Needham Comes Back To Best Belmont In WGBH Quiz Show

BOSTON, MA — Down 230-160 after two rounds, Needham High School had a lot of ground to make up in its first-round match against Belmont in WGBH's 10th Annual "High School Quiz Show."

But Needham's knowledge of tectonic plates sparked a seismic shift and the team never looked back, defeating Belmont 495-400.

With four rounds of questions, the teams answered from categories including math, science, pop culture, sports and history. In the first round, correct answers awarded teams 10 points with no penalty for incorrect answers.

Needham's Anne Kiely got the first question right, asking who defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 2018 World Series. She correctly said the Boston Red Sox. But after that, it was Belmont who made the strong first impression in round one, leading 200-140.

Want to watch for yourself? The full competition between Needham and Belmont can be found in the video below:

Round two was much more even, but not enough to close the gap. In round two, each team formed a line and participated in a relay round, with players from each team going head-to-head at the buzzer. Correct answers still awarded teams 10 points, but now, incorrect answers also cost teams 10 points. After the head-to-head round, Belmont led 230-160.

It was the third round where Needham dominated, not only making up ground, but building a commanding 75-point lead. The third round had players pick from a board of six themed categories. Each category had five questions, worth 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 points. Getting the question correct gave teams the points associated with the question, but if a player got the question wrong, their team lost those points.

Fortunately for Needham, the team had some physical geography experts. "Catch my drift," a category about tectonic plates, set the comeback in stone.

The school got every question about tectonic plates right, including one which asked for the name of the region where two plates move apart. Needham correctly answered, "divergent boundaries." Needham led 415-340 after round three.

Round four was a 90-second lightning round, which didn't give Belmont good odds to even the score. In this round, all questions were worth 20 points, but teams were also penalized 20 points for incorrect answers. Needham didn't give Belmont many chances, and continued to answer questions with confidence until the final buzzer sounded.

Needham will move on to the quarter finals against the winner of Acton-Boxborough High School vs. the Advanced Math & Science Academy in Marlborough. The quarterfinal match airs on WGBH at 6 p.m. April 20.