Ken Flint shares these photos and a recap of Cave Spring High School’s Scholastic Bowl team at the River Ridge District Tournament:

In a tournament which went largely to form, the Cave Spring High School Scholastic Bowl team placed second at the River Ridge District Tournament, and qualified for Region IV Tournament.

The loss snapped a two-tournament winning streak for the Knights, who had won the Nitro Tournament in West Virginia and North Carolina’s Carrboro Cup.

In the final match, the Knights fell  to defending state champion Christiansburg 255-205. Cave Spring took an early 30 point lead behind captain Michael Zhang, but the Blue Demons’ Matt Moschella led a reversal which saw the first tossup round end with  Christiansburg leading 85-60.  The lead remained 25 after the second, directed round of questions, as each team scored 90 points,  During the final 15 question tossup round, Cave Spring never closed the gap to less than 15 points, and the Blue Demons eventually ground out the win.

The Knights had entered the tournament on a hot streak, winning the Nitro Tournament in West Virginia and the Carrboro Cup in North Carolina in the previous two weeks.

Entering the double-elimination tourney seeded second, the Knights topped third-seeded Blacksburg 305-160 in their first match, as Zhang rang up 165 points on his own.  James Cole and Maddie Burton combined to add another 40.  On the other side of the bracket, Christiansburg defeated surprising Hidden Valley  350-95.  The Titans had upset Salem 190-150 in an opening-round matchup.

Christiansburg pushed Cave Spring to the loser’s bracket with a 270-185 decision.  There, the Knights faced Blacksburg again, after the Bears had eliminated Hidden Valley by a 270-130 score to clinch at least a third place finish.  In a reprise of their first match, the Knights earned a 290-150 win to eliminate Blacksburg and set up the finals rematch with Christiansburg.

Hidden Valley finished fourth, its highest finish in several years, while Salem and Pulaski County tied for fifth.

Cave Spring will be joined by Christiansburg and Blacksburg at the Region IV tournament, to be held Saturday, Feb. 4, at Southwest Virginia Community College in Richlands.