Jeopardy. The infamous trivia game made for an intellectually elite group of scholars. A game of diverse, randomized quiz questions that contestants must quickly answer. Points are awarded to the contestant who correctly answers the question first. 

On Dec. 7, five PHS students took part in a smaller scale game of jeopardy: the Big Horn Basin Knowledge Bowl.

Although structured slightly differently than the famed Jeopardy game, Powell was able secure second place overall out of the sixteen teams that were present.

“The tournament was set up in five rounds…each round had sixty questions,” senior Kalin Hicswa said. “After each round the points we scored were totalled, and we went into finals with the second-most amount of points, which is where we would remain.”

This was the first time Powell has competed in this tournament in years. And although they faced stiff competition, the team managed to take second place, trailing behind the defending champions, Lovell, (who came prepared with laminated name placards, business attire and last year’s trophy).

“Powell took an early lead after the first round, thanks to the quick responses of Ethan Cearlock,” Knowledge Bowl adviser Mrs. Amy Moore said. “Returning champions, Lovell, took that as a challenge and pulled back into the lead after the third round.”

Questions spanded across many different categories and genres including art, geography, math and science. However, with Powell’s diverse skill set, the Panther squad excelled.

“I was strongest at science, math and geography questions,” Hicswa said. “Some of the art questions were tough for me since that is not my thing, but the benefit of a team is that our interests vary, so we had all the bases covered.”

The teams preparation relied upon the prior experience of some of the members, as well as extensive studying of the original Jeopardy show.

“I’ve done quiz bowl for SkillsUSA,” senior Kalin Hicwsa said. “So, that’s the experience I have, beyond this the only real preparation was watching Jeopardy.”

Powell’s Knowledge Bowl team was put together by English teacher and PHS Prowl adviser Mrs. Moore.

“I was quite impressed by the well-rounded knowledge of our team,” Mrs. Moore said. “My specialty is art and literature, so I did my best to telepathically communicate the answers, but I couldn’t have correctly answered the broad range of questions they did.”

PHS plans to participate in the Big Horn Basin Knowledge Bowl in the coming years and are aiming to take home the trophy.