Owatonna Elks Hoop Shoot returns to town
Left to right: Hoop Shoot winners Carter Rosenau, Brinley Skala, Danica Hager, Parker Simon, Hanley Rosenau and Connor Millar all smile as they don their first-place medals. Simon was the sharpshooter of the day with a competition-high 20 made free throws on 25 attempts. Staff photo by Johnnie Phillips
After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Owatonna Elks Lodge Hoop Shoot returned to town and brought with it a large field of 34 youth competitors.
As per usual, the competition consisted of three age brackets – 8-9, 10-11 and 12-13 – with two separate groups of boys and girls for each.
Each athlete was able to start the free-throw competition with five practice shots before taking 10 counted shots, then finishing with an additional 15 counted shots after the first wave of competitors had all finished their initial 10 shots.
Kicking off the competition were the eight- and nine-year-olds, where boys athlete Carter Rosenau and girls athlete Brinley Skala took home first place.
After making four of his initial 10 shots, Rosenau leaped into first place and caught fire, making 13 of his final 15 free throws to finish with 17 overall.
Meanwhile, Skala got the job done at the buzzer to take first place in the girls division.
After initially tying Mackencie Eyberg with 11 free throws, Skala outshot her opponent 3-1 in a five-shot tiebreaker round to secure the win.
The drama was more subdued in the nine- to 10-year-old division, where girls winner Danica Hager and boys winner Parker Simon ran away with the competition.
Hager secured first place in a field of four by being the lone shooter to convert double-digit free throws, knocking down 13 en route to the title.
On the boys side, Simon was a force to be reckoned with after the sharp shooter scored all 10 of his initial free throws before going 10 for 15 on the back end for a total of 20.
Simon’s win was notable as it came in the largest field of the competition (nine) and was also the highest total of made free throws on the day.
Rounding out the day, the 12- and 13-year-olds’ competition was fierce throughout.
Girls athlete Hanley Rosenau was able to secure the win over competitors Abby Thiel and Megan Skala by making 11 shots to edge out her two foes’ scores of 10 and nine.
On the boys side, Connor Millar emerged victorious in the field’s smallest group of the day, taking down lone competitor Carson Whalen 13-12 after initially tying with five free throws, but outshooting Whalen 8-7 on the final 15 shots.
Winners of the Hoop Shoot were awarded medals by the tournament director Jim Aamot and Owatonna Elks Lodge Exalted Ruler Bob Ohnstad and are eligible to compete at the next stage of the competition in Hutchinson on Feb. 18, 2023.