The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

I remember walking into the tiebreaker room the same way I had walked into Arlington High School - shuddering and wilted. My teammates were vigorously trying to calm me down, as- suring me that we had beaten this team in the preliminary rounds, but nothing helped.

My head swam. My heart throbbed. I knew we were doomed.

A student from Davenport was assigned to keep score. Using a fat green marker, he printed SUDDEN DEATH MATCH: WAITSBURG vs. DAVENPORT on the room's whiteboard.

The moderator, a balding man in a gray suit, discussed the rules. Ten questions would be asked and played for in the...