Jefferson Elks Lodge 2306 held its local Hoop Shoot contest for boys and girls ages 8-13 Dec.1 at the Greene County high school gym.
Winning first and second place in the 8-9 year-old division were Kading Winters in the boys division and Ashlynn Ball in the girls division.
Winners in the 10-11 year-old divisions were Lincoln Schwander (first, boys), and Alyssa Gerdes (first) and Kaycee Pittman (second) in the girls.
Winners in the 12-13 year-old divisions were Bynley Ruzicka (first) and Nathan Behne (second) in the boys, and Adison Gallagher (first) and Payton Kokenge (second) in the girls.
The first place contestants advanced to the Northwest District competition held Jan. 12 in Storm Lake. Jefferson had two contestants win their division and advancing on to the State competition to be held in Grinnell in February – Ashlynn Ball and Brynley Ruzicka. This is Brynley’s third trip to the state competition. He made 24 of 25 free throws to claim first place in the district.
Kading Winters placed second in the 8-9 year-old division, Lincoln Schwander placed third in the 10-11 year-old division after a hard-fought battle in a four-attempt shoot-off, and Adison Gallagher placed third in the 12-13 year-old division.
“Please join us all in wishing the very best of luck to Ashlynn Ball and Brynley Ruzicka as they advance on to the next level of competition,” an Elks spokesperson said.
