ECMS Academic Team Continues To Win

Team Impresses In Series of Tournament Wins

ECMS academic players and coaches after their first ever victory at the Dunbar Tournament.

​by Greg Grey: Photos courtesy of ECMS Academic Team:
The ECMS academic team continued its strong start with a string of impressive victories.  On Saturday, October 28th, the team took part in the Campbell County Middle School Classic in Alexandria, Kentucky.  At the Campbell County Tournament, the team finished in second place with a record of 8 wins and 2 losses. The team earned victories over teams from Lexington, Louisville, northern Kentucky, and southern Ohio.  ECMS scored more points than any team in the tournament with an average of 523 points per game.  ECMS players, Jonas Miller and Brody Johnson, led the team in individual scoring. Both Jonas and Brody were among two of the top six scorers in the tournament. 
         
The following Saturday, the ECMS academic team won the Dunbar Bulldog Tournament in Lexington for the first time ever.  The team posted a perfect record of 9 wins and 0 losses.  ECMS scored a tournament leading 6,410 points while the team’s opponents scored 2,775 points. The team scored big wins over some perennial middle school powers in the state including Johnson County, Meyzeek, Samuel V. Noe, and Winburn Middle Schools. 

The varsity team has maintained a perfect record in the Cave Country Academic League.  On October 24, ECMS defeated district rival Bowling Green Junior High School by a score of 33 to 12.   ECMS defeated Barren County Middle School 37 to 12 in a league game on the evening of November 7, 2017. 

ECMS players working on a bonus question at the Campbell County Tournament.

The ECMS academic team captured the tournament championship in the Hardin County Educational Television Knowledge Masters Tournament.  In their first tournament game, ECMS defeated Grayson County by a score of 27 to 9.  Immediately after the Grayson County game, ECMS faced St. James School from Hardin County.  ECMS came away with a 17 to 15 victory in a very hotly contested match.  ECMS returned to the Hardin County Schools studio for the finals match on November 9th against East Hardin Middle School.  ECMS won the game with a final score of 26 to 18.
          
Coach Greg Grey had the following comments, “The word “outstanding” best describes the team’s performance at both the NAQT tournaments at Campbell County and Dunbar in Lexington. Each of our five returning players made important contributions to our team’s success in the NAQT tournaments.  We suffered our only losses, so far, this season at the Campbell County Tournament, but our loss to Johnson County essentially came down to the last question. At Dunbar we avenged our loss to Johnson County with a 685 to 345 victory over our friends and rivals from eastern Kentucky.  We continued our dominance over our rivals from Lexington, Winburn Middle School, with sizable victories over their top team at both Campbell County and Dunbar. Our team received two separate invitations, one each for our performances at Campbell County and Dubnar, to compete in the NAQT National Tournament in Chicago in May of 2018.  The Hardin County Television Tournament offered some quality competition in a different format.  Our varsity quick recall record stands at 33 wins and 2 losses. In weeks ahead, we will be shifting more of our emphasis away from NAQT style play and focusing on Governor’s Cup in preparation for district, regional, and state competition.”  ​