This is a correlation v causation issue. I read something somewhere from some elite AO that they don’t scrutinize test scores like people think. It just so happens that the students they want because of all the other things they do ALSO have high scores. Like the young man described above.
So it is not really correct to say the perfect scores are a hook, because they aren’t driving the AO decision to admit. But yes, there is a higher percentage of perfect score kids that get admitted to elite schools.