Teen advances to state hoop event

Sean Jackson won in the boys 10- and 11-year-old category to advance to this year's state hoop shoot event while Julia Gilbert finished second overall in the girls 10 to 11 year old category.

A student from Hacker Middle School advanced to state-level competition following his winning performance at this year's district hoop shoot competition on Saturday.

Sean Jackson bested 10- and 11-year-old competitors from Boise, Nampa, Caldwell and Weiser to earn a seat at the state event, scheduled for Feb. 6 in Caldwell.

During the district event, Julia Gilbert from the local middle school placed second overall in the girls 10 to 11 year old age category. The winner of that event was settled during a shoot off to break a tie between the top competitors.

From left, Aniyah Wilson and Cyrus Wetherell placed in the eight- to nine-year-old brackets at Saturday's district event.

Meanwhile, Aniyah Wilson from East Elementary School and Cyrus Wetherell from North Elementary School placed in the eight- to nine-year-old bracket at Saturday's competition.

The competition starts locally in places like Mountain Home with winners in each age bracket moving on to higher and more competitive levels of play. At each level, participants are required to sink free-throw baskets with the hoop distance shortened for younger participants.

The oldest group of 12 and 13 year olds competing at the district level this year highlighted a very difficult level of free-throw precision, according to local hoop shoot chairman Larry Fincher. For example, Emily Harper from Hacker took a second-place title after competing against another competitor who has participated in the hoop shoot program for five years and had previously advanced to the national level in Massachusetts twice.

Deven Andrews earned a third-place award at the district event while Emily Harper finished second in their respective age category.

Meanwhile, Deven Andrews earned a third place award after a very serious competition that left the top three boys at a one-basket difference. They ended up shooting 23, 22 and 21 out of 25 baskets.

"These kids never give up and have a six-year window enabling them to compete," Fincher said.

Representatives from Mountain Home Elks Lodge 2276, which hosts the local-level event each year, congratulated this year's district hoop shoot representatives. To get to the event, each student had to finish first in their respective age bracket at the local event held earlier this month.

"All of the kids did a great job in their respective age groups and all deserve a shout out for their efforts and sportsmanship," Fincher said. "This is not easy and continues to advance in difficulty as these students from across the state compete with the best of the best representing their districts and communities.

The hoop shoot is very different from playing a standard basketball game where a team, as a whole, rallies together, Fincher added.

"All eyes are on you individually as you make your free throws in combinations of first 10 each, then 15 each and then increments of five thereafter to break any ties that may happen," he said.

Fincher admitted that he couldn't be prouder of the efforts from all of Mountain Home's competitors.

"We congratulate and cheer Sean on in this next level and cheer all our representatives of Mountain Home. You kids are great," he said.