[4/21/05]

Of the many classic scenes in the basketball film “Hoosiers,” the one that sticks in many minds is that of Gene Hackman, the team’s coach, having his players measure the distance from the goal to the floor and the floor to the free throw line at the mammoth Butler Fieldhouse.

Hackman’s team, from tiny Hickory, Ind., was set for a state championship match in a gym bigger than any they had ever seen. The coach wanted his team to know that, “You’ll find these exact same measurements at our gym back in Hickory.”

The team then laughs, goes on to win the state championship over a team 10 times its size and the movie ends.

On Saturday, Vicksburg 11-year-old Kawayne Gaston will set foot on a free throw line in Springfield, Mass., with 12 others from around America in an attempt to win the national Elks Hoop Shoot Contest.

He won the local, state and regional events to earn a trip to the home of the National Basketball Hall of Fame. The son of Glenn and Silvester Gaston boarded a plane this morning in Jackson – his first ever plane ride – with hopes of bringing home the top free throw shooting prize for his age.

He spent most of Wednesday night at First Baptist Church’s gymnasium standing 15 feet from the goal, shooting free throw after free throw.

A throng of children stirred quite a ruckus, but Gaston calmly nailed shot after shot. A couple hit the rim, but most found nothing but the bottom of the net. He hit 10 in a row, then five more before missing his first attempt.

“You have to practice,” he said while taking a break from his routine. “You need to learn the basics, bend your knees and learn how to hold the ball right.”

Sounds so easy. No one in front of you, no blocked shot attempts, nothing. Just you and the basket.

It was Gaston and two others at the regional competition in Valdosta, Ga., who had the same score after the allotted 25 shots. Each took five bonus shots until a winner was decided. Gaston hit all five, while the others each missed one.

Despite a 5-foot, 6-inch frame, this editor played many a night of basketball in his driveway in New York. Free throws were my bread-and-butter, until I actually discovered bread and butter.

Surely someone nearly three times Gaston’s senior would have the ability to take down the best 11-year-old free throw shooter in Vicksburg, right?

Gaston began with 10 shots. He made nine.

Needing to rise to the challenge, my first attempt rattled around the rim and fell through the net. Gaston started to get nervous.

The next shot traveled 13 feet, bouncing lazily into the bleachers. Four more misses, and a few shot lessons from Gaston, followed before this defeated editor walked off the court.

Surely the competition in Springfield will be more stout that what I could dish out.

Gaston will be fine, though. If he could hit shot after shot with children carrying on the way they were at the church, the Hall of Fame should be no match.