Submitted
Local students and state champions Jackson Jones and Brylee Hutson won and placed in the 2022 Southwest Regional Elks Hoop Shoot® Free Throw Contest held in Dallas, Texas Saturday, March 19th. Brylee placed second, while Jackson won the Championship.
Jackson and Brylee were both sponsored by the Sapulpa Elks Lodge. Jackson won the 12-13-year-old boys division by sinking 24 free throws out of 25 attempts. Brylee placed in the 10-11-year-old girls division by sinking 15 free throws out of 25 attempts.
Jackson now advances to the national finals in Chicago, IL on April 30th. There, Jackson will compete against 11 other Regional Champions for the national title, and have his name inscribed on the Elks trophy in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
To earn a spot in the regional competition, both Brylee and Jackson won their local lodge contest (Sapulpa lodge) and then the Northeast District shoot-off. Jones earned the Oklahoma title at the Oklahoma State Elks Association championship.
This year over 340,000 kids in the Southwest Region (Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas) are expected to have competed in the contest, according to Russell Scott, Southwest Regional Director of the Elks Hoop Shoot program. Nationwide 1.5 million boys and girls will compete in three different age groups during the 50th anniversary of the program.
Scott extended congratulations to all of the participants, saying, “It’s an honor to be able to give kids like these a platform to excel. The Elks are all about helping the youth of America, and this program gives them a chance to shine.”
The Elks is a fraternal organization with nearly one million members nationwide and distributes nearly $40 million annually for scholarships and other youth, community, and Veterans programs.
