Hard work pays off in state championship for Gadsden City Scholars Bowl team

Excellence in Scholars Bowl competition has become a tradition for Gadsden City High Schools, and the Titans lived up to that by claiming the Class 6A state championship.

They took the classification crown in the state tournament held April 12 at Jefferson State Community College's Shelby-Hoover Campus, and placed second in the overall Division II competition behind West Point High.

Next up is the Questions Unlimited national tournament over Memorial Day weekend in New Orleans.

It's the third state championship for GCHS; it claimed both the junior varsity and varsity titles in 2014. The Titans will also be bidding for their third national championship; they won the title in 2016 and 2019.

“It's something that we do well,” said Col. Wayne Davenport, an ROTC instructor at the school and the team's sponsor and coach, noting that students see that success and want to be part of that culture.

“Not to be too 'Nick Saban-ish' about it, we have a process we go through, how we work,” he said. “The kids want to be good at it, and they work hard at it and they get it done. We're serious about it, plus we get a lot of support from the community and the (school) district.”

Davenport emphasized the groundwork laid by teachers throughout team members' school careers.

“A lot of people are congratulating me, which is fine,” he said. “But I really feel like we have an outstanding school system that prepared these kids for this success.

“The regular classroom teachers are the blocks in the foundation of this success,” he said. “The only thing I do is make sure the kids show up on time and are prepared, and maybe put a little cement between the blocks. The classroom teachers are the ones that make it happen.”

This year's team is young — the group that went to the state tournament included four sophomores and an eighth-grader — but lost only six matches this season in 60 outings, all to 7A opposition, according to Davenport.

“We not only went in as the top seed,” he said, “but we were the youngest team in the tournament and we won, which is a good thing.”

The roster consists of junior Corbin Ho; sophomores Avery Clark, Wren Gaines, Chris Holder and Alvinh Nguyen; and eighth-grader Latika Prasadh. English instructor Shila Miller is the assistant coach.

Holder and Prasadh both made the Division II All-Tournament team.

Davenport said the Titans are strong in fine arts, history, literature and math, but most of all they function and interact well as a team. That unity should help them in the national competition, which is more team than individually based, he said.

“That's a strength of ours,” he said. “Our kids really work together and communicate well. They're naturally smart, but sometimes smart kids don't work well together or communicate. Ours are exceptional at it, which gives us an advantage.”

That teamwork has been honed by hard work — three to five practices a week, and more than week-long summer camps. “It's a big commitment,” Davenport said. “These kids are really committed to what they're doing.”

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Hard work pays off with title for Gadsden City Scholars Bowl team