On April 28, East’s Masterminds team head to Depew High School where they will compete against 15 other schools for the chance to advance to the state tournament. The Buffalo region of Masterminds consists of 30 high school teams in the Western New York Region who are divided into 5 leagues. The schools from each league competed once a month over the course of this school year. The top three teams from leagues 1,2,3, and 4 and the top four teams from league 5 advance to the playoff round, which is split between two days. The top two teams from each day of the playoffs (four teams in total) will advance to the final round of competition in mid-May. The winner of this final round will go on to the state tournament, where they will face off against the top teams from the Lancaster, Albany, and Syracuse regions.
Masterminds is a college-bowl style competition between two teams with four players each. Questions can either be toss-ups (which must be answered using a buzzer) or bonuses (which the team can discuss). Topics range from pop culture to astronomy to everything in between.
East’s Masterminds team was first in their league that consisted of the three Williamsville schools, Cardinal O’Hara, Eden, and Niagara Catholic. They will be competing on the second day of playoffs. The team is led by senior Evan Sparks. Last year East came second in the region and they hope to take home the gold this year.
