Patel advances to Elks Hoop Shoot states finals
Greater Nashua Elks Hoop Shoot champion, 12-year-old Tilak Patel, continued his winning ways at the 2013 State Elks 12-13 Boys Southwest District Hoop Shoot Championship last Saturday at the Elm Street Middle School gym.
Tilak was 2012’s 10-11 Boys Regional champion and competed in the National Elks Hoop Shoot Finals.
Nashua 9-year-old Sebastian Coelho finished was runner-up in the 8-9 Boys SW Division which was won by Manchester’s Cameron Pollock. Nashua 11-year-old Rita Dow was also runner-up as she was edged out by SW champion Carley Ayotte of Keene in the 10-11 Girls Division.
The Nashua Elks other three Hoop Shoot champions competing – 9-year-old Emma Charron, 10-year-old Josh Demoura and 12-year-old Rachel Holden – all finished in third place of their respective divisions.
Manchester 9-year-old Nicole Eugenio won the 8-9 SW Girls Division. Destiny Lopez, of Manchester, won the SW 12-13 Girls Division and 10-year-old Alex Lacasse, of Manchester, won the SW Boys Division.
The six 2013 State Elks Southwest District Hoop Shoot champions were presented with first-place gold trophies by State Elks President George Lapan, of Lebanon, at the awards luncheon held in the Nashua Elks home after the contest. This now completes the second level of Hoop Shoot competition.
The Southwest District champions will join the Southeast District champions – Portsmouth’s Cory Morissette, Rochester’s Ashley Trogler and Conor Bryant, and Derry/Salem’s Joey Merrill, Heather Bridges and Mckenzie Gagnon – Feb. 3 in Portsmouth to compete in the 2013 Elks State Hoop Shoot free throw contest against the Northwest and Northeast District champions.
State champions go on to the New England Elks Regional competition in South Portland, Maine, on March 24, with the winners going on to the Elks National Hoop Shoot Finals in Springfield, Mass., in April.
National winners will have their names inscribed, in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass. Over three million boys and girls have competed in this year’s Elks National Hoop Shoot program.
