Swish! Swish! Swish!
On February 10th, Mountain View fourth grader, Anakin Machado, advanced to the West Region 7 Hoop Shoot Semi-Final Championships.
“It’s been exciting tracking Anakin’s progress,” said MVES Principal Dominic Armijo. “He’s a great kid; hard-working, respectful, and self-disciplined. We are thrilled to see Anakin advance this far.”
To compete in the West Region 7 Hoop Shoot Semi-Final Championships, the nine-year-old first had to qualify. He did this by outperforming other Mountain View contestants his age in the opening round held in the Rio Rico High School gym in November, where he made 19 out of 25 free throws. This enabled him to advance to the Lodge Level.
The Lodge Level, the official entry point for the Elk’s National Contest, was held in Green Valley at the Continental School District in December. There, Anakin, who has been throwing free throws from the time he was six, eliminated the field by sinking 72% of his shots. From there he went to, and won, the District Championship in Tucson held in January, sinking 76% of his shots. “He made us very proud,” said his mother, Mrs. Leslie Bright.
His win in the District Championship positioned Anakin for stiffer competition. On February 10th he traveled with his family to Apache Junction’s Cactus Canyon Jr. High School to test his skills and winning strategy against three other State Level contestants in his age group. To prepare, Anakin practiced free throws during his practices with the two local teams on which he plays, the Fire Hearts and the Aztecs. “My mom told me to take my time before shooting, so when I stand at the line I try to imagine myself alone in the gym. I still get a little nervous, but mostly I’m excited.”
Practice makes perfect. On February 10th, after just 3 warm-up shots, Anakin eliminated the other Arizona boys in three rounds, sinking 22 of 25 shots or 88%, to win the Elk’s National Hoop Shoot Contest State Champion Trophy.
UPDATE: Anakin competed the weekend of February 24th at the West Region 7 Hoop Shoot Semi-Final Championships in Las Vegas where he won 3rd place! Way to represent Anakin!