Bishop Guertin High School will face off against Plymouth Regional High School on May 14 to determine who will advance to the finals of this year’s Granite State Challenge. Courtesy photo/Mark Bolton

DURHAM – Bishop Guertin High School and Plymouth Regional High School will meet in the last semifinal game of the Granite State Challenge on May 14.

The Bishop Guertin Cardinals are led by captain and senior Mohid Khan and feature a lineup of fellow seniors Declan Pyles, Teddy Bond and Aidan Coffey. Supporting the team are alternates senior Carter Rick as well as sophomores Grant Leonardi and Derek Chen. The Cardinals are coached by English teachers Katie Graham and Jeannette Riendeau.

Bishop Guertin has a balanced mindset going into the semifinal game.

“We don’t want to be arrogant like we’re going to win and we don’t want to be too nervous when we just fold under pressure,” said Khan. “I think we have a good mindset, feeling confident enough, but also not too nervous.”

“We know we’re going up against really strong teams,” said Graham. “We’re taking the attitude that everybody knows the answer. But who is going to be the first to buzz in and give the correct answer?”

Plymouth Regional is captained by junior Abraham Hankens. He is joined by fellow juniors Yuriy Paul, Ezra Amsden and freshman Cam Cawley. Supporting the team are alternates, sophomore Leif Eisenbarth as well as freshmen Olivia Brayfield and Aurora Ricker. The Bobcats are coached by Drafting teacher Jay Fogarty and World Languages teacher Troy Harris.

Heading into the second semifinal game, the newly minted Plymouth team is ready to bring its A-game.

“Last year. we had a team of all seniors except for me,” said Hankens. “So, we have a whole new team this year, and we’re all getting to know each other which has been a lot of fun.”

Fogarty doesn’t have a set roster and tries different players during practices and games to build his team.

“Every year you probably graduate some people, and if you graduate all seniors then you are left with people who have never played the show before,” he said. “Then you are at square one, so it’s really nice to have players who have played before.”