Aaden Mendez advances to State Elks Hoop Shoot
Aaden Mendez of Breckenridge competed in the district Elks Hoop Shoot contest in Arlington earlier this month and won first place. He will now advance to the state championship Hoop Shoot to be held Feb. 15-17 at R L Turner High School in Carrollton.
Aaden Mendez gets ready to shoot in the local Elks Hoop Shoot contest, held in December. He won at the district level and will compete in the state Hoop Shoot next month. (Photo by Tony Pilkington/Breckenridge Texan)
Aaden won first place in the boys age group 10 to 11 in the local Hoop Shoot, hosted by Breckenridge Elks Lodge 1480.
The winners from the state competition in Carrollton will go on to the regional contest in Dallas. The national contest will be in Chicago. Last year, four kids from Texas made it to the national competition.
Everything above the district level will be an overnight trip, and the participants and their parents will get to attend the events as guests of the Elks. Six national winners — a boy and a girl in each age category — will be named.
The national winners will each receive a trophy and have their name inscribed on a plaque in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. The top-scoring boy and girl will be named the national champions and will receive the Getty Powell Award.
Cutline, top photo: Members of the Breckenridge Elks Lodge 1480 honor District Elks Hoop Shoot champion Aaden Mendez with a basketball jersey to wear as he competes for the State championship in February. (Courtesy photo)
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