The all-rookie academic team from George Mason High School won the Region B tournament Saturday at Luray High School. The team closed the double-elimination tournament in four rounds, remaining undefeated in all rounds of play. In winning the regional title, the team earned the chance to compete in the state tournament later this month. The tournament, set for Feb. 25 at the College of William and Mary, will mark Mason’s 11th year in a row competing at the state level.

The team started slow in its opening game of the regional tournament against Riverheads High School. They were behind 70-35 at the end of the game’s first round, but came back to win 230-170.

The games that followed would be blow-out victories for the Mustangs, who defeated William Campbell High School 370-65 in the second round of the tournament, and Gretna High School 335-50 in the third. The win against Gretna secured Mason’s spot at the state tournament, as the team was then guaranteed the top-two finish needed to qualify.

Gretna returned for a rematch after a hard-fought 190-180 game against Riverheads. Though the first round saw the teams tied up early on at 30, seven correctly answered toss-up questions put Mason ahead and their lead grew to the crushing final score of 330-90.

Junior Liam O’Connell led the team in scoring. Seniors Misha Terman, Chris Earman, Matthew Irvine and team captain Michael Irvine, along with O’Connell, made up the competing team.