Maverick Murphy (left) and Alaina Rivas (right) took first place in their respective categories at the Elks Regional Hoop Shoot Competition in Spearfish, S.D. on March 11. They will be competing in the national competition in Chicago in April.
Maverick Murphy (left) and Alaina Rivas (right) took first place in their respective categories at the Elks Regional Hoop Shoot Competition in Spearfish, S.D. on March 11. They will be competing in the national competition in Chicago in April.
Two local youth athletes are regional Elks Hoop Shoot champions following the competition in Spearfish, S.D. this past weekend, earning their way to the national competition next month. Maverick Murphy and Alaina Rivas competed in the 10-11 boys and girls divisions, respectively.
Maverick took the win in his age group, hitting 24 of 25 free throws. Meanwhile, Alaina took the win in her group, hitting 21 of 25. The national competition will be held in Chicago in April.
Maverick is the son of Wade and Michaela Murphy and Alaina is the daughter of Alex and Kayla Rivas.
The two performed well throughout each stage of the competition so far, which began back in December with the local hoop shoot. They then took wins at the district competition, also held in Glendive, and the state competition held in Livingston.
Now that they’re nearing the final stage, they say the competition so far has been a great experience, but they understand there is still much further to go.
“It’s definitely nerve-racking. You don’t know what’s going to happen, so you just have to practice and whatever happens, happens,” Maverick said.
While Maverick has advanced to the regional competition before, he is competing in a higher age bracket this year and this is the first time he has won the competition at that level. He noted that the higher level of competition has been a real challenge, but one that he has been excited to experience.
Meanwhile, this is the furthest Alaina has ever made it in a hoop shoot competition; she has never made it out of the local competition. Through each competition, she said she has learned more about what it takes to compete, including patience and staying calm in intense situations.
“When we were going into state... it was like a week before (I was) practicing, I was always getting mad if I missed, and (the competition) has definitely taught me not to do that,” Alaina said.
Going into the national competition, they both said they are expecting tough competition. They’ll each be up against 11 other competitors from all over the country who have earned their way there just like they did, and fully expect it to be a close contest.
Maverick noted that to prepare for the contest, he expects he’ll be shooting roughly 150 free throws each day until they leave. Alaina, similarly, expects she’ll be putting in a lot of practice ahead of the competition.
“You’re gonna have to shoot a 25/25 and a couple of shoot outs if you want to place top three,” Maverick said. “You can’t get too scared, nervous. You’re going to be scared before it, you’re going to be nervous, your legs are going to shake a lot I’ve learned, but you’ve just got to push through it.”
Overall though, they both said they are excited with what they’ve achieved so far; and even if they don’t win, they get to say they were in the top 12 of the nation. But make no mistake, the young competitors are going to give winning their best shot.
Aside from the competition, the two said they are also excited to get to travel to Chicago to compete. The city provides plenty of unique opportunities and, according to Alaina and Maverick, the Elks organization treats the competitors very well, covering the transportation costs and providing plenty of fun.
“Without (the Elks), this wouldn’t be possible,” Maverick said.
Rivas has previously traveled to Chicago for the competition, as her brother Ethan competed there in 2019 and 2017. She is somewhat familiar with the experience and is looking forward to taking on the role as a competitor this time around.
Most of the fun will have to wait until after the competition though, as the two young Glendive athletes noted that many competitors have made the mistake of tiring themselves out before the day of competition, and their performance suffered as a result. Going swimming, in particular, has compromised a lot of kids chances, they noted.
“It’s awesome. You don’t really want to walk around too much before the competition because you’ll get tired out, but after the shoot, you get to basically do whatever,” Alaina said.
The National Elks Hoop Shoot will be held on April 22.
