Andy Berrell
Sports Editor
March Madness is officially over, and The 1 seed the University of Virginia is the 2019 National Champion. This was the polar-opposite result compared with last year’s Virginia team, also a 1 seed, who lost in the first round to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, a 16 seed. Facing off against Texas Tech, this was the first time in 40 years that either of these teams competed in the National Championship game. The final score was 85-77.
As for the students of OHS competing in Sparty’s March Madness, none of them could have accurately predicted how this tournament was going to unfold. In fact, not one bracket correctly predicted the Final Four, the National Championship game, or even Virginia as the winner of the tournament.
Surprisingly, there were only 6 brackets that improved in score after the Final Four, all of which selected Virginia to be in the National Championship game. But unfortunately, each one of those brackets had Virginia losing to Duke or to another powerhouse team.
The National Championship game itself was something of a thriller. Perhaps one of the least scoring first halves occurred, then followed by an electric second half full of lead changes and clutch baskets. It eventually came down to the wire and the game went into overtime. This was the first time in 11 years that a National Championship game went into overtime, and it had all viewers at the edge of their seats until the Cavaliers pulled away from the Red Raiders in the last 2 minutes of the 5 minute overtime.
Most of the scores in the bracket contest remained unchanged, but the few that had Virginia going far improved vastly. Here is a new list of every bracket and their final score. If you placed in the top 3, please come to Mrs. Herring’s room during snack break on Friday the 12th to receive your prize!
90 – Isabella Koch
85 – Aaron Kleinman
84 – Mikayla Burns
83 – Noah Arneson
82 – Jamie Bazil
81 – Preston Perrill
80 – Justin O. Grade 10 (Can’t read your name)
79 – Rae Malik
78 – Eli Herman
77 – Maddie Combs
77 – Katie Udell
76 – Ryan Kovalik
74 – Finn Soderstrom
72 – Mrs. Herring
72 – Cade Pfeiffer
71 – Mr. Herring
70 – Owen Pilot
69 – Mitch Clear
69 – Billy McGannon
68 – Sarah Gustafson
68 – Shea Albrecht
67- Graham Beltrand
67 – Ellie Fasbender
66 – Franz Jevne
65 – Anika Sodhi
65 – Tillie H.
64 – Aislinn Mobley
63 – Mark Sarles
62 – Tyler Nyquist
62 – Isabel Scharf
62 – Nick Hartmann
61 – Zach Adams
61 – Lily Maas
60 – Morgan Reeves
58 – Danny Eckerline
57 – Nick Ruhland
57 – Jazmine Borreson
55 – Trudan Swiler
53 – Brady Pitts
52 – Charlie Ellis
51 – Margaret Kraus
50 – Simon Rice
50 – Caroline Robson
50 – Jacob Muth
47 – Ms. McCabe
44 – Hannah Thillman
44 – Mitch Adams
43 – Ashley Hemstock
