Scholars’ Bowl came back with a record of 5-3 from the Norton Invitational, earning a spot in the semifinals for the second time this season.

The meet was held on Feb. 3 at Norton Community High School. Competition was divided into two pools of seven teams each, with the top two teams in each pool advancing to the semifinals. Hays High competed against Norton, Trego/Wakeeny, Phillipsburg, Atwood/Rawlins County, and Oberlin/Decatur County. The Indians went 5-1 in pool play, losing to Norton. In the semifinals, they were defeated by TMP in a 70-60 loss, and then by Smith Center, placing fourth overall for the tournament.

“We were more prepared for this meet than the last one,” junior Sarah Rooney said.

Senior Samantha Rohleder shared her view.

“It’s not about our ineptitude, it was about the other teams’ aptitudes,” Rohleder said.

Freshman Hannah Norris said it was nice to finally compete against TMP.

“They’re good competition, but we held our own,” Norris said. “And it was interesting playing against people we knew.”

Sophomore Trenton Potter had a different perspective.

“There is a sloppy joe conspiracy,” Potter said. “Almost every meet we’ve gone to has served sloppy joes.”

Sponsor Cheryl Shepherd-Adams seemed pleased with the team.

“They’re all showing a lot more confidence than at the beginning of the season,” Shepherd-Adams said. “They’ve competed against several tough, bigger, schools, so they were prepared to go into today’s meet. TMP and Norton are powerhouses, especially in our area, so there’s no shame in being beaten by them.

Weather permitting, the next action for Indian Scholars’ Bowl is Feb. 6 at Shawnee Mill Valley, where they will compete against schools like Topeka West and Highland Park.

“We’ll be competing against a lot of teams we never have before,” Shepherd-Adams said.

14nfeyerherm@usd489.com