Annually, more than 125 students from across Carrollton-Farmers Branch participate in the Elks Hoop Shoot Free Throw Contest at R. L. Turner High School. This event has been sponsored for over twenty years in Carrollton-Farmers Branch by the Irving Elks Lodge in conjunction with their Drug Awareness program. CFB students participated in the Hoop Shoot on Jan. 21, with the next level of competition to be held on Jan. 28.
Students are selected at their campuses from over 3,000 students participating at twenty-six CFB ISD elementary and six middle schools. In this annual contest, students in all age groups (8 – 9 year old boys/girls, 10 – 11 year old boys/girls and 12 – 13 year old boys/girls) take twenty-five free throws to see who can make the most baskets, all the while following a very stringent protocol for shooting.
The top student in each category continues on from the local level to the district (lodge) level. From there, students can earn the right to compete at the state, regional and national levels. The National Hoop Shoot Competition is held at the Basketball Hall of Fame each year in May. Winners from across the country and all fifty states vie to have their name inscribed on the Elks Plaque inside the Hall of Fame.
Winners from last Saturday’s competition:
| Boys 12 -13 | ||
| 1st | Christopher Valencia | Field |
| 2nd | Saylor Black | Perry |
| Girls 12 – 13 | ||
| 1st | Anna Blackwell | Blalack |
| 2nd | Ranniah Akins | Perry |
| Boys 10 – 11 | ||
| 1st | John Burke | Blalack |
| 2nd | Jordan Diggins | Polk |
| Girls 10 – 11 | ||
| 1st | Madison Martin | Riverchase |
| 2nd | Mariyah Freeman | Riverchase |
| Boys 8 – 9 | ||
| 1st | Joseph Brinkley | Blanton |
| 2nd | Aaron Benitez | Furneaux |
| Girls 8 – 9 | ||
| 1st | Carolyn Blue | McCoy |
| 2nd | Alexia Walters | McCoy |