Sequim duo takes first at Elks’ Hoop Shoot

 

Dustin Bates and Halie Wilson helped Sequim sweep the boys’ and girls’ 12-13-year-old divisions at the 2011 Elks District Hoop Shoot competition on Jan. 22.

The pair moves on to the state competition — slated for Feb. 12 in Bellevue — along with Sequim’s Joey Oliver (boys’ 8-9 division) and Cameron Dunning (boys’ 10-11 division), who finished in second place and are state alternates.

Bates needed overtime to edge Bremerton’s Ian Cochran by a single point. The pair each hit 22 of 25 free throw tries in regulation. After Cochran hit two of five in overtime, Bates knocked down his first two, missed the next two and sank the fifth try.

“That shoot-out had my stomach in a knot and they’re not my boys,” Sequim Elk Scott Bower said. “It is a real shame to see a shooter that is this good lose, but someone has to win.”

Wilson didn’t need overtime but beat her opponent by the same scant amount, sinking 18 shots to Bremerton competitor Starr Rodenhurst’s 17 shots.

The district hoop shoot saw about 54 participants hailing from nine different Elks lodges — Sequim, Port Angeles, Shelton, Aberdeen, Hoquiam, Ocean Shores, Port Townsend, Forks and Bremerton.

A total of 3,736 youths participated in the local hoop shoot competitions last week. — 2,028 boys and  1,908 girls — including 91 youths from Sequim.

The district includes competitors from Sequim, Port Angeles, Hoquiam, Aberdeen, Bremerton and Shelton.

District winners and alternates:

8-9 Girls — 1. Myah Rodius, Shelton; 2. Katelyn Gibbs, Bremerton

8-9 Boys — 1. Kyle Larsen, Hoquiam; 2. Joey Oliver,

Sequim

10-11 Girls — 1. Ashlynne Uvila, Port Angeles

10-11 Boys — 1. C.J. Lagat, Bremerton; 2. Cameron Dunning, Sequim

12-13 Girls — 1. Halie Wilson, Sequim, 2. Starr Rodenhurst, Bremerton

12-13 Boys — 1. Dustin Bates, Sequim; 2. Ian Cochran, Bremerton.

 

 

Top, Halie Wilson, first place, girls’ 12-13 division. Bottom, Dustin Bates, first place, boys’ 12-13 division.  Submitted photos