A team of students from Phillips Middle School placed third in the state MATHCOUNTS competition held at the North Carolina School of Science and Math on March 26. A total of 51 teams from across North Carolina entered the contest. Team members are Ben Taylor, Koya Osada, Alex Chang and Anshul Subrmanya. Taylor placed third in individual competition and secured a place on the state team that will compete in Orlando, Fla. in May. Osada placed 12th individually. Marsha O’Neal is the team’s coach.