Naperville’s Candace Parker nets $30K for charity on “Jeopardy”

It was rough game Thursday night for Naperville native and WNBA star Candace Parker, who competed in the quarterfinals of “Celebrity Jeopardy!” airing on ABC.

Still, she managed to earn $30,000 for the charity for which she was playing, Mamba & Mambacita Sports Foundation, a nonprofit founded in memory of Kobe and Gianna Byrant.

Parker was 2 years old when her family moved to Naperville, where she spent her childhood and graduated from Naperville Central High School.

During Thursday’s show, the Chicago Sky player said she watched “Jeopardy!” every afternoon when she visited her grandma. The two would have their own back and forth, and Parker said she thought it would be easy if she ever got a chance to play in person.

“It’s not, because there’s a buzzer involved and you have to answer the question, so it’s more difficult than watching it,” she said on the show.

Her trivia abilities were put to the test, but Parker could not keep pace with comedian and actor Patton Oswalt, who won the hour-long prime time game show by accruing $54,400.

Parker, who had $2,200 going into Final Jeopardy, ended the game with $1,940 after failing to provide any response to: “Born on an island in a sea of milk, this pitchman was jokingly disavowed by the U.S. Navy by saying he is not in personnel records.”

The answer was “Who is Cap’n Crunch?”

Parker finished in third place behind Torrey DeVitto, an actor from “Chicago Med” and “Pretty Little Liars,” who earned $3,200.

The three were vying for a spot in the final of three semifinal games and a shot at the $1 million grand prize for their charities.

On Jan. 26, Oswalt will join “Arrested Development” actor Michael Cera and the winner of the Jan. 19 quarterfinal — B.J. Novak (“The Office”), Brendan Hunt (“Ted Lasso”) and Cari Champion (“Pickled”) — in the semifinal round.

Last fall, Ike Barinholtz (“The Afterparty”) and Wil Wheaton (“Star Trek: The Next Generation”) earned the first two spots in the Celebrity Jeopardy! finals.

In other “Jeopardy!” news, ABC said it is bringing back the six highest-ranked contestants to go head to head in another spinoff this year titled “Jeopardy! Masters.” Among the contestants will be Naperville native James Holzhauer.

No date for when the program will air has been announced.

subaker@tribpub.com