After making a debut qualification to the national tournament, Berekum Methodist Senior High and Technical School ceases not to astound their contenders as they surprisingly progress to the finals of the Bono-Ahafo Zonal Championship for the first time.

With an unbroken resolve to prevail, contestants of the school moved from negative two points in the second round of the contest to boot out Notre Dame Girls SHS after four tie-breaker questions.

The contest began with a slow performance from the schools including Atebubu SHS as neither of them answered their first set of questions correctly.

There was screaming silence in the Berekum camp after the quiz mistress announced scores for the three schools at the end of the first and second rounds.

The school had moved from their zero-point score at the end of the first round to the deficit score in the second round.

“At the end of the second round, Berekum Methodist SHTS owes me two points,” the quiz mistress, Gladys Schwinger announced.

Their hopes of winning were almost shattered after taking the last position in both rounds.

But with an unwavering spirit to push through, the contestants gathered momentum to ricochet and nullify their negative score in the third round.

They managed to answer most of their True/False questions correctly to secure eight points at the end of the third round, six points difference between them and Notre Dame Girls SHS who were in the lead.

The boys did not rest on their oars in the fourth round as they answered two riddles correctly throwing the contest into a tie-breaker.

After three unsuccessful attempts by both schools during the tie-breaker round, Berekum Methodist SHTS swiftly answered the fourth question to carry the day.

The duo were met with rousing cheers and a standing ovation by their friends and teachers.

In the regional qualifiers of the 2023 NSMQ season, the school booked its debut slot at the preliminary stage of the competition after beating Drobo SHS and Jinijini SHS.

Although they are the school with the least qualification score to the grand finale, the students and teachers of the school are unfazed as they believe their deity will pull another surprise for them to clinch the championship trophy.

“John Wesley could be working for us. But we will surely put up a better performance at the grand finale,” the trainer for the school said.

On the day, three other schools including defending Champions St. James Seminary, Sunyani Secondary School and Akumefi Ameyaw SHS also secured slots at the final stage of the regional competition.

St. James Seminary School qualified as the highest scorer with 46 points, while Akumfi Ameyaw steadily followed with 43 points.

Sunyani Secondary School also managed to garner 19 points, two points ahead of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel SHS.

A number of people in the region are tipping a nip and tuck contest between the two schools given their impressive performance so far in the regional championship.

Many had thought the ladies from Notre Dame Girls' SHS would defy the odds to make a female representation at the grand finale after two girls' schools in the region - Our Lady of Mt Carmel Girls' SHS and OLA Girls - Kenyasi failed to progress to the next stage of the regional championship.