We’re covering teams 111 to 120, excluding #114 Maggie Walker B and #115 Guilder A (a pseudonym). I’m also adding notes on these schools from Wikipedia, because clearly I’m not spending enough time on this as it is.
120. Hume-Fogg A (TN) – A HSNCT playoff team, they went 7-5 with a playoff win over Idaho’s Treasure Valley team. They also won the TACA State Championship. They lose their leading scorer, Pavel Velkovsky, but the rest of a solid team returns – likely with Aditya Srivastava taking over the top scorer spot. With luck and work, they’ll continue to improve.
Wikipedia note: Taylor Swift recorded the video for “Teardrops on My Guitar” on their campus. Hooray!
Expected performance next season: Up
119. East Brunswick A (NJ) – East Brunswick finished fourth at the Scarsdale Invitational and third at the Mountain Lakes Invitational. All their major scorers – particularly Shravan Balaji (105.88 PPG at Scarsdale) – return, putting them in a very good position for the coming season.
Also, their Wikipedia page informs me that due to a lack of air conditioning in parts of their buildings, and some rooms don’t have correctly functioning heaters. Hooray!
Expected performance next season: Up
118. St. Thomas A (TX) – Tied for fifth at the Houston Holiday Hoedown, St. Thomas does lose David Shaw (11.88 PPG from the same tournament). Josef Lawrence, Joseph Nemee and Sergio Segura all return, and they all scored at least 30 PPG at HoHoHo.
Wikipedia note: they hired Craig Biggio as a baseball coach in 2008. Hooray!
Expected performance next season: Up
117. Quince Orchard A (MD) – With remarkably consistent finishes of tied for 53rd at HSNCT and 55th at PACE NSC, QO returns all of their scoring from a very solid season. They’ll be a team to watch next year.
Wikipedia note: Wale, best known as “person that followed me on not-Twitter in NBA 2K13,” attended Quince Orchard. Hooray!
Expected performance next season: Up
116. Buchholz A (FL) – 50th place at NSC and 21st at HSNCT, Buchholz (rhymes with “Lou Holtz”) was also the champion at the Floridian Winter High School Invitational. They return their two main scorers, Kevin Noh and Michael Wong, so they should be in very good shape next season.
Wikipedia note: They have a credit union in the school. I’m just staring blankly at Wikipedia right now. I don’t understand how or why.
Expected performance next season: Up
113. Glasgow A (KY) – Tied for fifth at the inaugural NAQT SSNCT, Glasgow also narrowly missed the playoffs at HSNCT with a 5-5 record. This is a one person team powered by Olivia Kiser does lose a nice complementary player in the wonderfully named Griffin Botts but retains Jacob Cooper and Hunter Lindsey, both of whom pitched in at SSNCT. Since Glasgow is not a team of particular name value, this should be a team that surprises next season.
Wikipedia note: A 2010 edit to the page for the school included the change note: “The PEP BAND performs during basketball season. The FULL MARCHING BAND performs during football season. Big difference.” So, don’t mess that up, okay?
Expected performance next season: Up
112. Dunwoody A (GA) – At some point, my optimism had to end. Dunwoody had a nice run last year, making the HSNCT playoffs, finishing in the third bracket of a ACF Fall site and finishing fifth at the Collins Hill Season Ender tournament. My pessimism comes from the graduations of Thomas D & Jacky Z, who combined for 95.5 PPG of their individual 105 PPG at Collins Hill. Barring a big improvement, I don’t think they’ll replicate their success next season.
Wikipedia note: Their Wikipedia page actually talks about their quiz bowl team! Good job, Wikipedia page. Good job.
Expected performance next season: Down
111. St. Mark’s A (TX) – Somewhat surprisingly finishing 5-5 at HSNCT, they finished tied for fourth at the TQBA State Championship. They do lose lead scorer Luke Munson, but retain the other three main scorers from their own tournament for what was a balanced attack. They should be able to come close to this past season’s performance; moving past it is another matter and depends on filling the knowledge gap left by Munson.
Wikipedia note: “The local press has noted ways in which St. Mark’s blends in and differs from the rest of Dallas.” Mhm.
Expected performance next season: Sideways
really, why does a high school need its own credit union branch
Grand Junction finished 120th at HSNCT with a 5/5 record and 14.90ppb in their sole pyramidal tourney of the year, so I figured I’d give them a shoutout here. Couldn’t tell you anything about their team, however.