2022 HSNCT
The 2022 HSNCT, held at the Atlanta Marriott Marquis and Atlanta Hilton, was the first in-person high school national championship of all-subject quiz bowl in nearly three years. With 272 teams, it returned to the split-field system first used in 2019.
On Saturday, Lambert claimed the #1 card by racing through the morning session by an average of almost 400 PPG, with the closest game being a 480-370 win over Great Valley. Arcadia claimed the #2 card, ending the afternoon session with a 380-330 win over DCC. Hoover was also undefeated on Saturday, finishing with an overtime win over High Tech. On Sunday, Arcadia defeated Lambert; Lambert then defeated Hoover, leaving Arcadia the last unbeaten team. Arcadia dropped their tenth prelim game to Carmel, ensuring another year without an undefeated HSNCT champion, however their PP20 was enough to earn them the top seed in the playoff bracket.
Hunter had been forced to shift to the afternoon session due to transportation issues. With only Jacob Hardin-Bernhardt present, they lost their first game to Chattahoochee. Once the rest of the team arrived from their overnight bus ride, they came on strong, with their only other loss coming to Carmel in their fifth game. Four blowout playoff wins (including over Arcadia) were followed by a 375-360 nailbiter in the winners' bracket final against #3 seed East Chapel Hill (who had beaten DCD and DCC to get there). Lambert lost to Richard Montgomery and Solon, finishing t-15th. #2 seed Carmel also finished t-15th after consecutive losses to DCC and Livingston. #4 Hoover was eliminated by TJ, finishing t-10th. TJ-B, Strake Jesuit, and Solon lost in the last Sunday afternoon round, finishing t-7th.
In the quarterfinal round, Kinkaid pulled away from Thomas Jefferson in the second half, while Detroit Catholic Central rallied to overturn a 145-285 second-half deficit, eliminating Arcadia with a 340-310 win secured on the last tossup. This set up a semifinal round with two rematches from Round 26: Hunter vs Kinkaid and DCC vs East Chapel Hill. A balanced attack from Detroit overcame a brief second-half charge from Ben McAvoy-Bickford, as DCC avenged their earlier loss to ECH with a 455-230 win. Kinkaid was not so fortunate, as Andrew Zeng's four first-half powers led Hunter to a runaway 520-220 win.
| Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Advantaged Finals Unbeaten team has advantage | ||||||||||||
| 13 | Kinkaid | 435 | 8 | Hunter | 520 | |||||||||
| 9 | Thomas Jefferson | 175 | 13 | Kinkaid | 220 | |||||||||
| 8 | Hunter | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Detroit Catholic Central | |||||||||||||
| 7 | Detroit Catholic Central | 340 | 3 | East Chapel Hill | 230 | |||||||||
| 1 | Arcadia | 310 | 7 | Detroit Catholic Central | 455 | Third place | ||||||||
| 13 | Kinkaid | |||||||||||||
| 3 | East Chapel Hill | |||||||||||||
NOTE: Seeds represent seeds at the start of bracket play.