Ardmore’s Cole Hogan totaled 300 points in six rounds to win the high scorer award.

Only 60 points separated the top two teams as Elkmont High School won the county championship during Friday’s first-ever Middle School Scholars’ Bowl tournament at Blue Springs Elementary School, edging out second-place Ardmore High School.

Elkmont, Ardmore and third-place East Limestone finished the five-round pool play tied with identical 4-1 records, prompting tournament officials to use a point tiebreaker to determine the champion.

Elkmont totaled 1,355 points, while Ardmore rang up 1,295 and East 1,100. Tanner, West Limestone and Clements rounded out the field with fourth, fifth and sixth-place records, respectively.

The Red Devils relied on the experience of seventh-graders Luke Campbell, Riley Cook and Camille Turner, with Campbell and Cook each advancing to the individual high scorer round. The trio has been part of at least three county tournament-winning teams, according to school officials.

The Elkmont team, coached by Lauren Lang and Pat Hammock, also featured sixth-graders Brantley Hammock, Emily Norman and Meadow Guth plus alternate Walton Ferguson.

Ardmore’s Cole Hogan earned the individual points award with 300 points amassed through six rounds, including 60 points in the high scorer showdown. He answered six of the final round’s toss-up questions correctly, finishing with a flourish by answering the final three queries.

The tournament questions ranged from school subjects and sports to movie trivia and art. One toss-up asked the students to identify whether the colors puce or tawny came closest to light brown. Another gave the opening line of the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem, “Paul Revere’s Ride,” which Hogan pounced on to close out the high scorer round.

Joining Hogan, Campbell and Cook as individual top scorers were Campbell, Cook, Tanner’s Maraiah Matson and Willy Balderrama, Clements’ Jasey Black and Walker Heflin, East’s Emma Banks, West’s Cameron Gooch and Ardmore’s Alex McMahon.

In the past, the Limestone school system held separate tournaments for middle school grade levels but chose this year to fold the sixth grade competition into the former junior high competition.

The county will hold its elementary tournament on April 4 and the high school tournament on April 15.