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Youngsters impress from charity stripe

Photo

Photo by Ken Veloskey

Emily Sarow takes aim during the 37th annual Elk's Club Hoopshoot free throw contest at the Janesville Family YMCA. Sarow won the girls 11-12 year old age division.

JANESVILLE — Missing a free throw is looking a gift horse in the mouth.

“Why not make the easy ones?” said Nya Geschke, who made a point of making the easy ones during her standout basketball careers at Janesville Parker High School and UW-Whitewater.

“I realized in high school how important (free throws) were,” Geschke said during a recent phone interview. “If you can get a lot of free points, why not be good at it?’’

Geschke, who graduated from Parker in 2000 and UW-Whitewater in 2005, ranks sixth on the all-time Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference women’s basketball list free throws made with 386 from 2002 to 2005. She is second on the WIAC all-time list in free-throw percentage, making 386 of 467 for almost an 83 percent average.

Geschke’s foul-line highlights include making 13 of 13 free throws against UW-Stout on Dec. 4 of 2004 and 20 of 20 against the Blue Devils on Feb. 21, 2004. Geschke went 10-for-10 against UW-Superior on Dec. 7, 2002.

The youngsters who competed in the recent 37th annual Janesville Elks Club Hoopshoot local free-throw contest at the Janesville Family YMCA most likely never met Geschke, but as they paraded to the foul line each had Geschke’s mantra in mind—make the easy one.

Emily Sarow, a sixth-grader at St. Paul’s Lutheran in Janesville and her brother, Jack, 13, an eighth-grader at St. Paul’s, each won their age group in the Elks competition.

The Sarows, along with Janesville’s Amy Groshan (8-9), Coby Brault (10-11) and Micayla Richards (12-13) will compete in the district finals at Beloit Memorial High School on Saturday. District winners advance to the state finals on Feb. 14 in Wausau. Those winners advance to regional and national competition.

The Janesville qualifiers hope to follow the path of local winner Justin Ruchti, who made it to nationals in 2005.

Emily relied on the advice of her coaches at St. Paul’s.

“My coaches taught me to follow through with my shot, and just point two fingers at the basket when I get off my shot,” said Emily, who made 13 free throws.

Jack Sarow advanced by making 18 of 30 free throws that included 4 of 5 in a shootout.

In practicing outside this week, Emily is hoping the weather will cooperate.

“If it’s not raining, I’m going to be practicing every day,” Emily said.

Liz Warner of Janesville is a third-year business major at UW-La Crosse and former Milton High School standout, who earned trips to the national competition in 1999 and 2000.

Warner’s first national appearance did not go smoothly.

“I did the worst I ever did,” Warner recalled in a phone interview. “I was just so nervous.’’

For Warner, success at free-throw shooting meant practice—lots of it.

“I used to practice in whatever gyms I could find,” Warner said. “I used to try and throw a couple hundred almost everyday.’’

She had a routine for to gain rhythm.

“I would dribble three times and spin the ball,” Warner said. “Everyone had their own little things.’’

Warner’s third shot at making nationals ended when she broke her right wrist before the regional finals.

“I remember it was horrible,” Warner said. “I didn’t really practice, and I told my mom I didn’t want to do it.’’

Despite the handicap, Warner shot left-handed and made 18 of 25 at Baraboo.

“I had to concentrate more, and I think that helped me,” Warner said.

Doug Heenan of Janesville has been coordinating the local Elks’ program for the last nine years and thinks the local participation can improve.

“We had 34 kids this year,” Heenan said. “But Beloit had 1,191 kids because it’s a school program.

“We did that in Janesville in 2006 but they decided not to continue,” Heenan added. “There were a lot of tears on the kids that didn’t do that well.”

Free throws shouldn’t bring tears. The free shots should bring smiles for the chance for easy points. Nya Geschke and Liz Warner know the feeling.

Maybe Emily and Jack Sarow and rest of the Janesville Elks Hoopshoot qualifiers will, too.