PIERRE — Hartford’s Caralina and Chase Mebius each took first place at the Elks Region 2 Finals Saturday in Rapid City. The siblings, who advanced from the Brookings Elks Lodge #1490 contest, now to advance to the National Finals on April 26 in Chicago.

Caralina hit 24-of-25 free throws to win the 8-9-year-old girls’ age group, defeating the state champions from Montana and North Dakota, who made 17 and 13 shots, respectively.

In the 12-13-year-old boys’ division, Chase, her older brother, was 23-for-25, but had closer competition as Montana’s Maverick Murphy had 22 free throws made. Murphy had been to the national finals in 2023 after beating Chase by one shot in the same regional finals.

Both Caralina and Chase collected additional hardware by winning Best of the Best, given to the boy and girl who have the most made free throws. Caralina’s 24 makes made her the clear winner amongst the girls’ competitors. Chase was tied with 23, but won the award on the tie breaker, which compared the state scores for each competitor. Chase was a perfect 25-of-25 in the state competition.

Volga’s Carter Cadwell finished second in the 8-9-year old boys’ division, hitting 19 of his 25 shots. Montana’s Braxton Pickering took first place with 23 makes. Camden Cadwell, Carter’s older brother, was third in the 10-11-year-old boys’ age group, with 16 makes.

The Hoop Shoot is an annual, signature kids program sponsored by the Benevolent and Protective Order of the Elks, which is more than 150-year-old, national fraternal organization. For more information about the Hoop Shoot, visit elks.org.