A few local participants won their respective age and gender divisions to move onto the state contest.

This past Saturday the Jefferson Elks Lodge hosted the district Hoop Shoot contest at the Greene County Middle School gym. Two Paton-Churdan and two Perry kids won and are advancing to the next level. P-C’s Kenna Minnihan won the 8-9 year-old girls and Alyvia Smith won the 12-13 year-old girls divisions. As for Perry, Reed Wuebker won the 10-11 year-old boys and Ty Miller won the 12-13 year-old boys divisions. The winners were determined by how many free throws were made out of 25.

Smith tells Raccoon Valley Radio how many she made to win and her initial reaction.

“I think I made about 18 (free throws). I was really excited because I went through before and I knew it was going to be a lot of fun.”

Smith says she placed second at the state contest in 2020. 

According to the Jefferson Elks Lodge, the state competition will take place February 11th and 12th in Grinnell. Half of the mileage and lodging are paid for by the respective local lodges and the state pays for the other half. Winners of each age and gender division at the state contest will advance to regionals.