 victory.  The competition remained difficult for the Knights in round two against the Alton Redbirds.  Trailing after the first seventeen questions, the Knights fought back and tied the score 270-270 at question eighteen.  Still, the Alton converted the final two toss ups to hand Mater Dei their first five-on-five loss of the season, 310-280.  In the final match against the host Belleville West, the Knights trailed 140-110 at halftime.  After answering seven of the last ten toss ups, Mater Dei went on to win 270-200.

Following the conclusion of the head-to-head rounds, a three-way tie existed, requiring the use of the teams’ total scores.  Per the total scores (Mater Dei 860, Alton 830, Althoff 810), the Scholar Knights won the Metro East Quad League Championship.  Ben Logullo led Mater Dei with eleven total toss ups, followed by Ethan Schumacher (6), Nick Toennies (6), John Hund (5), Jaden Meadows (1) and Alex Rivera (1).

The Scholar Knights are now 58-2 for the season.  After hosting the Clinton County Tournament on February 28, the Knights will travel to Bloomington for the Illinois Masonic Academic Bowl State Tournament on March 4 and then host the IHSA Regional on March 6.