Brianna Aaron wasn't on her game at the start of the high school debate season.

The Science Park High School senior from Newark couldn't get past the early rounds at three major tournaments in the fall. Each time, she'd come up short and was eliminated. Aaron, 18, was frustrated and questioned her ability.

"I was kind of depressed. Like, wow, I'm a terrible debater," she said.

No one in debate circles expected that kind of slump, either, from one of the top five Lincoln Douglas debaters in the country. This was her specialty -- debating one on one, taking on a moral issue -- and she was struggling.

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"Everyone had high expectations of me, and I just flopped," Aaron said. "I just had to get out of that groove in order to bounce back."

Forget bounce; she went on a tear. After a mental reset, Aaron began racking up debate points at major tournaments to capture the Dukes and Bailey Cup, which means she is the best Lincoln Douglas debater nationally for the 2017-18 school year.

Winning the cup is highly competitive, with little room for error. It is given annually at the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) tournament to the debater who has accumulated the most points during his or her top five tournaments.

Aaron won by more than 100 points, but here's what makes her victory stand out:

"To lose three tournaments at the beginning of the season, it's almost unheard of to actually come back and be awarded the overall season-long excellence award," said NDCA chair Shunta Jordan. "It was a phenomenal feat."

And Aaron did it at the most prestigious and largest tournaments in the country, one of the criteria the association takes into account when points are earned.

Aaron faced top debaters, many from some of the wealthiest public- and private-school programs. She made it to the final round of the five tournaments, winning two of them, against more than 100 participants each time out.

"To be able to get into five final rounds at major national tournaments all over the country is incredible," said Jonathan Alston, debate coach for Science Park. "Her overall performance was better than everyone else."

Aaron went back to the basics to get out of her debate funk. She crafted her own affirmatives on topics. She spent time answering the opponents' arguments, pre-empting them, too. Lastly, Aaron said, she focused only on winning each round and didn't allow herself to think ahead.

The breakthrough came at a national tournament that she won in Apple Valley, Minnesota. From then on, Aaron was on a roll, with stellar performances at the next four major tournaments in Chicago, Minneapolis, Los Angeles and Atlanta.

Aaron advanced her arguments, using critical race issues to debate several topics. One of them was should plea bargaining be abolished from the criminal justice system in the context of reproductive rights.

In her research, Aaron learned that prosecutors have made sterilization of women and men part of plea negotiations. Prosecutors in Nashville, Tennessee, did it at least four times dating to 2010, and, in 2014, a man in Virginia agreed to have a vasectomy in exchange for less prison time in a child-endangerment case.

In the debate room, Aaron would be aggressive, making her point that the practice should end. That's her style -- to be confrontational and to attack.

"I like to clash with people," she said. "It's about being able to control the room."

"From the time the debate starts, she's taking shots," Alston said. "She punches you from the beginning and keeps punching until the end."

In Lincoln Douglas debating, Aaron thrives on the fact that she is solely responsible for her success or failure. There's no one to blame for mistakes except herself, she said.

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Aaron had her share, and the early errors in the season made her think she didn't have a shot at the Dukes and Bailey Cup. But, as she began to amass points, Aaron could see her ranking improve: top five, then three, then two.

"I said 'I want to get this award,' " she recalled. " 'I want to be the number one debater,' and I ended up doing it."

Six years of hard work, starting in middle school, would not be wasted. She finished the regular debate season 49-6.

Her talent, not surprisingly, continues the legacy of Science Park debaters, who are known across the country as a winning program.

Aaron, however, stands alone in her achievement. No one in Newark or at Science Park has won the Dukes and Bailey Cup.

She's not satisfied, though. The Tournament of Champions competition, held after the scholastic debate season, is this weekend in Kentucky. She's one of 80 debaters nationally vying for that Lincoln Douglas crown.

Whatever happens, Aaron has had a great run during her final year as a nationally ranked high school debater.

Next season is going to be just as challenging, too. Aaron will be in North Carolina, on a debate scholarship, crafting arguments for Wake Forest University.

Barry Carter: (973) 836-4925 or bcarter@starledger.com or

nj.com/carter or follow him on Twitter @BarryCarterSL