HOULTON, Maine —The Daigle Oil Company Free Throw Shooting contest was a perfect display of mind, focus and skill combination as the League’s 14 qualified players attempted to score perfect percentages from the “charity stripe” while shooting 10 straight shots through the net, and advancing through three rounds of competition.
“Everyone believes it’s easy to make a basket with no defenders, just 15 feet away from the basket,” said Jere Humphrey, event organizer. “Our Men’s League foul shooting contest, showed us just who can zone out all the distractions and sink all ten shots without hesitation.”
The Free Throw contest offered 14 of the League’s best foul shooting players to put their techniques on the line through three rounds of foul shooting. The qualifying round had all team selectees shoot 10 straight free throws after three warm up shots.
Round 2, which was also known as the advancement round, only took the top 5 from the qualifier, and expected each competitor to shoot 15 total shots to try to eliminate the competition quietly. The final round to crown the champion, which only allows the top 3 to compete for the hardware, once again witnesses the shooters in a 10 shot format.
Sam Henderson was crowned as the 2016 champ as he successfully sank 33-of-35 free throws (94.3 percent). Jason Speedy was runner up, having made 32-of-35 shots.
Moving on from the first round were: Henderson, Speedy and Adam Hogan, all with 10; Ben Maloney, nine. Others were: Chris Casey, Jeremy Tarr, Lucas Flewelling, all with eight; James Ramsdell and Jordan Hill, both seven; Patrick Goodall, James Bates and Ryan Lincoln, both six; Marcus Crocker, five; and Travis Casey, four.
In the advancement segment, results were: Henderson, Speedy, Hogan and Casey, all with 13; and Malone, 11.
In the finals, Henderson sank all 10 free throws; Speedy had nine; and Hogan and Casey, both hit seven.
