As the Scholars Bowl season comes to a close, the De Soto High School varsity team attended an important tournament: the United Kansas Conference. The team claimed the UKC championship on Thursday, Jan. 30.

The six-member varsity team blazed through the rounds, winning 10 out of 10 with an average score of 91.5 points per round.

Head coach Phillip Hamilton could not be prouder of the team.

“We did a great job. We really met our potential,” Hamilton said. “Everyone contributed and some people had their best tournament of the year, so it was good.”

Members of the UKC team feel really good about winning the conference, including sophomore Sara Murphy.

“I was definitely satisfied with the result and I think I performed fairly well, but in the end Scholars Bowl is a team effort. I was really proud of our teamwork at the tournament,” Murphy said.

UKC team member and DHS senior Austin Bradley feels similarly about the tournament.

“Everyone was on fire, and I’m continually amazed by the kids on the team who I get to play with,”  Bradley said. “I’ve been with this team for the past three months, and I’m still astounded each and every day by how intelligent and talented these people are. It was definitely a good night.”

That being said, even the best of teams have their struggles.

“Our worst round was actually our first round and we beat Basehor 45-30,” Hamilton said. “That was actually the closest round.”

The team may have gotten a rough start, but in the end, everything turned out according to Hamilton.

“The UKC Tournament is small, so we play everybody twice, and we did well the first time through, so we were pretty confident going into the second time,” Hamilton said.

But of course, the win would not have been possible without a great coach like Hamilton, according to Bradley.

“We had moments that night where we just kind of had brain farts and there were moments where questions should have been pretty straightforward that we missed, but he’s always super encouraging and super level-headed,” Bradley said. “He makes De Soto a competitive team at tournaments. I really enjoyed having him as a coach.”