Nashua High School South defeated Plymouth Regional High School on May 21 to win its first Granite State Challenge championship in nine years. Courtesy photo/Mark Bolton

DURHAM – The Nashua High School South Purple Panthers are the Granite State Challenge Champions for the first time in nine years, defeating rival Plymouth Regional High School, 700-415, in the title game on May 21.

The win marks Nashua’s third title overall.

Captain Henry Long, a senior, led the way for Nashua. His team included fellow seniors Eric Picanco and Thanasi Miris, along with sophomore Charles Long. Senior Jerry Primo and sophomore Lexie Ross were team alternates. The Panthers were coached by Social Studies teacher Lex Duval and English teacher Kelli Thornhill-Telerski.

The Plymouth Bobcats were captained by junior Abraham Hankens. Team members included junior Yuriy Paul, freshman Olivia Brayfield and junior Ezra Amsden. Alternates were sophomore Leif Eisenbarth as well as freshmen Aurora Ricker and Cam Cawley. The team was coached by Drafting teacher Jay Fogarty and World Languages Teacher Troy Harris.

The Panthers got out to an early lead about halfway through the first round. By the end of the round, they held a modest lead over the Bobcats at 130-85.

Plymouth also had a tough second, which yielded only two correct answers compared to Nashua’s six correct answers. While the Bobcats performed better during the fourth round, with nine out of 10 answers, Nashua squashed their hopes of a rally, scoring nine out of 10 as well.

This led to a final round that was most remarkable for the number of questions asked and answered. In the fourth round alone, Plymouth earned 230 points, but Nashua answered with 420 points. For perspective, that’s higher than the winning scores of both this season’s semifinal games.

“I think my team played great and it’s just very difficult to beat a performance like that from Nashua South,” said Fogarty. “They just learned so much about being on the show. The fact that our team made it this far just blows my mind.”

Hankens had a similarly positive outlook.

“I’m pretty proud of how we came together as a team over the course of the season. Really, none of us knew each other at the beginning of the year, but we’ve all become friends over the course of the season,” he said. “None of us are seniors. We’ll be back next year. ”

Nashua, a team with four seniors, was elated by the win.

“That was amazing. I cannot believe we scored that many points,” said Long. “It’s just really nice to see all of the practices, just hanging out together, having fun, to see that all pay off and win it all. I still can’t believe it.”