Besting three teams they recently lost to, the Quiz Bowl team qualified for the Beltway League finals at their semifinals tournament Feb. 9 at Rockville High School.

Senior Michael Hepburn, senior Ellis London, junior Braden Longstreth and freshman Nate Olson won all three of their games. They will compete in the finals Feb. 23 at Blair High School as one of eight teams advancing out of 16 semifinal teams.

“We beat three teams that we lost to during regular season,” Longstreth said. “Especially in our first game against Quince Orchard there was a lot more fluidity with a lot of our teammates.”

To prepare for the finals, the team practices reviewing questions they have been asked in earlier rounds or during the regular season.

“While the trivia seems very random, there are a lot of trends,” Hepburn said.

Quiz Bowl coach Danielle Fus agrees that the topics that the questions seem to cover can be predictable.

“A lot of the questions are about famous battles, art, literature, geography, math and science,” Fus said. “They are all mixed together within a round.”

Some members of the team believe they are likely to do well, but are also realistic about their chances of winning.

“Though we aren’t expecting to win it all, we probably have a good chance of making it to the top four,” Hepburn said