Norcross HS Wins High Q Championship

Updated April 2, 3:16 p.m.

Norcross High's Academic Team won the 2011-2012 High Q finals last Saturday by beating Marist School in Atlanta 430-390.

Via WSBTV's website, the victory comes after a last-minute comeback from the school. At the start of the final round of the championship, Norcross was trailing with 210 points while Marist had 310.

The team's fortunes started to turn when the Higher Q wager question was asked shortly after. Both teams answered the question correctly, but because Norcross bet 100 points and Marist only wagered 20, the score was tied at 370 points.

The teams battled it out for six more questions until the final buzzer rang, with Norcross answering more questions correctly than Marist. Norcross won the HQ championship 430-390.

As a token for winning the championship, $5,000 was awarded to Norcross for scholarship money, and $3,000 was given to Marist for coming in second.

The four students who made up the Norcross team were 11th graders Hernan Morales, Michael Sokolow, Joseph Reifenberger and Mostafa Bhuiyan, who is also the team captain.

The team is coached by Hayley Gallagher, with assistance from Lauren Riley in the fall semester and Aba DeGraft-Hanson in the spring, according to Gwinnett County Public Schools spokesman Jorge Quintana.

Additionally, Norcross High has made it to the final rounds once before: the very first season of High Q in 1987.

For a full recap of the March 31st game, check out the video on WSBTV's High Q channel.